Pup Recommendations

[Rumple]

Ok so I'm putting together a custom 5 string Jazz Bass type project and need to decide on the pick-ups to use but have no idea what to use, it's going to be passive, as for sound I want a warm rounded but defined bass tone.

I had some Delano pups in a Jazz for a while and liked the sound of them but went off the look of those big single pole pieces. I have also had a st of Barts in the past but didn't think muxh of them.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.



R.

[JTUK]

Deffo Barts if you are active..but passive, not so sure. I think it is more an issue how the wood sounds together.
My Barts sound good run passive on an active bass...I put that down to the inherrent good sound of the woods so the natural sopund comes through.
If the sound from the woods needs help, maybe a more powerful pup is required

[Vibrating G String]

There are many great pickup makers out there and I have heard them all sound great, from the latest boutiques & vintage replicas to the cheaper end like EMG Selects and Wilkinsons bought from Hong Kong for next to nothing. I would be careful of recommendations for a manufacturer that do not specify a model as that is usually just someone pimping what's trendy. All the big makers will have something close to what you want.

That said I almost always end up with Bart's They make many variations of the J style and I really like that the pickups have no exposed pole pieces, they use bar magnets so string spacing isn't an issue (though it could be on split coils) and they are fully shielded and sealed in epoxy. Do you know which Barts you had in the past?

Do you want a vintage Fender sound? Single coil or some kind of humbucker? Your string spacing choice can also limit your options if you choose some thing with individual pole pieces. Some of the most vintage sounding pickups I've heard came stock on Fernandes and Tokai Fender copies. The Seymour Duncan Hot Stacks are nice for a beefed up Fender tone with no hum, familiar but a bit warmer and quieter. The stock pickups from a Mexican Fender have the classic tone and can be found cheap from all the people who must upgrade to the latest and greatest. So many choices

[Rumple]

See I knew I needed to talk to you guys

I'm planning on keeping the string spacing small I have a USA bridge with the choice of pacings and I hadn't thought about that restricting what pups I can use!

I think the Barts i had were called 9J, they were used passively so maybe that's why I didn't find them very inspiriing. I'd like to keep it passive if at all possible, I'm planning on using a stacked knob plate I have lying about.

A beefed up Fender tone would best discribe the sound I'm after.

Cheers

R.

[yorick]

How about MEC's? You can run them passive or active, and you don't have to worry about pole pieces affecting string spacing.

[geoffbyrne]

Since you are keeping the string-spacing narrow, I might suggest you consider the pair of Joe Barden pups I have for sale here:

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=90113"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=90113[/url]

I had them on my Hohner B Bass V and since they are twin-rails, there was no problem with the string spacing.

These are top-quality pups wound to reproduce the original sound of the Jazz bass.



Boxed









PM me if you are interested.


Geoff

[lozbass]

I've used a wide variety of J pickups in the past few years and to be honest, have been fairly pleased with most of them. Standouts for me have been Wizards (custom wound but similar to 84s I think), and Alleva Coppolo. The latter can be purchased directly from the AC website - they sound fairly vintage to me in passive - the downside is the expense (and you may have to factor-in import charges).

[Rumple]

Interesting stuff. thanks all.

Can you get Wizard J's for 5 strings? I couldn't see them on the site.

MEC's I hadn't considered, I'll look them up.

Not so sure about the rails look to be honest.


R.

[crez5150]

I keep seeing this thread as pub recommendations

[The Bass Doc]

Just noticed MartyBRebelMC is selling a pair of Nordstrands - check out his ad in the 'musically related' section.

H.

[Rumple]

[quote name='crez5150' post='890443' date='Jul 9 2010, 02:27 PM']I keep seeing this thread as pub recommendations [/quote]


Just back from the pub but not one I would recommend

[dave_bass5]

My vote would go to Wizards if they do them but if not Nordstrand.
This is only based on the fact that i had one in my old DJ5 and it did sound warm with a nice low end. Well, the bridge pup did as the neck was a P but i was very impressed with the 5NJFS i had.

I also think Fralins would be great, based on what ive read but i've not tried thier Jazz pups yet. They are a bit expensive though.

[Rumple]

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='890445' date='Jul 9 2010, 02:28 PM']Just noticed MartyBRebelMC is selling a pair of Nordstrands - check out his ad in the 'musically related' section.

H.[/quote]


Hi Howard just had a look at the ad, they are short compared to the standard fit I'm guessing it would just be a question of picking up some covers as the poles are in the usual place?

Edited July 9, 2010 by Rumple

[The Bass Doc]

Perhaps the seller can provide measurements - and maybe photos of the pickups in their covers.

[Rumple]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='890459' date='Jul 9 2010, 02:37 PM']My vote would go to Wizards if they do them but if not Nordstrand.
This is only based on the fact that i had one in my old DJ5 and it did sound warm with a nice low end. Well, the bridge pup did as the neck was a P but i was very impressed with the 5NJFS i had.

I also think Fralins would be great, based on what ive read but i've not tried thier Jazz pups yet. They are a bit expensive though.[/quote]




Cheers Dave, I was told my JO5 has Falins in it when I bought it and it does sound good, I might fire an e-mail off to Wizard and see what they say re J5 pups. I have heard good words about Nordstrand and there is a pair for sale at the mo'

[dave_bass5]

Good luck.

I've had Fralins in both my Duck Dunns (P's though) and they are amazing but pretty costly.

The Wizards ive just got are very nice, Andy did a custom wind for me to get the tone i wanted, and both came to much less than one brand new Nordy or Fralin

[JTUK]

Or talk to Aaron/Kent Armstrong...these pickup makers can pretty well do anything you want if you ask them

[foal30]

Bartolini 9J apparently have a low output.
I quite like them and use in conjunct with a Sadowsky out-board preamp
quite versatile on gigging duties.

my MTD also has Barts but with a Bart pre-amp. this is very good but I do not know what type of pick ups they are.

[dave_bass5]

I had Bart MK1 split coils on my Lakland 55-01 and at first liked them but after a few months I found them pretty bland.
Ive not tried any other models from Bart though.

[Vibrating G String]

[quote name='JTUK' post='890881' date='Jul 9 2010, 02:23 PM']Or talk to Aaron/Kent Armstrong...these pickup makers can pretty well do anything you want if you ask them[/quote]
I've heard that more than once. And from what I've seen the prices are decent.

Don't forget Status
[url="http://www.status-graphite.com/status/frames/index_home.html"]http://www.status-graphite.com/status/frames/index_home.html[/url]

And Dimarzio has a few 5 string J's, once the choice of Sadowsky

[Vibrating G String]

Also had a set of Aero's once on a 5. Awesome authentic Fender tone right down to the single coil hum.
[url="http://www.aeroinstrument.com/pickups.html"]http://www.aeroinstrument.com/pickups.html[/url]

I have 7 5 strings at the moment, all budget players, and my favorite changes all the time. I could never pick a favorite tone

While not passive the original EMG set works in a 5 and was the bees knees in the mid 1980's. Victor bailey was a big fan and Wooten uses the PJ version still.

[Rumple]

Thanks for all the replies, the search goes on, so far I have e-mailed Wizard to see if they can do a 5 string version of thier Jazz pick-ups and there is a set of Nordstrands for sale on here that I'm trying to get dimensions of, they sound interesting but my be too small for the routing.

R.