PerfectCandor
Anti-Active-Pickup Activist
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2022
- Messages
- 45
- Reaction score
- 42
Last year I got a 2001 standard jazz bass v. This is my favorite playing bass I have ever held and after ~13 months, I have realized that even in making some pretty heavy stuff I prefer playing the jazz bass by a mile to my Jackson (24 frets, 35", soapbars with active/passive/both coils/single coil switching and a 3 band eq - I almost always prefer the most modern specs but still love my jazz bass more) and dealing with the scale is no problem with a 145. I am going to college in the fall (living in dorms for at least the first two years) and only want to bring one bass, as guitar is a much higher priority and I have very limited storage options. Hence why I need great all-around pickups in my favorite bass.
The stock pickups work in a mix well with what number of modeler and plugin effects, eqs, compressors, etc I use, but they feel kind of dead through any distortion while playing on their own (in a reasonable setting that isn't laboriously tweaking everything I own be it digital or physical, so in most scenarios I am "out"), especially the 5th string. Don't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily looking for a different type of pickup, I still like singles/jazz basses through distortion even for the heaviest of music, I just specifically don't like these stock Fender pickups especially on the 5th string.
I am not sure what exactly the spacing and dimensions are as this is my first foray into looking at bass pickups and especially anything "older", I have plenty of experience in guitars and electrical work just don't know what's what in this area I guess lol. It seems like this is relatively uncommon and doesn't provide for as many options. That being said, I measured:
-Bridge:
--Pickup dimensions: 4.120 in (104.63 mm) x .720 in (18.33 mm)
--String spacing: 2.75 in (69.85 mm) between 1st and 5th strings and about .655 in (16.65 mm) from string to string
-Neck:
--Pickup dimensions: 3.990 in (101.30 mm) x .725 in (18.40 mm)
--String spacing: 2.60 in (66.05 mm) between 1st and 5th strings and about .660 in (16.80 mm) from string to string
So, do y'all have any similar experience and/or suggestions? The more metal-suited the better, but that isn't really a huge deal for me, I am mostly looking to at least get a bit more output and balance between the highest 4 and the 5th string. Again, I play some heavy stuff but still love J style pickups and am fine with the tone I have with the highest 4 strings and am looking for the *best* drop-in replacements. I much prefer passives as I don't want to do anything crazy to this bass, though I do have faith in my ability to make room under the pickguard and wire what I need to myself if active is really the way to go.
The stock pickups work in a mix well with what number of modeler and plugin effects, eqs, compressors, etc I use, but they feel kind of dead through any distortion while playing on their own (in a reasonable setting that isn't laboriously tweaking everything I own be it digital or physical, so in most scenarios I am "out"), especially the 5th string. Don't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily looking for a different type of pickup, I still like singles/jazz basses through distortion even for the heaviest of music, I just specifically don't like these stock Fender pickups especially on the 5th string.
I am not sure what exactly the spacing and dimensions are as this is my first foray into looking at bass pickups and especially anything "older", I have plenty of experience in guitars and electrical work just don't know what's what in this area I guess lol. It seems like this is relatively uncommon and doesn't provide for as many options. That being said, I measured:
-Bridge:
--Pickup dimensions: 4.120 in (104.63 mm) x .720 in (18.33 mm)
--String spacing: 2.75 in (69.85 mm) between 1st and 5th strings and about .655 in (16.65 mm) from string to string
-Neck:
--Pickup dimensions: 3.990 in (101.30 mm) x .725 in (18.40 mm)
--String spacing: 2.60 in (66.05 mm) between 1st and 5th strings and about .660 in (16.80 mm) from string to string
So, do y'all have any similar experience and/or suggestions? The more metal-suited the better, but that isn't really a huge deal for me, I am mostly looking to at least get a bit more output and balance between the highest 4 and the 5th string. Again, I play some heavy stuff but still love J style pickups and am fine with the tone I have with the highest 4 strings and am looking for the *best* drop-in replacements. I much prefer passives as I don't want to do anything crazy to this bass, though I do have faith in my ability to make room under the pickguard and wire what I need to myself if active is really the way to go.
