mod for a VMJ - what pups?

[fatback]

Thinking about changing pups on a Squier VMJ fretless.

Looking for something not too aggressive, more old school. Sort of musical. Mellow? Rich? That kind of sound.

In fact, the stock pups are not bad at all, but the bass has such a nice neck it's probably worth upgrading a tad.

I have no experience of anything but standard pups, so any ideas would be very helpful.

[LawrenceH]

[quote name='fatback' post='1067115' date='Dec 22 2010, 07:21 PM']Thinking about changing pups on a Squier VMJ fretless.

Looking for something not too aggressive, more old school. Sort of musical. Mellow? Rich? That kind of sound.

In fact, the stock pups are not bad at all, but the bass has such a nice neck it's probably worth upgrading a tad.

I have no experience of anything but standard pups, so any ideas would be very helpful.[/quote]

I'm not the pickup junky some people are but I was very pleasantly surprised by the Fender Vintage AlNicos that come loaded into the Highway Ones and Classic series jazzes - it's definitely a very musical, old-school vibe, and they're not expensive at all. I think Dave-bass5 on here has a Highway One (which would come with these) and also has some Wizard pickups, so it might be worth sending him a PM and asking how they compare. Wizard get recommended a lot on here for an old-school vibe and again they're comparatively cheap, definitely worth considering.

By way of comparison, trying a VMJ I felt that the stock pickups were very punchy but a little harsh and definitely lacking in bandwidth (no true top end), they didn't sound at all open compared to a typical vintage jazz.

[fatback]

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1067127' date='Dec 22 2010, 07:33 PM']I'm not the pickup junky some people are but I was very pleasantly surprised by the Fender Vintage AlNicos that come loaded into the Highway Ones and Classic series jazzes - it's definitely a very musical, old-school vibe, and they're not expensive at all. I think Dave-bass5 on here has a Highway One (which would come with these) and also has some Wizard pickups, so it might be worth sending him a PM and asking how they compare. Wizard get recommended a lot on here for an old-school vibe and again they're comparatively cheap, definitely worth considering.

By way of comparison, trying a VMJ I felt that the stock pickups were very punchy but a little harsh and definitely lacking in bandwidth (no true top end), they didn't sound at all open compared to a typical vintage jazz.[/quote]

Thanks, Lawrence. I'll check those out.

Your description of the VMJ sound is spot on. It's that harshness I'd like to lose. And there is a sense of quality lacking, even through a Sadowsky pre that can flatter anything.

[Cat Burrito]

As a blanket generalisation it sounds like you want to aim for pickups with a vintage or traditional tag. This is what I use and interestingly most pickups tend to be designed to give a bass more omph & the vintage repo pups are lesser sellers (only found this out recently talking to a Seymour Duncan rep).

Personally I really rate Seymour Duncan and would advise you check out

[url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/vintage-1/sjb1_vintage_fo/"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/bass...jb1_vintage_fo/[/url]

Failing that I do like Wizard and the 64s would be a good second choice

[url="http://www.wizardpickups.co.uk/shop.asp?category=Bass"]http://www.wizardpickups.co.uk/shop.asp?category=Bass[/url]

I've usually change pups in my basses. I'm not a big fan of Fender pickups these days. It's a fairly simple mod but tends to really wake my basses up

[gary mac]

I put a set of Wizard 64's in my vmj and would thoroughly recommend them.

[fatback]

Thanks for the suggestions. Great.

I hope I'm not recklessly exposing myself to the modding bug. Slippery slope and all that...