Unhappy with the J pickup in my P/J bass

[Noisyjon]

Hi All,

I am fortunate and grateful to have a Fender Masterbuilt P/J based on the '59ri P bass model.

The bridge pickup is the unit used in the Jaco sig model and while it's a nice sounding unit it hums like a mother and I'm not enjoying it in my beautiful bass

I have been lucky enough to be able to communicate to the luthier who made it (via the Talkbass forum) and he has recommended a Nordstrand NJ4SE or SV model to meet my requirements and compliment the P pickup in there already.

My conundrum is this - Do I/Should I:
1. Leave it stock and live with it,
2. Change just the bridge pickup as recommended or
3. Do I go the whole hog and fit completely new electronics keeping the original loom and pickups in tact?
(if it's option 3 then I would go for a Nordy P/J set)

Let me know your thoughts!

Cheers,
Jon

[wateroftyne]

I would have expected a masterbuild to have perfectly matched pickups in it - that's disappointing.

Anyway, I'd got for option #3 - that way you can get something matched, that's tried and tested.

[Noisyjon]

They are matched well it's just the single coil J I'm not happy with.
I really am in 2 minds as to whether to tamper with it at all...

[Ou7shined]

Do whatever makes it sound the best... ie just swap out both pups for Nordys.

You could try shielding out the offending pup first though which might save a few bob.

Edited November 17, 2011 by Ou7shined

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='jonthebass' timestamp='1321538770' post='1440335']
They are matched well it's just the single coil J I'm not happy with.
I really am in 2 minds as to whether to tamper with it at all...
[/quote]
You mean when it's solo'd?

Tamper with it. What's the point of having a bass you're not happy with?

[Noisyjon]

[b][i]You mean when it's solo'd?[/i][/b]
It is not making noise all the time I hasten to add, just bloody annoying when it does hum for whatever reason - Solo'd or with the P pickup!

[i][b]Tamper with it. What's the point of having a bass you're not happy with?[/b][/i]
Well that's my thinking too, but it's a hell of a bass to start tinkering with!

[Noisyjon]

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1321538787' post='1440337']
...You could try shielding out the offending pup first though which might save a few bob.
[/quote]

Good call, I'll look into that.

[LiamPodmore]

My Ibanez was like this, so i ripped out the J pickup and 2 band EQ and am soon to be fitting a Wizard Thumper and wiring in typical Precision fashion of Vol/Tone. Not something i'd reccomend for yourself, but thats what i did.

Liam

[BassBod]

The hum is inherent in all J single coils (even Jaco's!). Bear in mind that Fender never intended a P and J pickup to go together, in fact the single coil J was designed as a humbucking pair, so it cancelled hum when used with its partner..but only if they were at the same level. Turn one down...and up comes the hum...but only sometimes.

I'd suggest changing both pickups for a pair that are designed to work together, and also has a humbucking single J. DiMarzio's are great, so are the Sadowskys - there are plenty to chose from. Chances are just a good humbucking J will do the trick, but if you can afford it think about changing the P as well. Keep all the original pickups in case you want to sell the bass later - it always helps on a high value bass if you can revert it to factory condition (even if modified is better!)

[Lozz196]

I had a Fender Aerodyne Jazz, which had P/J pickups. The J pickup wasn`t that good, and hummed like an angry giant wasp. So I installed a Seymour Duncan Hot Stack - hum-cancelling - and it really changed the character of the bass, much more what I wanted. The sound of the pickup was still the same, though seemd to be "more" of everything, and that blasted hum weren`t there any more. Got the tip from reading about Duff McKagan - he uses the SD Hot Stack - good enough for him, good enough for me,

Edited November 17, 2011 by Lozz196

[Noisyjon]

Thanks for your thoughts & experiences Guys

[Bottle]

Thought I'd chuck in my two-pen'orth

I've got a Squire PJ, and it's been pretty good, but TBH, never been completely swayed by the bridge pickup - it doesn't have the same 'oomph' as the P pickup, which is why I've plumped for 'change out the bridge J pickup' - maybe have a look at one of the hum-free Jazz pickups out there, Duncan's for instance (classic or hot stack are both hum-cancelling).

Failing that, I'd go for a completelly new [i]matched[/i] set of PJ's - Wizard's or Duncan's again, but with a hum-cancelling J pickup set

HTH,
Ian

[Noisyjon]

Hi Ian,

Yes, all good advice thanks.

I had a P/J once before and it ended up with a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder P pickup and a Hot Stack bridge pickup in it.
The sound was very 'modern' & 'hifi' i.e. high output and with a wider frequency response than traditional/vintage voiced units and that's not what I'm after.
On the back of the original idea of the Nordy pickups I found a vid on YouTube (I know not the best way to listen to stuff) of a Guy with a Squire bass that has the Nordstrand P/J set made up of the NP4 and NJ4SE models and it sounds really, really good....

The quest continues!

[algmusic]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1321556967' post='1440682']
I had a Fender Aerodyne Jazz, which had P/J pickups. The J pickup wasn`t that good, and hummed like an angry giant wasp. So I installed a Seymour Duncan Hot Stack - hum-cancelling - and it really changed the character of the bass, much more what I wanted. The sound of the pickup was still the same, though seemd to be "more" of everything, and that blasted hum weren`t there any more. Got the tip from reading about Duff McKagan - he uses the SD Hot Stack - good enough for him, good enough for me,
[/quote]

+1 I changed J of my Aerodyne to a Qtr Pound and it was lovely after that.. get a shop to do and it'll be fine..The bass gallery do a great job.. If you only hate the J pup change that then work from there

[Noisyjon]

[quote name='algmusic' timestamp='1321629198' post='1441428']
... If you only hate the J pup change that then work from there
[/quote]

This seems to be my thinking on the subject and am going to wait until the new year to see if I feel the same.