Adding a J pickup to a P Bass

[JPJ]

Hi all,

I'm currently assembling a bitsa fretless 'workhorse' bass and will be adding a J pickup to a stock P shaped bass. Anybody know where the sweet spot position is for maximum J bass style growl i.e. where in the space between the P pickup and the bridge? I'd hate to just attack the thing with my router and find that I was just a few mil away from the optimum spot!

Cheers,

Kev

[The Bass Doc]

I've fitted a fair few over the years and have settled on a placement where the J is 60mm back from the 'treble' half of the P pickup - that's pole to pole centres.

The precise distance for a 60s Jazz bridge pickup has the effect of it 'bumping' into the scratchplate so spoils the look. And if you go any further back you the response becomes a bit too thin.

Others may have different opinions of course

[lettsguitars]

What he said. Just get it to look right.

[JPJ]

[quote name='The Bass Doc' timestamp='1353703098' post='1877749']
I've fitted a fair few over the years and have settled on a placement where the J is 60mm back from the 'treble' half of the P pickup - that's pole to pole centres.

The precise distance for a 60s Jazz bridge pickup has the effect of it 'bumping' into the scratchplate so spoils the look. And if you go any further back you the response becomes a bit too thin.

Others may have different opinions of course
[/quote]

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1353704530' post='1877769']
What he said. Just get it to look right.
[/quote]

Thank you gentlemen, wish me luck, the router is coming out to play in the morning

[Ghost_Bass]

why dont you add a JJ (humbucker)? Ive done this to a P and used a62 wiring scheme with .100 cap on the P and a .022 on the J, pure heaven! if i was to do a similar thing again i would definetly do exactly the same thing.

sorry for mistakes texting from mobile :-)

[JPJ]

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1353710438' post='1877842']
why dont you add a JJ (humbucker)? Ive done this to a P and used a62 wiring scheme with .100 cap on the P and a .022 on the J, pure heaven! if i was to do a similar thing again i would definetly do exactly the same thing.

sorry for mistakes texting from mobile :-)
[/quote]

No problem, but this 'project' started off with Fender's Tony Franklin fretless bass. I got to try one of these at our very own WaterofTyne's abode some whiles ago, and fell in love with the feel/balance/sound of a fretless precision with the added J. I was going to just build a clone but I can't help but fiddle about based on my last thirty odd years of low-end endeavours, so with this one its going to be P + J into a passive stack knob jazz style controls to maintain the stock Fender P two knobs and an output jack look.

[mckendrick]

[quote name='JPJ' timestamp='1353714818' post='1877874']
....so with this one its going to be P + J into a passive stack knob jazz style controls to maintain the stock Fender P two knobs and an output jack look.
[/quote]
If only everybody had your sense of asthetics, JPJ. An excellent idea.

[JPJ]

[quote name='mckendrick' timestamp='1353717002' post='1877887']
If only everybody had your sense of asthetics, JPJ. An excellent idea.
[/quote]

Why thank you kind Sir!

[chris_b]

I'd just go for the P pickups first and see if they're enough.

My current bass is a PJ and I've never used the J pickup. I've found that the sound doesn't need the J if you have a really good P pickup.

Mine are custom wound SD's.

[iiipopes]

I have found that a J is very versatile to add to a P. I use a humbucking J, DiMarzio UltraJazz, on my custom fanned fret bass. I recommend an end-to-end coil humbucker J bridge pickup, like a DiMarzio UltraJazz or J model, or Aguilar, or Fralin noiseless so it doesn't all of a sudden hum when you adjust the pickups. A Seymour Duncan Vintage Stack or Fender Noiseless Jazz will also work, although I am not a fan of stack pickup designs, as to my ears they can get muddy on the fundamental.

Moreover, I really don't pop-and-slap much, so I added a .01 capacitor inline from the hot lead of the J bridge pickup to the wiper on the volume control so that any phase, comb filtering, or impedance volume drop that can occur on a 2-pickup bass is eliminated.

Oh -- where to mount the J pickup: the '60's position is centerlined at 1/16th of the scale length from the fingerboard edge of the nut, which is 34/16 = 2 1/8 inches from the nominal saddle position before string compensation, or 31 7/8 from the edge of the nut, and the '70's position is centerlined @ .40 inches closer to the bridge than that, so the entire pickup including the mounting flanges is underneath the pickup cover. Mine is between the two.

[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/fender-jazzbass-75-bridge-pickup-position-326658/"]http://www.talkbass....osition-326658/[/url]

Edited November 24, 2012 by iiipopes

[rednose200]

All good popints made. However before you go butchering your P bass you must consider whether or not you are destroying the value of your bass in its current configuration. Old P basses are expensive today but those that have been altered in this fashion have seen their value stay rather low in comparision to a bog standard factory built model. No collector in years to come would touch it. Personally I'd prefer to sell the P and buy a real Fender PJ model if that is what you want - and probably protectring your investment to boot.

Just a point to consider my friend. All best.

[iiipopes]

[quote name='rednose200' timestamp='1353802171' post='1878672']
All good points made. However before you go butchering your P bass....[/quote]

[quote name='JPJ' timestamp='1353698094' post='1877684']I'm currently assembling a bitsa fretless 'workhorse' bass....[/quote]

The OP is building from scratch, not "butchering" anything. Sky's the limit. Open season. The only consideration is not spending more than a new P-J would cost, unless it's to get a custom feature or something bespoke to fit the OP's ergonomics or playing style better that will earn its keep in the long run.

Edited November 25, 2012 by iiipopes

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1353721617' post='1877916']
My current bass is a PJ and I've never used the J pickup. I've found that the sound doesn't need the J if you have a really good P pickup.
[/quote]

If for no other reason... P basses should have Jazz pups fitted so that you have somewhere sensible to rest your thumb!

I'm sure your bass will be routed by now mate but my Sadowsky PJ has the jazz pup mounted in the 60's spot (see Howie etc above) and I prefer it for the slightly fuller tone you get, even when blended. However, the Sado was designed with that position in mind but I did have a USA P bass a couple of years back that someone fitted a J to and they mounted it 60's stylee and needed to chamfer the back edge of the scratchplate to make it more comfortable to play.

Sado 60's position (designed to be thus)

[IMG]http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g119/warwickhunt/100_2336.jpg[/IMG]

USA P bass 60's position (retrofitted)

[IMG]http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g119/warwickhunt/100_1140.jpg[/IMG]