Machines Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 [b][size=3]Nordstrand NJ4 Pickups[/size][/b] I've had my 2000 made Mexican Fender Jazz for 18 months now after trading it for my old Yamaha BB614. Initial impressions of the Jazz were that it.. sounded like a Jazz. It's taken a lot of time and comparisons with other Jazzes (in shops, other bassists etc..) to determine that the pickups on mine were letting it down a bit. The problem i'd have is that the G string on the neck pickup was significantly louder than all other strings, this was not down to action or pickup height either. It was to the point where whatever note was played on the G string it drowned everything else out. Also, each pickup on it's own sounded ok, but mixing them together resulted in a muddy and undefined culmination of them, it's hard to explain. After some research I'd ruled out all the main brands (Seymour Duncan / EMG / Bartolini) in favour of a smaller custom UK manufacturer/distributor. I'd narrowed it down to Wizard and Nordstrand, whilst of course Nordstrand are US made, they are imported by our very own poptart. Wizard Pickups were very helpful and suggested the Wizard Sixty-Fours priced at £70 for a pair. Mark @ Bass Direct suggested the Nordstrand NJ4's would be best suited priced at £97 a pair. Having played a Nordy Jazz bass at MusicLive last year, I knew that they do sound very good - and the price was reasonable also, so I decided to go for these. They arrived within 24 hours via Royal Mail (well they only had to deliver it 20 miles away !) and very well packaged. The pickups were packed into a comfortably sized red box packed with paper shreddings for protection, and the pickups were also inside a sealed plastic bag, along with the screws. The edges of the pickups were more rounded and 'smoother' than the stock Fender pickups, a little bit like Bartolinis I suppose. Removing the covers I could see the pickups were solidly made and 'tidy'. The pickups were marked by hand as N and B, which I'm sure needs no explanation. Wiring was fibre covered rather than plastic, making them feel a bit more rigid and harder to bend, but also harder to damage. Installation time ! Whilst I have had quite a few basses in my time, i've never installed new pickups. I'm ignorant when it comes to wiring and soldering - so I enlisted the assistance of tonyf, the trusty Basschat Review Photographer ! As a former SoundControl employee he knows more than me, so I made the 2 mile journey to his. Having removed the stock pickups, we lined up the new ones. It is worth noting that on the neck pickup, the space between the screw holes was ~3mm less, and thus the screws are not quite straight when they go back in the original holes, and creating new ones would be messy. The bridge pickup provided us with a challenge, the pickup cover was 2mm wider than the hole. I can only assume Mexican pickups are made this way, and not US models. 10 minutes later with the Dremel, and the pickup was snugged in (alder/polyeurathane dust smells strange by the way). Soldered the wires onto the pots (I was watching confused by this point !) and did a circuit test to ensure they worked before everything went back together. 10 minutes later, with the strings back in place it was time to plug it in of course. Using Tony's Line6 110 practise amp, first impressions were that the sound was a lot tighter and had a little more top end than previously. Alas I couldn't give it a proper test until it was running though my own rig. I duely did this the next day, plugged into the ABM with flat EQ and a keen ear. To be quite frank, the difference in sound wasn't as revolutionary as I was expecting. I do believe this was down to my own pre-hyping however. Of course - it sounds like a Jazz bass, but whereas before the sound had me wishing it was better, now it IS better. There is a definite sparkle to the top end, and I sense a little more mids in there too. All pickup combinations (well, the 3 of them) now sound absolutely fantastic. It's hard to draw a suitable analogy, but here we go: My Jazz before was like a sports car with worn tyres, shot suspension and a hole in the exhaust. The new pickups (or tyres / suspension / exhaust to maintain the analogy) have improved on what was there, not changed it beyond recognition. It has improved how it responds to the point where it does what I want it to. When I asked Mark his opinion of my experience - he expressed the following: [quote]That is exactly what I would expect. The pickups are essentially the same as you have but with improved winding and construction giving a generally bigger/clearer wound than you had.[/quote] So there we have it, these are boutique style pickups which feature on some very expensive custom basses, and now on my lowly Fender Jazz. They are very good and will likely improve the sound on what ever you currently have. Of course - I have not been able to compare these to any other pickups and my judgements may be unfair against some others, but for me they were a sound investment. You can find more information at BassDirect here: [url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Nordstrand_Pickups.html"]Nordstrand Pickups[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyf Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 [quote name='Machines' post='244296' date='Jul 21 2008, 10:32 AM']so I enlisted the assistance of tonyf, the trusty Basschat Review Photographer ! As a former SoundControl employee he knows more than me...[/quote] AAAAAGGGGHHH! DON'T TELL EVERYONE....I'LL GET HATE MAIL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamster Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 [quote name='tonyf' post='244309' date='Jul 21 2008, 10:52 AM']AAAAAGGGGHHH! DON'T TELL EVERYONE....I'LL GET HATE MAIL! [/quote] Hate pm sent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyf Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 [quote name='Hamster' post='244324' date='Jul 21 2008, 11:10 AM']Hate pm sent! [/quote] Liar. Checked my PM's and nothing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamster Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 [quote name='tonyf' post='244334' date='Jul 21 2008, 11:19 AM']Liar. Checked my PM's and nothing! [/quote] See - more of the rudeness you can expect from Sound Control staff!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyf Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 [quote name='Hamster' post='244345' date='Jul 21 2008, 11:40 AM']See - more of the rudeness you can expect from Sound Control staff!!!!! [/quote] Ex-staff if you don't mind! Erm doing it again......please. Thank you. Please call again. I had to leave because I wasn't rude enough, miserably failed SC Staff Training Module 9, the "ignore customers and look as though you don't give a toss or have a clue" written test. Oooops. Highjacking Matt's review thread. Sorry fella! T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted July 21, 2008 Author Share Posted July 21, 2008 You will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 [quote name='Machines' post='244296' date='Jul 21 2008, 10:32 AM']As a former SoundControl employee he knows more than me[/quote] What's this? A Sound Control employee knowing more than the customer? Surely not! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted July 28, 2008 Author Share Posted July 28, 2008 Well he knew enough to leave long before it went under . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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