pickup and pre amp replacement

[Skezza]

I use a 5 string active bass collection for most of the gigging I do.  I am very pleased with the bass generally BUT

I would like to upgrade the pickups and the pre amp as the pickups are a bit noisy when used individually ok when both on.

I live in staffordshire and need a good luthier who does this work and can advise me OR HOPEFULLY ADVICE ON HERE

I spoke to two local luthiers who would change the pickups if i got the new ones but both said it was up to me to find the pre amp.

 

so where do i go to find the gear and the advice

[fretmeister]

Choice of preamp is very personal. Some are super clean, some give a warm or dirty edge.

Best you can do is listen to demos where they are playing the same sort of music you play.

 

There are plenty of very good choices - East, Darkglass, Glockenklang, Aguilar, Nordstrand, EMG etc etc

Some work with all pickups, others (some of the EMG models) only work with their pickups.

 

What pickups are you going to install? Is the current preamp a 2 band or 3 band? How many control knob holes has it got? Do you care if more holes might be needed?

[Skezza]

this is where i need the advice 

are all jazz bass pickups the same size

I was hoping to find a luthier with the relevant experience

 

the current preamp is 4 knobs which are fixed rigid to a printed circuit board so i was looking to replace it with another 4 knob preamp 

its a 2 band with volume and pan

[BassBunny]

As an owner of 3, (sorry 2 now, just sold one), Bass Collections maybe I can help. All 3 had different pre-amps but the one you have in my opinion is the worst one. It does not seem to have the same degree of cut/boost/volume that the others have.

My personal choice would be to replace with a Glockenklang. I have one in my Carvin and am looking to put one in one of my surviving Bass Collections. As you would have to get new knobs for the Glock as they have smooth shaft controls, you could either get the 2 band 4 knob or the 3 band 4 knob. Both have active/passive switching. I am also familiar with East pre- amps which are stonking but twice the price. Bartolini pre-amps are great as well. I have one in one of my Bass Collections but I reckon the Glock is the best price/performance package if you shop around. You could also consider Knoll, standard on the early Sandbergs.

Regarding pick-ups, I can only speak of 5 strings but they are not standard Fender size but are a size you can get, (if that makes sense). You would need to measure them. You could get them rewound/rebuilt which would solve any problems of fitting and that way you get to specify the kind of sound you are after. There are plenty of options for re-winds but Aaron Armstrong, of Kent Armstrong, comes to mind. 

As a long time Bass Collection owner I would be more than happy to have a chat and answer any questions if you want to PM me your phone number.

[fretmeister]

Not all jazz pickups are the same size.

 

Some Fender's have a slightly longer bridge pickup, so the aftermarket makers usually do 2 options - the Fender sizes and then every body else's size. Some makers wind the neck and bridge pickups the same, some have different windings depending on the position.

[BassBunny]

Forgot about Artec preamps if funds are limited. Cracking for the price and I put an SE-2 in the Bass Collection I have just sold. 

[pete.young]

Hi Skezza, hope all is well. Still got that red PJ 5-string?

For Bass Collection JJ configurations, you need a pair of pickups which are the same size, 94mm in length.

Replacements intended for Fender are both longer than this, the neck is shorter than the bridge but neither will drop into a Bass Collection slot and extra routing will be required.

If you have noise when favouring one pickup, it's probably because you have typical single-coil Jazz pickups which I think is what the standard SGC Nanyo pickups are.

One option would be to use stacked humbuckers, which look very similar to single coils but are completely noiseless in operation.

I have a set of Delano stacked humbuckers in my SB465 which were a drop in fit and sound amazing. I know that Bartolini also make this size and string spacing, I think Nordstrand do too and Sadowsky also fit this size to their basses so anything advertised as replacement for them should fit.

I have a Nordstrand Pre-Amp . I don't think there's a lot to choose between them, Glock and other makers at that price. The main thing is finding the right number of pots and picking a pre-amp with stacked knobs if you need more than just blend, volume and 2-band EQ. My Nordy has a 2-band EQ on a stacked pot, and a passive tone control, blend and volume. In my case I went with Nordstrand because that was what came up second-hand on Basschat first.

As BassBunny says, the Artecs are a good choice if you're on a tight budget, but I've had two now and both have eventually developed a crackly pot.

[Skezza]

thanks guys for all your contributions.

I have had two passive 4 string bass collections

and four active 5 string bass collections.

I currently have 3 active 5 string bass collections the jazz bass style with the brass nut

they all have different preamps but as i acquired them secondhand I do not know if any or all are original.  I gig one of them most of the time 

I am not sure why they are all a bit noisy when i try to use any of the pickups individually. not massive noise you would not notice it on a gig but you would in a studio.

for absolutely silent use I use a spector with emgs and the emg B340 3 band preamp.

THe build quality on the bass collections i think is really good and I would like to upgrade the electrics and or pickups if possible

[naxos10]

Hi Skezza,

Have a chat with Andyjr1515 he is only in Derby.

[Andyjr1515]

On 03/05/2018 at 14:35, naxos10 said:

Hi Skezza,

Have a chat with Andyjr1515 he is only in Derby.

Thanks @naxos10 !

@Skezza - pm'd you since our telecon. 

Based on the telephone discussion - which is that the main issue is the single-coil hum buzz rather than the preamp itself - my suggestion is that you look at stacked humbucker options before worrying too much about the pre-amp at this stage (someone else above, I think, beat me to it with the same suggestion ).  Single coil J pickups will 'humbuck', to a limited extent, when used together in the same way as a Stratocaster position 2 and 4 does (it's OK, folks.  @Skezza is also a guitarist).  But used individually, they are all susceptible to mains interference, regardless how well the cables and control chambers are shielded, and the pre-amp is unlikely to have any positive impact on this.

The key thing - as there is no such thing as a 'standard size' for J pickups - is to find some suitable ones that are the correct size.  Specifically, the length, width and distance between centres of the fixing lugs.  If you can check these dimensions and post here, I am sure that I - and a host of much more knowledgable folks than me around us - will be able to come up with some options for you to consider. 

Andy

[Skezza]

firstly I would like to thank basschatters for the posts of advice they have made.

secondly thanks to Andy and bass bunny for the phone calls

for all the pickup experts here 

the dimensions of both pickups the bass are collection pickups are 94mm long

18mm wide 

and the lug centres are 40mm

[Jabba_the_gut]

For quiet, active EMGs are excellent and silent. I've used them with both EMG and East preamps and really liked both. The new EMG stuff is really easy to install as the have just got connectors; only down side is it the existing holes in the body for wiring are too small for the connectors then it is soldering time!

Cheers

[pete.young]

The Delanos I have in my Bass Collection are JMVC5FE . They are completely silent and a massive improvement over the original SGC Nanyo pickups.

[Skezza]

4 hours ago, pete.young said:

The Delanos I have in my Bass Collection are JMVC5FE . They are completely silent and a massive improvement over the original SGC Nanyo pickups.

Pete I assume the delanos went in without any wood carving. can you check the measurments of them for me

I have had delanos on a p bass and really liked them

[naxos10]

Currently have Delano's on the short scale P bass which are excellent and it's a bass you played when you were here Skezza.

[Delberthot]

On 05/05/2018 at 08:38, Jabba_the_gut said:

For quiet, active EMGs are excellent and silent. I've used them with both EMG and East preamps and really liked both. The new EMG stuff is really easy to install as the have just got connectors; only down side is it the existing holes in the body for wiring are too small for the connectors then it is soldering time!

Cheers

I love EMGs as well. They are quite straightforward if you follow the wiring instructions as the wires clip into the pots. The only time you would need to solder would be for the barrel jack socket that theses basses have rather than the usual ones you would find in Fenders etc but I have seen ones made up on Ebay that have the solderless cables attached

[pete.young]

94.2 mm long, 18.3 wide, 40mm between the fixing screw centres. No routing, cutting machining or anything was required.

 

[Andyjr1515]

1 hour ago, pete.young said:

94.2 mm long, 18.3 wide, 40mm between the fixing screw centres. No routing, cutting machining or anything was required.

 

That sounds pretty close @Skezza ?

@pete.young - are the bridge and neck pickups supplied the same size if a set is ordered?

As far as I can work out from the EMG site, the LJV and LJ pickups - which appear to be pretty close to the required size - are both voiced for bridge position. Whether that makes any difference in reality I really don't know....

[pete.young]

Data sheet is here: http://www.delano.de/jmvc_5_fe_m2/jmvc_5_fe_m2_details.html

It's the 'FE' you want, the 'AS' type is the longer Fender sizing.

Probably worth an email to Delano to clarify. The data sheet shows 2 different lengths (93mm neck and 95mm bridge). Both mine are exactly the same length, 94.4 mm by digital vernier . I'd guess they're the longer 95 mm shell, but worth confiming. The 93mm ones would certainly fit.

Data sheet says if you order a set you can have both pickups in either the longer or shorter shells. I don't recall any distinguishing marks on the ones I have, and nothing in the instructions to tell you whether one was intended for neck and one for bridge. I'm now wondering if I've got them the wrong way round!

[Guest adi77]

Duncan stacks, nordstrands, decent noiseless pickups, duncans are slightly "warmer"

[Skezza]

I have decided to make one of the three 5 string bass collections that i own into a passive bass 

because

i have 3

i quite like passives basses my two fenders are passive jazzes

my first bass collection was a passive 4 string and it sounded great (good pickups)

so  who make the best passive jazz bass  pickups ???????

[Skezza]

Oh and the other reason i want to go passive is that the preamp in this guitar i really dislike the sound

 

but what are the best pickups

[Guest adi77]

3 hours ago, Skezza said:

Oh and the other reason i want to go passive is that the preamp in this guitar i really dislike the sound

 

but what are the best pickups

dunno best

if some stores have decent return policies why not try a few out and keep the ones you like

one of my JB's i installed that obsidian solderless passive v/v/t control plate, it has become my pickup-experiment bass lol

[pete.young]

Same answer from me. In general pickups are passive, pre-amps are active. The only exception I'm aware of is EMG.