J pickup that sounds like a humbucker?

[Iron1]

I have a 1994 Ibanez EXB445 with EMG Select J pickups in it. Prior to inheriting this bass, I was playing a 2017 Ibanez SR305 with Ibanez humbuckers in it. I really loved how thick the humbuckers were in comparison to the Js in the 445. 

So, is there a replacement pickup out there that will fit a J cavity but have a thicker, less bright tone like a humbucker? 

[Killed_by_Death]

 

There are LOADS of different kinds of humbuckers out there, DiMarzio's J-style pickups are exclusively humbuckers.

Model J is a fave

Another option is to just wire the two J-style pickups in Series

 

Edited June 11, 2021 by Killed_by_Death
clarified wording

[Iron1]

1 minute ago, Killed_by_Death said:

 

There are LOADS of different kinds of humbuckers out there, DiMarzio's J-style pickups are exclusively humbuckers.

Model J is a fave

 

Thanks for the education. GREAT screen name, BTW. 

This is what I mean by humbucker: 

[Killed_by_Death]

 

Those are PowerSpan pickups & they are very bright in comparison to other humbuckers.

IMHO they are The Best OEM pickups Ibanez has used since the PFR (Passive Full Range) that they put in the SR eXtreme (SRX).

 

[Iron1]

3 minutes ago, Killed_by_Death said:

 

Those are PowerSpan pickups & they are very bright in comparison to other humbuckers.

IMHO they are The Best OEM pickups Ibanez has used since the PFR (Passive Full Range) that they put in the SR eXtreme (SRX).

 

I believe it. Loved the sound I got with them. 

[Killed_by_Death]

 

I used to own a Rickenbacker 4004 & when I tried a SR370E with PowerSpans it reminded me of the Ric, so responsive!

My only complaint about those pickups is there are only 3 conductors available on the outside, so you can't do series/parallel.

 

[Iron1]

28 minutes ago, Killed_by_Death said:

 

I used to own a Rickenbacker 4004 & when I tried a SR370E with PowerSpans it reminded me of the Ric, so responsive!

My only complaint about those pickups is there are only 3 conductors available on the outside, so you can't do series/parallel.

 

So, is there a J style pickup you think has a tone in the same ballpark? 

[Killed_by_Death]

 

That depends on which switch position you enjoyed the most, but a series wiring scheme for two J-style pickups with independent volume should be able to accomplish all those sounds.

In Series they have more output & more lows, but only if they're both turned up.If you want the highs back you dial back the volume on the neck pickup.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

 

I'm surprised no one came along to claim you cannot have Series wiring & independent volumes, but it's coming, so there's the diagram:

credit to Walter W who works at Alpha Music in Virginia Beach, VA

 

[Iron1]

31 minutes ago, Killed_by_Death said:

 

I'm surprised no one came along to claim you cannot have Series wiring & independent volumes, but it's coming, so there's the diagram:

credit to Walter W who works at Alpha Music in Virginia Beach, VA

 

So, essentially I should just rewire the EMG Selects and try that? Sounds an awful lot cheaper and easier than buying more pickups.  

[Killed_by_Death]

 

DOH!, EMG didn't click to me at first, but IF your pickups are ACTIVE (battery powered), you will not be able to wire them in Series.

There's a couple of reasons, 1 is the onboard preamp, feeding one into the next will cause clipping, but 2 = they combine the battery (-) & pickup coil (-) wires.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

 

Furthermore, just because your bass has a battery doesn't mean the pickups are active, check for a Power wire to the pickups.

There are many active basses with passive pickups, where the battery is for the onboard preamp.

The bass you had was a SR305E, the E denotes that it has the newish PowerSpan pickups.

 

[pete.young]

I would describe those as soapbars.

If you want a humbucker in a Jazz shell, you'll usually end up with split coils. Lots of people make these, I have a set of Delanos that I really like, but there are lots of options from the likes of Nordstrand, Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio, ...

[Killed_by_Death]

 

There's also phantom-coil or 'stacked' J-style humbuckers. They would probably provide more low-end, but at the cost of responsiveness. Many would describe stacked humbuckers as 'tame'.

 

[Iron1]

3 hours ago, Killed_by_Death said:

 

DOH!, EMG didn't click to me at first, but IF your pickups are ACTIVE (battery powered), you will not be able to wire them in Series.

There's a couple of reasons, 1 is the onboard preamp, feeding one into the next will cause clipping, but 2 = they combine the battery (-) & pickup coil (-) wires.

 

The EMG Selects are actually passives, so no worries on that front. 

2 hours ago, pete.young said:

I would describe those as soapbars.

If you want a humbucker in a Jazz shell, you'll usually end up with split coils. Lots of people make these, I have a set of Delanos that I really like, but there are lots of options from the likes of Nordstrand, Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio, ...

Any particular ones that have a nice, thick tone you'd recommend checking into? 

[Killed_by_Death]

 

Save some money & try that Series wiring scheme first.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

 

I just thought about the fact that it's a 5-string, DiMarzio doesn't appear to make the Model J for a 5-string, which I find odd, but the Ultra-Jazz are DEEP:

https://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/5-string-bass/ultra-jazz-5-pair

They're also high-output, so you probably wouldn't even need to wire them in Series, but people have.

 

[Iron1]

13 hours ago, Killed_by_Death said:

 

I just thought about the fact that it's a 5-string, DiMarzio doesn't appear to make the Model J for a 5-string, which I find odd, but the Ultra-Jazz are DEEP:

https://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/5-string-bass/ultra-jazz-5-pair

They're also high-output, so you probably wouldn't even need to wire them in Series, but people have.

 

Oooo... that's a sexy curve. 

I just got my Entwistle PBXN/JBXN set for my TRBX174, so if I really love them, I might try a set of those for the Ibby if the wiring doesn't get me where I want to go. If not, I do love me some Dimarzio. Thx!

 

And, fun fact (for no one but me), Killed By Death is the song that turned me into a lifelong Motorhead fan. So much so that when I lived in H'wood and almost ran Lemmy over with my car when he was J-walking, I listened to it on hard repeat for weeks after. 

 

[gafbass02]

Wizard pickups used to make a custom called the GAFfer.  Although they aren’t around anymore, hot-rod pickups, who took over the business, might still have the details kicking around. It was a split coil in a jazz casing that was just brilliant. Very responsive to tone control and extremely versatile. I have the prototypes in my bass and sound engineers’ jaws tend to drop when they hear it  Maybe drop hot rod an email and see what they say. 

Edited June 13, 2021 by gafbass02

[Geek99]

@Matte_black made me some of those a while back - they were brilliant 

[Killed_by_Death]

7 hours ago, Iron1 said:

fun fact (for no one but me), Killed By Death is the song that turned me into a lifelong Motorhead fan. So much so that when I lived in H'wood and almost ran Lemmy over with my car when he was J-walking, I listened to it on hard repeat for weeks after. 

I lived in San-Pedro, moved to L.A. the same year as Lemmy, so bumped into him in various locations, like Riki Rachtman's clubs & of course the Rainbow.

I spent about 4 nights/week in Hollyweird, but also hit Helter Skelter (not in HW at the time), every weekend that I could.

 

[Iron1]

20 hours ago, Killed_by_Death said:

I lived in San-Pedro, moved to L.A. the same year as Lemmy, so bumped into him in various locations, like Riki Rachtman's clubs & of course the Rainbow.

I spent about 4 nights/week in Hollyweird, but also hit Helter Skelter (not in HW at the time), every weekend that I could.

 

I always remember him just glued to that pinball machine in the Whisky. Got to the point where if I went in there and he wasn't right there it seemed odd.