MIM Fender Jazz Pickup Upgrade

[Groovehacker]

One of my basses is a MIM Fender Jazz that I bought in 2019. I've never been 100% happy with its sound and so, I want to upgrade the pickups, Bridge and Tuning pegs rather that just putting the bass to one side and not using it. Any advice on brands pro and cons would be most welcome.  I'm pretty sure the recesses on the MIM versions are different  than the American models. Looking forward to any advice you can give me, cheers

[Groovehacker]

It would be nice if someone added something. Hahaha

[Reggaebass]

I’ve had and have lots of jazzes, what is it about the sound of yours you don’t like, what do you play 🙂

[ezbass]

If you’re going to replace so many parts, maybe it’s worth moving it on and getting something else. If it didn’t require routing, I would have said that Nordstrand Big Singles would be a great upgrade, but it’s probably simpler to get an Ibanez or similar with them already in.

[Groovehacker]

Hi, I do have other basses. It's more of a project to beef it up. Currently, it emits a lit of noise when I touch any string. Not fret them, just touch them. I've looked at everything else, and so I thought I'd upgrade the pickups to see if that fixes it. I don't consider it a lot to spend. I'd rather do that than upgrade to an American Jazz. I already have an American p bass. Anyway thanks for the reply. 

[AndyTravis]

I have a jazz with Seymour Duncan Classic Stacks in - so it’s like a lovely vintage jazz with no background noise 🥴

[Groovehacker]

Hi Andy, is your jazz a MIM?

[AndyTravis]

2 minutes ago, Groovehacker said:

Hi Andy, is your jazz a MIM?

no. I had it made for me.

 

im not sure if the pickup issue on MIM jazz’s was just on the earlier ones (think they used 2 neck pickups or something)

[Groovehacker]

The two neck pickups does  ring a bell with me. I will measure the recesses and see. Thanks for your input. Cheers

[Aidan63]

try dropping the pickups ? I have my pickups set lower than the base Fender factory settings, with flats on and it's a better sound for me and my (admittedly rubbish) technique

try a change of strings ? try less gain more volume or more gain less volume on the amp ?

plenty to try before spending money changing things

[nikon F]

On 14/04/2022 at 11:38, Groovehacker said:

Hi, I do have other basses. It's more of a project to beef it up. Currently, it emits a lit of noise when I touch any string. Not fret them, just touch them. I've looked at everything else, and so I thought I'd upgrade the pickups to see if that fixes it. I don't consider it a lot to spend. I'd rather do that than upgrade to an American Jazz. I already have an American p bass. Anyway thanks for the reply. 

i wouldnt have thought that is a pup problem. more an earth thing.

[Phil Starr]

On 14/04/2022 at 11:38, Groovehacker said:

Hi, I do have other basses. It's more of a project to beef it up. Currently, it emits a lit of noise when I touch any string. Not fret them, just touch them. I've looked at everything else, and so I thought I'd upgrade the pickups to see if that fixes it. I don't consider it a lot to spend. I'd rather do that than upgrade to an American Jazz. I already have an American p bass. Anyway thanks for the reply. 

I've just recently done just this. Mine is a MIA Jazz but a Highway One the entry level model at the time. It's a lovely thing to play but the finish a bit basic and it looks like it was made of all the unused parts laying around the factory. Anyway Jazz basses are noisy as the PUPs are single coils and pick up a lot of electrical noise. It is worth checking the grounding of the bridge but even if it is good you'll still get the problem you describe. 

 

So I went for noiseless PUP's. After a lot of reading I decided there was no information around as to what was good. A friend of mine had built a J and fitted the Fender noiseless pups so in the end I stuck with Fender. It works, the noise is a thing of the past and it is now quieter than my P.  It's a bit darker sounding than the originals due to the extra coils which filter out some of the top end. You'll have to re set the eq's you use and I also tend to dial in more bridge PU than before but I'm now preferring the new tone. One bonus is the the old Pups tended to boom on the E string and that has been tamed with the sound generally more even across the fret board. Classier but less characterful but that suits me, I lack class

 

They just dropped in  but they are deeper than the originals and I had to shave down the foam 'spring' by about 5mm. You get a pair of spares with the pup's anyway.

[Chienmortbb]

The Di Marzio Jazz pups are humbucking so also noiseless. I put one in the bridge position on my Aerodyne P/J. I don’t have a jazz but even the noise from one single coil drove me nuts.