Re: Looking to Upgrade J Pickups in my Fender (Mexico) 5 string Jazz Bass

John, I'd try DiMarzio DP549s. they're a great jazz bass pick-up. I've been using my G&L L2500 as my main bass these days, over my fours. Because, I can get any tone, that I want from it. It's an awesome bass. Anyway, about the pick-ups. There a stacked humbucker pick-up & give you a really nice fat bell like tone { Dead Quite also }. I put the DP149s in my favorite Fender 75 jazz bass & I love these pick-ups. I mainly us my G&L these days, over my other basses though.
If you want an all out great active jazz bass, then try the DP549s & use an AGUILAR OBP 3 pre-amp, bump it up to 18 volts & I think you'll be happy. The DeMarzio's will work with that pre-amp very nicely. I've done it. Great tone.

--- In [email protected], "JohnL" <john_lapietra@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Fellow Bass-Heads and Tone Freaks... Looking for Suggestions here...  I bought this Mexican Jazz Bass New around 1999 (Mostly choose it over the American Standard because it actually had 3/16" WIDER Fretboard at the Bridge than the American Standard! and the deep WINE color, blew away the other choices at the time)  The stock pickups sounded awful (I knew this before I purchased it knowing I was going to upgrade the Pickups anyhow and since I paid less than half the cost of an American Standard, should be plenty of justification in that direction.
> 
> Well over the years the 5 string hardly saw any use as my 4 string Basses and Drop D Tunings seemed to negate the use of a 5 string for me until recently... I now play in a HEAVY Modern Rock Band with a lot of Low B requirements.. Some Funk & Slap, Some Over-Drive, but a lot of punch and attack (In yo Face Bass!). My Main 4 Strings (and preferred tone by choice) are two near identical Vintage G&L Basses with stock active Pickups- through a full Hartke 8x10 XL Stack.. sometimes powered by beastly Crest Solid State and sometimes by '69 Ampeg V-4 (all tubes). I use a plethora of modded analog pedals, but the heart of my pre-amp tone comes from a Vintage Modded Boss Bass EQ, and an EBS Compressor. I was also using an American Washburn 4 with single passive P-Pickups, tuned down to C Standard
  (took a lot of tweaking with Truss rod and such, but trying to get it down to B kinda exceeded the "Threshold"..) That's when I blew the Dust off my Jazz 5.
> 
> First of all, I hate the fact that if Both Volume Controls are not completely equal on passive single coils, it's "hum noise" from HELL (much worse on cheapo stock single coil pickups, like magnified!) 1st thing I did was wired both pickups to the top Volume Control (like it is configured on my G&L's) so it instantly makes them  noise-canceling (for the most part anyhow). Next I Shielded both P/U Cavities and control Cavity with Copper tape (this helped even more). Last I replaced the 2nd (no longer used) Volume Pot with a "Guitar Fetish" rotary selectable, 9-volt active preamp (Hell of a time fitting the 9 volt in that cavity after shielding, but got that sucker packed in there). Replaced the stock knob and Walla- the Jazz Bass still looks completely stock and SEXY as hell. I thought th
 e preamp would give it enough "push" to compete with my G&L's but after about the 3rd HEAVY gig using it (It's way quieter now), it still lacks output and high end punch (the G&L's sound much like an Active Music Man Bass). So that's is where YOU, my good friends, come in??
> What would be the best choice to upgrade for the type of performance and tone that I'm looking for??
> 
> I've always been partial towards active pickups for Bass and even 6 string... So much quieter and no dealing with Bridge Grounded system HUM. I have a single Bartolini J (in the sweet spot) with active Bartolini Preamp in my Fretless and it kicks serious ARSE (but there are so dam many different Bartolini's available now.. which one to choose? Active or Passive?  I've used EMG's and they are better than nearly all Passive Pickups I've tried, but a little on the plain vanilla side.  I've heard that the 1/4 pounder's actives are noisy junk, and I've scrapped DiMarzio's before.  I was never that into passive pickups until I started using this Washburn (as noted above)sounds really dam good, even tuned down to Baritone C! So I was also reading about NORSTRAND Passive Bass Pickups and praise 
 that they are the BEST..  Okay, for those that don't know, the Mexican Jazz has 2 identical sized J pickups (same size as the Bridge on a US model) where as the American has a slightly smaller sized J Pickup at the Neck. I don't feel like messing with the pick guard so I'm going with the stock-sized set replacements. I will be tuning it in Standard B with Heavy emphasis on low end and some slap..
> 
> Suggestions, Opinions, Recommendations Folks???
> 
> Thanks Much in advance,
> 
> John LaPietra (J-man)
>




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