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

Thanks for the input man... Yea, everyone I know who get s a Carvin Axe (I'=
ve heard they make some sweet guitars), 1st thing they do is replace the st=
ock pickups...
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I guess if you don't compare them side by side, you=C2=A0may really know wh=
at you are missing?
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So, my quest is still on to try and get some pickups for my Jazz 5 that wil=
l be comparable to my two G&L's=C2=A0=C2=A0 I will def look into the DiMarz=
io's though... I love Bartolini's though but Which Ones!!!?? plus wiring up=
 a Bart Pre-amp can be an electrical nightmare (so many different ways to c=
onfigure...)
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I wish G&L made a drop in J Pickup, my quest would be over...

--- On Mon, 9/27/10, jollyr465 <[email protected]> wrote:


From: jollyr465 <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Bass Place] Looking to Upgrade J Pickups in my Fender (Mexico=
) 5 string Jazz Bass
To: [email protected]
Date: Monday, September 27, 2010, 10:55 AM


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I'm sorry Bro. but I've had a Carvin XB5P five string neck-thru body, a piz=
zo at the bridge, one stacked jazz pick up & the other was that big music m=
an type of pick up. I traded that bass off for my G&L & I didn't even plan =
on buying a bass that day. I was just killing time at GC & there was this b=
eautiful green USA built used G&L L2500 hanging up there. I ask if I could =
play it, I then plugged it into an SVT & was in tone heaven. I even had the=
 Carvin with me too. So I brought it in plugged it into the SVT also, just =
to get a side by side. The G&L won hands down, & it wasn't even set up righ=
t either. So, I traded up right there & then. I've never looked back at Car=
vin again. Note: if I would of kept the Carvin, I was going to get rid of t=
hose pickups & replace them with Barts & a Bart pre-amp. I'm just not a big=
 fan of Carvin pickups or EMGs either. Just IMO

--- In [email protected], William Whren <wmwhren2@...> wrote:
>
> I like Carvin stacked pickups.
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> --- On Mon, 9/20/10, JohnL <john_lapietra@...> wrote:
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> From: JohnL <john_lapietra@...>
> Subject: [Bass Place] Looking to Upgrade J Pickups in my Fender (Mexico) =
5 string Jazz Bass
> To: [email protected]
> Date: Monday, September 20, 2010, 1:38 PM
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> 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 A=
merican Standard because it actually had 3/16" WIDER Fretboard at the Bridg=
e 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 j=
ustification in that direction.
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> 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 rec=
ently... I now play in a HEAVY Modern Rock Band with a lot of Low B require=
ments.. Some Funk & Slap, Some Over-Drive, but a lot of punch and attack (I=
n 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 p=
edals, but the heart of my pre-amp tone comes from a Vintage Modded Boss Ba=
ss 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.
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> First of all, I hate the fact that if Both Volume Controls are not comple=
tely 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 w=
ired 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 (thi=
s helped even more). Last I replaced the 2nd (no longer used) Volume Pot wi=
th a "Guitar Fetish" rotary selectable, 9-volt active preamp (Hell of a tim=
e fitting the 9 volt in that cavity after shielding, but got that sucker pa=
cked in there). Replaced the stock knob and Walla- the Jazz Bass still look=
s completely stock and SEXY as hell. I thought the preamp would give it eno=
ugh "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??
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> I've always been partial towards active pickups for Bass and even 6 strin=
g... 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 m=
y Fretless and it kicks serious ARSE (but there are so dam many different B=
artolini's available now.. which one to choose? Active or Passive? I've use=
d 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 acti=
ves are noisy junk, and I've scrapped DiMarzio's before. I was never that i=
nto passive pickups until I started using this Washburn (as noted above)sou=
nds really dam good, even tuned down to Baritone C! So I was also reading a=
bout NORSTRAND Passive Bass Pickups and praise that they are the BEST.. Oka=
y, for those that don't know, the Mexican Jazz has 2 identical sized J pick=
ups (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 w=
ill be tuning it in Standard B with Heavy emphasis on low end and some slap=
..
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> Suggestions, Opinions, Recommendations Folks???
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> Thanks Much in advance,
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> John LaPietra (J-man)
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> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>









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