Bass Pickups! a timeless question!

alhimself

hey, im hopin to get a new set of pickups for a passive bass ive lying around.
its a p/j config and was wondering the best route for pickups,
ideally id like to do the seymour duncan 1/4 pounders but im told they'll hum apparently!! no fun there..... :mad:
so suggestions welcome or thoughts on the following :
1. SD 1/4 pounder P and a dimarzio ultra jazz,altho was thinkin they might fight each other on volume??i dunno.
2. Dimarzio DP126 p/j set??
3. Dimarzio Split P(DP127) and an ultra jazz??

fender flatwound strings
thoughts,suggestions welcome and appreciated!!
aL

Doctor J

1/4 pounders will be fine. Think about it, if there was a hum issue with them nobody would buy them and a company with the status of Seymour Duncan wouldn't make them. I think your friend is just over-reacting to the J being single coil. It is more prone to hum but only in noisy environments and the P whill cancel hum in conjunction with the J and on its own. Provided you don't play with a neon sign on your crotch you should survive.

Eoin Madsen

+1. A little hum is a small price to pay for the right tone.

Doctor J wrote: »

Provided you don't play with a neon sign on your crotch you should survive.

This is where it always goes wrong for me. :pac:

"Girls Girls Girls"

Dord

I'd recommend Delano Pickups. I've got two of their Jazz pickups (humcancelling) in one of my basses. Very very nice and not too expensive!

Check out the JMVC and PMVC models, they're like quarter pounders but humcancelling and have bigger poles.

http://www.delano.de

I bought them from http://www.rockinger.com (also in Germany, fantastic service!)

alhimself

thanks for that all!
any thougths on the 1/4pounder and ultra jazz combo as i can get an ultra jazz cheap
my soldering skills wouldnt be the best and theres a blend pot so where would be handiest to get the job done?any idea how much?
thanks and appreciated!
aL

Zangetsu

Sorry to jump in on the thread but what j/p bass pups would have the highest output?

Doctor J

The worst sounding ones, I'd guess. Mega output doesn't equal great tone on a bass. If you really want to boost your signal maybe look at adding a pre but output for the sake of output rarely sounds good.

Dord

Doctor J wrote: »

The worst sounding ones, I'd guess. Mega output doesn't equal great tone on a bass. If you really want to boost your signal maybe look at adding a pre but output for the sake of output rarely sounds good.

Exactly, with super high output pickups you're going to suffer with bad tone.

One exception would be active EMG's where the pickup is very low output (even compared to a regular magnetic pickup) and the internal preamp does the boosting.

EMG's also have no noise, but the tone doesn't suit everyone. I prefer them powered with 18V instead of 9V. The circuit has a higher output and they sound much better! also it's still within the operating spec so it doesn't hurt.

bloo

ive a pair of 1/4 pound SD's in my jazz bass and i love the sound. I find them to give a good range of tone depending on how i 'play' my bass. I do get a bit of hum, but then again my guitar isnt very well shielded or earthed or whatever it is and im sure theres something i could do about that anyway...

Dord

bloo wrote: »

ive a pair of 1/4 pound SD's in my jazz bass and i love the sound. I find them to give a good range of tone depending on how i 'play' my bass. I do get a bit of hum, but then again my guitar isnt very well shielded or earthed or whatever it is and im sure theres something i could do about that anyway...

Yes there is something you can do about it. You can use copper or aluminium shielding tape to shield it, or else use shielding paint. You can buy those supplies from http://www.stewmac.com

bloo

Dord wrote: »

Yes there is something you can do about it. You can use copper or aluminium shielding tape to shield it, or else use shielding paint. You can buy those supplies from http://www.stewmac.com

Ah, nice one thanks for that! sounds easy enough

alhimself

Justing finished wiring up my SD' 1/4ers today,and a nice little blend pot, love the sound,a little hum of the J but ya wouldnt notice it much,the P blares all anyways!!! having read of stories of losing volume when both pickups are full on with a blend pot,i havent noticed anything at all,and delighted i gave it a go. my first time rewiring a bass or installing new pickups and glad i gave it go. found too handy sites where i got my bits n pieces, so ill leave the adresses here as i found they had whatever ya could need, i know theres stewmac but i didnt fancy paying the extra shipping or the chance of extra duty when they reach customs. so for its worth here's the sites


http://www.axesrus.com/axecart.htm got my blend pot from here, i got the mini 500k as i think the other one they have is half volume in the middle. works great. got a few other things too,new knobs and strap locks.and the shipping was only 2 blips altogether i think.


http://www.guitarpartsshop.co.uk/ got my SD's saved a little over the thomann route since i wanted to pick up some caps n pots too.

maybe someone will find them useful too! thanks for the help people!! couldnt have done it with you the people of the boards!!

cheers

aL

Zangetsu

Thanks for that, I'm going down the same road you did so this is a big help! Any chance on a soundclip?

alhimself

Zangetsu wrote: »

Thanks for that, I'm going down the same road you did so this is a big help! Any chance on a soundclip?

hey sorry for not gettin back, no sound clips myself but found this when i was checkin it out myself might be some help!! Comes with soundclips. :D

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=410553

aL