Need to find jazz pickups with the biggest growl and bite

[dfwkeys]

I want to replace my fender jazz bass pickups for a new set of pickups but i'm looking for something with a huge grow in it. 

[DWBass]

Single coil pickups are what give Jazz basses it's growl. Try a different pre-amp first.

[dhagler]

Single coil pickups are what give Jazz basses it's growl. Try a different pre-amp first.

I don't know very much about pre-amps; do passive basses have them?

[funkStrat_97]

I don't know very much about pre-amps; do passive basses have them?

No.  Any thing that boosts, adds, or otherwise requires a battery would make it an active bass.  Passive basses are very simple electronic circuits consisting of pickups, pots (volume and tone controls), a capacitor or two and that's usually about it.  No electrical power is required for the instrument to function.

[malthumb]

I want to replace my fender jazz bass pickups for a new set of pickups but i'm looking for something with a huge grow in it. 

Which Fender Jazz do you have.  That may influence the responses you get.  If you have a USA or Japan Fender, you  may not get a lot of difference from pickups. If you have a Mexican Fender, you'll get some benefit from changing pickups.  If you have a Standard Jazz
from any of the three countries, you can improve it by adding any of several aftermarket preamps.

FWIW I recently added an Audere JZ3 to my Mexican Jazz.  That was a significant improvement.  Last week I swapped out the stock pickups for a set of Aero pickups.  This bass ROCKS!  It's still not right on top of the Marcus Miller that I own, but it's slamming.

Peace,

James 

[dhagler]

No.  Any thing that boosts, adds, or otherwise requires a battery would make it an active bass.  Passive basses are very simple electronic circuits consisting of pickups, pots (volume and tone controls), a capacitor or two and that's usually about it.  No electrical power is required for the instrument to function.

So some Fender Jazz basses are passive and others are active.

[DWBass]

So some Fender Jazz basses are passive and others are active.

Correct. If it doesn't require a battery, it's passive. Now if the bass he's speaking of is passive and not the American model, he may benefit from a pickup swap but in general, most stock Fender Jazz's MIM or USA sound good right out the box. Now if one is seeking a different sound, I understand. But most Jazz basses already growl!

[malthumb]

So some Fender Jazz basses are passive and others are active.

If the word "Standard" is in the model name, it's passive.

If the word "Deluxe" is in the model name, it's active.

Other than that you have to look for a battery.  If it has one, it's active, if it doesn't it's passive.

You can also sometimes tell from the controls layout.  If it's got a bass, treble, and midrange control, it's active.

Peace,

James

[CallowHill]

This is an interesting thread.

Whenever I meet a customer who is unhappy with the amplified voice of their instrument, I tend to suggest a pickup swap as opposed to a preamp installation.  Dfwkeys, if you can tweak the eq settings on your amp to get a sound you like then perhaps a preamp is what you need, but a change in pickups will directly change the amplified voice of the bass. 

Many stock Fender pickups (from MIM to FCS) are pretty low in the pecking order for reasons involving profit margins.  There are several brands to check out for replacements like Fralin, Nordstrand, and Lollar just to name a few.

Ultimately, the tonal response and feel of a bass begins with the resonance of the wood and how it relates to what you want to hear.  From there, the pickups are the next step, followed by a preamp if you want more variation in shaping your sound.  Incidentally, brands and gauges of strings can have a huge effect on changing the sound of the bass to suit your tastes.

That's generally how I approach this sort of thing.  Just my two cents.

[dhagler]

Correct. If it doesn't require a battery, it's passive. Now if the bass he's speaking of is passive and not the American model, he may benefit from a pickup swap but in general, most stock Fender Jazz's MIM or USA sound good right out the box. Now if one is seeking a different sound, I understand. But most Jazz basses already growl!

I own a MIM fretless Jazz and I knew it was passive (no battery).  It sounds good to me but my ear is not as discriminating as some.

[dhagler]

If the word "Standard" is in the model name, it's passive.

If the word "Deluxe" is in the model name, it's active.

Other than that you have to look for a battery.  If it has one, it's active, if it doesn't it's passive.

You can also sometimes tell from the controls layout.  If it's got a bass, treble, and midrange control, it's active.

Peace,

James

Thanks.  My MIM fretless is passive.

[dfwkeys]

Which Fender Jazz do you have.  That may influence the responses you get.  If you have a USA or Japan Fender, you  may not get a lot of difference from pickups. If you have a Mexican Fender, you'll get some benefit from changing pickups.  If you have a Standard Jazz
from any of the three countries, you can improve it by adding any of several aftermarket preamps.

FWIW I recently added an Audere JZ3 to my Mexican Jazz.  That was a significant improvement.  Last week I swapped out the stock pickups for a set of Aero pickups.  This bass ROCKS!  It's still not right on top of the Marcus Miller that I own, but it's slamming.

Peace,

James 

I have the MIM 5 string fender jazz bass

[dfwkeys]

i guess i love the sound of some fatstack nordstrand pickups, but i want something with more power then my stock... i'm not sure what should be a good choice...

[browntree]

I don't think you'll need any more power than those Fatstacks are going to provide.  They are going to bring it... the single coil mode is very sweet and melodic (equivalent to the the Big Singles).  When you switch to hum-canceling, it's more growl and punch than a little bit...extremely edgy.

If you really want to tear their mouthes off, put an Aguilar preamp in there to go along with them Fatstacks...
ask Mr. Callowhill...he'll tell ya


Browntree

And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy. I Chronicles 15:16

[dfwkeys]

I don't think you'll need any more power than those Fatstacks are going to provide.  They are going to bring it... the single coil mode is very sweet and melodic (equivalent to the the Big Singles).  When you switch to hum-canceling, it's more growl and punch than a little bit...extremely edgy.

If you really want to tear their mouthes off, put an Aguilar preamp in there to go along with them Fatstacks...
ask Mr. Callowhill...he'll tell ya


Browntree

And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy. I Chronicles 15:16

I plan to get the fatstacks for my schecter, but i need something for my fender pickup replacements.

[hands5]

Correct. If it doesn't require a battery, it's passive. Now if the bass he's speaking of is passive and not the American model, he may benefit from a pickup swap but in general, most stock Fender Jazz's MIM or USA sound good right out the box. Now if one is seeking a different sound, I understand. But most Jazz basses already growl!

I think it actually depends on who's Jazz bass you're refering to, because as good as my Sadowsky Sounds, it never really did have that growl ,and that was because it had Sadowsky ( Dimarzio Ultra Jazzes) Hum cancelling pickups,and a Swamp Ash body,personally I would've have like it to have had the body made of Northen Ash/and true Nordstrand or Jason Lollar single coil pickups.
I've have taken out the Hum cancelling pups out of the Sadowsky,and have replace them with Joe Barden single coils,and this has made a tremendous difference.