Need recommendation for Jazz bass replacement pickups

[keith_h]

....
As I said above, I think a bass should have modern, hi-fi sound - which means clean, .....

I guess that is really the question. The original Jazz and Precision basses are not clean sounding and the grit is part of their sound. When I play my JB it is because I want the sound of a JB (limited as it is). If I'm looking for a clean modern bass sound I have my Alembics along with the myriad of other modern basses to choose from.

[cozmik_cowboy]

....
As I said above, I think a bass should have modern, hi-fi sound - which means clean, .....

I guess that is really the question. The original Jazz and Precision basses are not clean sounding and the grit is part of their sound. When I play my JB it is because I want the sound of a JB (limited as it is). If I'm looking for a clean modern bass sound I have my Alembics along with the myriad of other modern basses to choose from.

I understand; I was just suggesting that DiMarzio is not the way to go, as they up the distortion significantly over stock.  I stand my earlier recommendation of Lindys for classic F-type thump.

Peter

[gtrguy]

Great stuff to think about and thanks to all who posted! I also didn't realize the 2 volume control setup on the bass, as I have not owned a Jazz bass before. I tore into the bass and removed the foam under the pickups and installed softer foam so I could lower them a bit more. I had at first thought the bottom foam was a bar magnet like they use on cheap pickups to replace the non-high quality pole pieces. However, it was just gray hard foam. Now that I have it set up better (neck adjustment, strobe tune, pickup height, bridge height, etc) I am liking the stock pickups more and more. One of my Mij 62ri Strats has an EMG active pickup setup which sounds great. That might be something for me to think about on this bass later on, but I don't know how the bass setup compares to the quality of the guitar version.

[edwin]

Great stuff to think about and thanks to all who posted! I also didn't realize the 2 volume control setup on the bass, as I have not owned a Jazz bass before. I tore into the bass and removed the foam under the pickups and installed softer foam so I could lower them a bit more. I had at first thought the bottom foam was a bar magnet like they use on cheap pickups to replace the non-high quality pole pieces. However, it was just gray hard foam. Now that I have it set up better (neck adjustment, strobe tune, pickup height, bridge height, etc) I am liking the stock pickups more and more. One of my Mij 62ri Strats has an EMG active pickup setup which sounds great. That might be something for me to think about on this bass later on, but I don't know how the bass setup compares to the quality of the guitar version.

If you are going to go more modern, I recommend the Activators over the EMGs. I have a 5 string bass that was made for me in 1985 and it originally had EMGs. I always struggled with getting the right depth and punch out of it (although other people seemed to like it). I went to Bartolinis about 20 years ago and that was an improvement, but when I put activators in it a couple of years ago, it gave me a very Fender type tone, but still clean. The Barts are a bit wooly in comparison and the EMGs felt weirdly compressed.

The bass is a neck through, so it's very different from a Fender acoustically, but I have had all three brands in there and the Alembics win.

[gtrguy]

Now I am waiting for a 97 mij Jazzmaster to show up. I hear that those pickups could really stand to be replaced, as they might be strat pickups hidden under the Jazzmaster covers. More projects to work on during the pandemic!

[peoplechipper]

I doubt they'd be strat pickups under the covers; more hassle that it's worth to make that work...