Okay, so this is the bass I'm looking into buying; Ibanez GSR Mikro 5-String Bass Guitar which has two STDJ5 pups. Now, all of this is gibberish to me, so what pups would you guys recommend I get(Keep in mind, I play a 5-string and in Drop C)?
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LoveThatBass
Supporting Member
Keep in mind both pickups are the same length. Typically Jazz Bass pickups are wider for the bridge and narrower for the Neck. Unless you buy two of the same pickups that are dual coil you probably will not be able to get rid of the hum/buzz as a set of single coils Neck and Bridge are reverse wound reverse polarity so they cancel hum/buzz when they are at equal volume levels.
That's pretty great info to have. Are the pickups that are stock with this guitar jazz pick ups? Also, what would I search to find new pups the same size? What should I look for to get a good tone out of a drop tuning in regards to buying new pups?
What do you NOT like about the original pickups?
Trying to understand......you're buying the shortest scale bass on the market for a drop tuning, and you're contemplating changing the pickups before you even buy it?
You can spend a few hundred dollars on new pickups and end up with a sound you like even less than the stock pickups.
Also, "good" tone is the product of more than just pickups. Its a combination of things. Things like neck construction and quality of assembly can matter more than pickups sometimes. And if you have deficiencies in that area then a pickup upgrade wont help much at all.
If you just want to upgrade for the fun and experience of it then go right ahead. It's a good skill to learn. But if you are wanting to improve your tone I think you'd be smarter saving money back and buying a higher quality bass.
Also, "good" tone is the product of more than just pickups. Its a combination of things. Things like neck construction and quality of assembly can matter more than pickups sometimes. And if you have deficiencies in that area then a pickup upgrade wont help much at all.
If you just want to upgrade for the fun and experience of it then go right ahead. It's a good skill to learn. But if you are wanting to improve your tone I think you'd be smarter saving money back and buying a higher quality bass.
The way to do this is to first measure the pickups, then look for split coil, or stacked coil pickups the same size, you'll probably wind up with 2 neck pickups, it won't matter if they are dual coil, for 2 good dual coil, you'll spend between half, and as high as double the price of the bass, and it may , or may not sound as good as the Ibanez pickups it came with. The other thing to know is that strings on a bass with the micro scale are already low tension, due to the short length, tuned to C the B string could get kind of floppy. I know you don't have the bass yet, but, nail down what it is that you do not like about the pickups, (hard without having the bass, but kind of important), so you can narrow your choices. I know I'm putting down your ideas, but, this is only my opinions anyway, and I have 4 decades + of tinkering with bass electronics, still....someone with just as much "time in" might not agree, so...only my 2 cents.
String choice can make more difference in tone than pickup choice, unless the pickups are a completely different type.
Get the bass first, give it a good chance to prove itself,
then try a different type string set or two to see the variability, and if you get what you're looking for.
Pickup change last.
Get the bass first, give it a good chance to prove itself,
then try a different type string set or two to see the variability, and if you get what you're looking for.
Pickup change last.
That's what I was thinking. Plus, we don't even have any information on what kind of pickups the OP is looking for. How can we recommend anything, without knowing what the OP is searching for?
Buy the bass first, then spend a considerable length of time accessing the tonality of the stock pickups. If something about them is not satisfactory, then make a detailed note of what qualities replacement pickups should have. Then and only then can you seek recommendations.
Okay, normally when I talk to people about guitars, they all say they HAD to change the stock pickups out for something different because it didn't give them the tone they wanted/needed. With this having jazz pick ups, I figured they'd be rubbish when it came to drop tunings. I'm not much of an instrumentalist AT ALL, so I don't know what any of this poopie means. Kinda why I came here for help.
I have another 5-String Ibanez buts it's a full scale and it's too rough on my joints and stuff to play the things I need to play, thus the reason behind me buying a short scale.
As I stated in my OP, I was looking for info on what pickups would fit in the bass, and that would work for Drop C.
If I didn't need to buy new pickups, that's all I needed to hear.
I have another 5-String Ibanez buts it's a full scale and it's too rough on my joints and stuff to play the things I need to play, thus the reason behind me buying a short scale.
As I stated in my OP, I was looking for info on what pickups would fit in the bass, and that would work for Drop C.
If I didn't need to buy new pickups, that's all I needed to hear.
You should probably hear the bass first before you decide if you need new pickups.
You're going into the purchase with the mindset that the pickups are going to be terrible, when you haven't even heard them yet. For all you know, they could be the best pickups that you have ever played. You need to actually hear them before you can decide. If it does turn out that you don't like the pickups, then you still need to spend an extensive amount of time actually playing the bass, so that you can figure out exactly what you don't like about them. That is the only way that you will have any hope of finding better pickups. You don't just blindly ask for recommendations, when you buy pickups; you have to figure out precisely what you are trying to improve upon, so that you can make the right choice amongst the hundreds of options that are available to you.
Wait, Drop C on a 5 string?
Most 5s are tuned BEADG. Are you going to tune up to CGCFBb?
Most 5s are tuned BEADG. Are you going to tune up to CGCFBb?
When you say you play drop C, do you mean the E string is downtuned to C? What is the B string tuned to?
And yes, you will probably be throwing money away if you change pickups randomly without any idea of what you're looking for.
And yes, you will probably be throwing money away if you change pickups randomly without any idea of what you're looking for.
Drop C being CGCFA. The other guys play 6 strings and with my E string being tuned to C instead of my A, when I play the E string it's naaaasty sounding.
With a heavier E string a four string bass can handle drop C, then you will be playing the same fretboard positions as the guitarist. Some folks aim for that but others don't, it's up to your preference.