Please, help with pickup replacement decision.

T

Tigerclaw_x

Apr 25, 2016
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#1
I got myself a jazz bass without pickup. At this point I am considering opening up cavities, and, instead of jazz pickups, getting humbuckers. I found two sets of humbuckers, both for about 65 bucks. Which one do you think I should pick:\
1. MEC Warwick vintage humbuckers (they are on Warwick streamer) OR
2. YGD H5. Those are from Yamaha TRBX504 bass.

Both cost the same, any suggestions as to which one is overall a better pickup? The bass will be set up as PASSIVE. MEC Vintage humbuckers are passive, so are YHD h5s.
Thank you.
 
#2
If you want humbuckers, especially split coil humbuckers, there are plenty of J-pickups that fit the existing routs, saving much time and effort. For example:

DiMarzio Model J
DiMarzio Ultra Jazz
Seymour Duncan Apollo
Lindy Fralin "split" J's
Bartolini (certain models)

And several others whose names escape me right now.

In addition, there are several "stacked" models out there that have decent tone, including:
Seymour Duncan regular and hot stacks
Kinman

And there are some other designs that are designed to be reduced noise, including

Lace Sensors
DiMarzio Area J's

It's all up to the tone you want, from "polite" stacks, to very close to vintage in the Apollo and Fralins, to scoop tone monster Ultra J's, to rockin' Model J's, to so little noise you forget you're plugged in, with the Kinmans and Barts. And it beats the hell out of risking ruining your bass by cutting on it.
 
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#3
iiipopes said:
If you want humbuckers, especially split coil humbuckers there are plenty of J-pickups that fit the existing routs, saving much time and effort. For example:

DiMarzio Model J
DiMarzio Ultra Jazz
Seymour Duncan Apollo
Lindy Fralin "split" J's
Bartolini (certain models)

And several others whose names escape me right now.

In addition, there are several "stacked" models out there that have decent tone, including:
Seymour Duncan regular and hot stacks
Kinman

And there are some other designs that are designed to be reduced noise, including

Lace Sensors
DiMarzio Area J's

It's all up to the tone you want, from "polite" stacks, to very close to vintage in the Apollo and Fralins, to scoop tone monster Ultra J's, to rockin' Model J's, to so little noise you forget you're plugged in, with the Kinmans and Barts. And it beats the hell out of risking ruining your bass by cutting on it.
Click to expand...


Thank you for the reply, Sir. If you noticed I specifically said the price $65 for a SET of those. There is no way I can get DiMarzio, Lace, Barts or Duncan, a SET for $65. Besides I specifically got this bass so I can play with it and experiment with it. So, between MEC vintage humbuckers and Yamaha YDG HH5, which ones would be better?
 
#8
Tigerclaw_x said:
Thank you for the reply, Sir. If you noticed I specifically said the price $65 for a SET of those. There is no way I can get DiMarzio, Lace, Barts or Duncan, a SET for $65. Besides I specifically got this bass so I can play with it and experiment with it. So, between MEC vintage humbuckers and Yamaha YDG HH5, which ones would be better?
Click to expand...
Sorry, I am not familiar with either of those. And sometimes, used J-pickups come up for sale in the classifieds section in your budget.
 
#11
I appreciate the work you did on that, but I'm skeptical about the timbre of those super-quiet humbucking pickups.
Aren't they lacking in "character" or top-end?

Once upon a time I was an all-humbuckers ALL the time person, but have since discovered I love the top-end bite of single-coils.
Split-Coils are a happy medium, but I'd draw the line at "stacked" humbuckers.
 
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#12
Killed_by_Death said:
I appreciate the work you did on that, but I'm skeptical about the timbre of those super-quiet humbucking pickups.
Aren't they lacking in "character" or top-end?

Once upon a time I was an all-humbuckers ALL the time person, but have since discovered I love the top-end bite of single-coils.
Split-Coils are a happy medium, but I'd draw the line at "stacked" humbuckers.
Click to expand...

I find the bartolini dual-coils are just a little bit down on "zing" - except their B-Axis, which sound more like single-coils than any other humbucking J that I have tried. Still completely likable though, I play a set of 9CBJS1 every day, and enjoy them very much. But actually, as far as I can tell, none of the other brands of split-coil humbucking J I tested were lacking anything notable in the character or bite departments. (someday I will get the sound clips up...). I did avoid the "stacked" J humbies (like Fender noiseless, et al) just because of their reputation for sounding dull.
 
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#14
I tried stacked humbuckers then went to side by side humbuckers.

Both give you hum free tone which is important if you play only 1 pickup or both with one backed down some.

Seems to me the stacked with 2 thinner coils didn't have as much meat like the 2 larger side by side coils.

Side by side coils are similar to a P-Bass pickup where basically 1 pickup is split in half and housed into a single pickup.

Stacked coils are 2 thin coil strips lengthwise housed together.

One thing I noticed with humbuckers is the tone will seem a bit darker than stock single coils. I compensated some by changing the stock 250k pots to 500k which humbuckers usually need just for that reason.

EMG, Seymour Duncan, and others make side by side humbuckers and some offer both type.

Just something to consider.
 
#15
Tigerclaw_x said:
I got myself a jazz bass without pickup. At this point I am considering opening up cavities, and, instead of jazz pickups, getting humbuckers. I found two sets of humbuckers, both for about 65 bucks. Which one do you think I should pick:\
1. MEC Warwick vintage humbuckers (they are on Warwick streamer) OR
2. YGD H5. Those are from Yamaha TRBX504 bass.

Both cost the same, any suggestions as to which one is overall a better pickup? The bass will be set up as PASSIVE. MEC Vintage humbuckers are passive, so are YHD h5s.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Yamaha
 
#17
Tigerclaw_x said:
I got myself a jazz bass without pickup. At this point I am considering opening up cavities, and, instead of jazz pickups, getting humbuckers.
Click to expand...
These are currently in the forum. I have played, and had friends that played, Carvin pickups. They are decent pickups for the price. The P2 is a standard size, so if you don't like these, there are many manufacturers, from boutique expensive to ebay cheap, to choose from:
For Sale - Carvin SP2 Soapbar Humbucking Pickups P2
 
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