PUTTING JAZZ PICKUPS ON A DOUBLE HUMBUCKER BASS

WOULD THAT WORK? HOW WOULD I GO ABOUT THAT BECAUSE I REALLY DO NOT LIKE THE SLAP TONE ON MY YAMAHA AND I REALLY LIKE THE TONE OF FENDER JAZZ BASSES (EVEN THE SQUIER VINTAGE MODIFIED BASS I LIKE BETTER THAN MINE). ERIC, WOULD GOING TO SINGLE COIL BE POSSIBLE EVEN IF MY BASS IS DOUBLE HUMBUCKER? IF SO, HOW DO I GO ABOUT PICKUP BRAND AND INSTALATION AND PLACEMENT?

ALSO HAPPY CAPS LOCK DAY

You get single coils built into some humbucker shells.

Darkstrike wrote:

You get single coils built into some humbucker shells.

would this fix my problem with my sound, or do i have to adjust the preamp too? or should i just get a whole new bass?

my tbird has emg 35p/35j in square housings...they sound nothing like the 35dc, and the bridge pup is very jazzbass twangy sounding ( if there is such an analogy )

Bobo, I totally agree with what Bill and Mike said. But to be sure, I have to ask you what kind of humbuckers are there in your bass? Are they like two single coils melded together? Or are they simple rectangle shape like an EMG would be? Or are they like a split P humbucker?

Really, no matter what style they are, you can get just about any pickup into any bass. The question is how neat you want it to be. With a pickguard, you can cover any type of difference, since the hole routing would be covered up. If the new pickup is close in design to the original, you can sometimes get away with a pickup ring.

Lets say that the original pickup is a double J design like this:



Obviously, you could rip out the original coils, and replace them with the single coil. But honestly, if it were me, I would have a switch installed to be able to go between single coil and humbucking operation.

Now then, let's say that it's an EMG style like this:



You would have a harder time doing the swap since the two designs are different.

And if they are a split P design like this:



There is No way you will get a single coil into those cases, since a single coil is one solid bar of material. Your only option would be to re-route the pocket, and to then cover it somehow with a pickguard.

Could you take a picture of the pickup you want to replace? That way we could all see exactly what you have to work with, and we can go from there.

How big are the pickups?

i gotta figure out how i feel about all you guys encouraging bobo to do something like this before i say something. i mean ... how do i say it without being mean?

bobo,

i encourage you to keep experimenting and trying different things, this is how we learn, but just remember your financial and resource limitations. example ... you had an issue with routering on your last project and here is another project where people are telling you about routering again.

i'de prefer that you not do another project that you're gonna post pictures of, and make me cry again. its your bass and its up to you ... but there are better solutions if you try and do some research.

this is the internet. this is not where i go for "the truth". sometimes getting to the truth involes me messing stuff up a few times ... thus my ecouragement to you and how we learn. i just think of how i feel about myself when i botch something up or i cant get what i want even with extrenuous effort and patience ... if someone else can avoid that then good.

i.e. i dont know why you want to rip out humbuckers and replace with single coils. i have basses with both and both, thru a clean channel have their own unique sound, but the humbucker basses can be manipulated to have the same sound as a jazz setup ... even better in my opinion with more low end. active humbuckers even allow you more options in sound manipulation. a lot of humbuckers can also be wired as straight single coils as well; the second coil is just inactive. i dont know how that would sound with the humbucker magnetic field still available with one coil.

perhaps your having a gear problem and not a pickup problem with the goal your trying to achieve. a lot of the overall sound design basis i overcome with a preamp modeler. sure, its modeling amp and cabinet setups ... but, sound more like the sound i'm looking for none the less.

its my opinion that you might just need better humbuckers. (i know a lot of you guys dont like em but ...) semour duncan offers many options in humbuckers at a pretty decent price that may fit the sound / output that your looking for. more money but ... barts offer even more options; 3 actually, with most models having high, mid and low sound options. you may even consider and aftermarket rickenbacker replacement pickup that better fits a humbucker rout, for that single coil sound (iddid be more ricky but that may be cool or what your looking for).

and then there is the truely profound idea of ...............

next time you buy a bass, get the bass that better suits your needs. this is one i have just begun to follow myself. frustrating, because music stores offer whats on the rack and custom basses sometimes start around $1400 ... and i wont pay that for a bass either. this is why i'de started rebuilding them ... bass that suits my needs at an affordable price.

..................................

i just read this back again. its what i needed to say and i still sound mean; even with effort not to be. maybe more condescending ... whatever. if someone feels some kinda way about it, i'm ok with it because i am .... just trying to help.

madmike wrote:

i encourage you to keep experimenting and trying different things, this is how we learn, but just remember your financial and resource limitations. example ... you had an issue with routering on your last project and here is another project where people are telling you about routering again.

Who mentioned routing?

You canbuy single coils that are smaller than the humbuckers, and cover them with the empty humbucker shells, single coil tone, stock humbucker looks, no routing, completley returnable to stock later.

I've seen it done often.

I appreciate your sentiments, MadMike, and personally I don't take what you said to be mean at all. But I think a little further clarification is in order, if I may. I will also work hard at not sounding snippy, so bear with me.

I went back to every response, and nowhere did anyone come right out and say "you need to re-route your bass". It was only listed as a possible option, which I'm sorry to say, it is, regardless of how much any of us approve or disapprove. I believe that we have so far tossed out but a few ideas as to what BBMN might wish to do, and it is up to him to decide which way to go, regardless of our own personal level of comfort. But since this is still in the asking phase, I don't believe that we have completely covered all possible options that might help him.

Also, my own last response to BBMN includes me asking him to post a picture of the pickups in question. Like you, I would not want to see him start going at his bass with an axe to cram a different pickup into the thing, but I cannot properly evaluate just how much re-working we are talking about until I see the original pickup. And if I were to decide IMHO that it would cause too much damage, and be too much work, then I will say so. Of course, BBMN is still free to do as he wishes. All we can do is give the best advice that we can.

Whether or not we are giving advice to BBMN to either do a bunch of routing/get new pickups/buy another bass is still all of us imparting our two-cents as to what we individually feel he ought to do. And again, these are only suggestions, not gospel. The reason why I say this is because I believe that we have to be cautious to not come across as having "the" answer to any given problem, because it isn't "the" answer, but rather, in a list of possible answers.

Now then, all of that having been said, you have raised a very good point about asking BBMN why exactly he would want to do such a thing, which is something that the rest of us overlooked. So I went back yet again, and re-read the original post....and then it struck me. BBMN, if your goal is to make your Yamaha RBX sound like a Fender Jazz, then I urge you to stop right there. Because no matter what you do to your Yamaha, it will never sound exactly the same as a Jazz will. If your thought process is "I like the slapping sound of a stock Jazz, but not my Yamaha, so what do I need to do to get that sound?", then the best answer IMHO is, I'm sorry to say, get yourself a Jazz bass.

At the end of the day MadMike, I fully recognize that you are only trying to be helpful, and that fact is that your level of knowledge and experience in such matters is superior and valuable. Obviously, you have a conscience and a level of care towards our brethren here, otherwise you would not speak up. These are all good things as far as I'm concerned, and I want you to say something whenever you feel something is amiss. I only ask that, in asking that others hear your viewpoint, that you in turn listen to the response.

Ah! Thank you, Bill! Now I can see what we're dealing with here!

I think that it would be easy to throw in a single coil into those pockets, but I agree with what MadMike said about doing such a thing:

madmike wrote:

i.e. i dont know why you want to rip out humbuckers and replace with single coils. i have basses with both and both, thru a clean channel have their own unique sound, but the humbucker basses can be manipulated to have the same sound as a jazz setup ... even better in my opinion with more low end. active humbuckers even allow you more options in sound manipulation. a lot of humbuckers can also be wired as straight single coils as well; the second coil is just inactive. i dont know how that would sound with the humbucker magnetic field still available with one coil.

I think that it might be possible and easier to wire in a splitter switch to your existing humbuckers, rather than replace the pickups.

madmike wrote:

and then there is the truely profound idea of ...............

next time you buy a bass, get the bass that better suits your needs. this is one i have just begun to follow myself. frustrating, because music stores offer whats on the rack and custom basses sometimes start around $1400 ... and i wont pay that for a bass either. this is why i'de started rebuilding them ... bass that suits my needs at an affordable price.

You hit the nail right on the head, MadMike. This is why I don't play stock basses, since they don't offer the options I need/want.

BBMN, along those lines, I recall you posting a video of guy slap-demoing an $89 SX Jazz that had you, in your own words, "pooping bricks". Well heck, if you're willing to plunk down $90 for new pickups, why not just buy the SX bass? It would be a LOT neater AND cheaper than tearing into your Yamaha.

thanx for "catching my drift" guys.

i'm all about aftermarket and over the top cool stuff ... i just didnt want young buck to go down a long and windey unnecessary road. if he wants to ... thats cool ... but i just thought that there was an easier solution for him; thats all.

btw ... eric mentioned routing in his lack of understanding about the existing pickups ... if it was a split p humbucker pocket in the bass, routing would need to be done to accept a jazz pickup. of course, a soapbar would accept a jazz with the extra open pocket on the front / back / either / or. again ... if you were so inclined to do so, either way ... who am i to stop you.

yeah i might just get that SX instead of the pickups, on the other hand, my yamaha has my trem on it and 5 strings, so i guess you could say im trying to build myself a "perfect bass" with a funk sound with a budget. on the other hand, i dont know what im doing or how to replace a pickup, and on the OTHER hand, its my b day thurs so i wanna learn how to on a cheap bass. idk wat im gonna do nao