Jazz Bass Pickup Replacement Follies

I bought a Mexican Fender fretless Jazz Bass about a year ago for $180 - it was time for me to test the fretless waters and I figured a cheapo bass that felt fine to play would be a good start. I liked the way it played but it channeled all kinds of electrical buzz and didn't punch through the mix as well as any of my fretted basses. A few weeks ago I ordered a set of Ultra Jazz replacement pickups direct from DiMarzio (the factory charges list price - best to look around for deals) and a set of Thomastik-Infeld flatwound strings for good measure. The bass forum at the Fender Discussion Page argues about these strings pretty much every other day, and while they're pricey I was intrigued by the loyalty some players have for them.

My workspace My other workspace It's important to have a clean, level workspace when modifying an instrument. So I wheeled one in.

First I removed the strings and unscrewed the main pickguard. The thumbrest proved to be a royal pain as the screws are about a foot long and recessed deep in the rest, requiring a skinny phillips head with a wide bit. I don't really have one of those so I mangled the thumbrest as best I could, then lifted the pickguard with the rest still attached. For all the buzz I was surprised to find a previous owner's half-assed attempt to shield the cavity.

The moment of truth came as I attempted to install the new bridge pickup; I'd heard rumors on the web that the Mexican Js don't route the body enough for replacement pickups - the Mexicans use two identical pickups while all other models sport a slightly wider pickup in the bridge position. I found this to be true, but also that a dozen smacks with the heel of the hand (or the handle of a pair of pliers) rectifies the situation enough to keep moving. The DiMarzio documentation recommended cutting some of the packing foam to use as a cushion, as the pickups are a good bit deeper than the originals and can't abide the original padding. My 30-watt Radio Shack soldering pen & I made a few of the ugliest connections ever melted, then it was time to test.

With one of the old strings attached I got a thump out of the neck pickup, then the bridge. The ugly soldering worked.

All that remained was to replace the pickguard, string on the TIs, and store the old Fender pickups.

Total time - about an hour and forty-five minutes, including all the photography and a bunch of trips to the garage to dig for screwdrivers and soldering iron cleaner. The sound is much improved, and the TIs feel and sound terrific. Check out the before-and-after mp3 file - I play a little riff then lift the bass toward the computer monitor, first with the original pickups and then with the DiMarzios. The original pickups would buzz no matter where I placed the bass (a pain since I record to Pro Tools), but the new ones are silent until I get right up to the monitor. To be honest I was expecting a little more oomph from the new pickups, but I'll take refinement over volume anytime. Here's the bass live, running through a SansAmp Bass Drive DI and a Hartke Kickback 10. By this point I'd put Rotosound Swing Bass roundwounds on there - the flats on this bass just don't cut the mix once other instruments get involved. The Rotosound .35s are pretty low-tension, which is something I came to love about the TIs.

Home