No matter if you’re starting from scratch or adding some serious growl to an existing instrument, Jazz Bass pickups from trusted brands like DiMarzio or Lace Sensor will help give it that distinctive tone you crave. Peruse our selection for something suitable.
Many of these sets come equipped with individual pickup-level knobs and an overall master tone control.
Neck Pickup
A neck pickup produces warmer and thicker tones than its bridge counterpart, and is typically employed for lead lines, melodies, solos in Blues, Jazz, or any genre of music. It works especially well when combined with distortion pedals like wah pedals to produce thick tones; additionally it’s often employed for rhythm playing such as in rock or metal performances – an example being Slash from Guns N’ Roses using one on “Sweet Child o’ Mine” from Guns N’ Roses featuring its use in “Sweet Child o’ Mine”.
The difference in sound between neck and bridge pickups can be explained by their locations within a guitar’s body. A bridge pickup, located closer to the strings, produces more high-frequency harmonics that create sharper and piercier tones for chords and riffs while neck pickups produce more mellow, well-rounded tones due to additional vibration of strings nearer its neck.
Wiring both pickups to have different output levels allows for a balanced tone between them when switching positions. Note, however, that how you play and pick will have an enormous effect on what kind of sound comes out from each pickup position.
There are various factors to keep in mind when selecting either a neck or bridge pickup, including your ideal amp setting: clean or distortion. Although bridge pickups tend to work best with distortion settings, neck pickups can still provide useful contrast without too much harshness and loss of clarity. Before choosing which pickup works best for you, try both in both settings – remembering also to consider amplifier and effects setup as important contributors in crafting your final sound! Furthermore, experiment with strings and tuning combinations until you discover one that meets all your musical requirements!
Bridge Pickup
As its name implies, the bridge pickup is located at the end of each guitar string near to its bridge, creating a powerful sound perfect for soloing and classic rock tones. When used together with neck pickups to balance overall guitar tonality.
To balance output between neck and bridge pickups, wire turns in each bobbin are carefully adjusted. Since bridge pickup experiences less string vibration than neck pickup, more wire turns are added in its bobbin so as to offset for lower output from bridge pickup. This deliberate variation in resistance helps ensure each pickup delivers equal sound pressure when played from different positions.
The bridge pickup usually features more trebly tones than its neck counterpart, making it ideal for creating riffs and lead lines. When used in combination with a distortion pedal, it can even help create wah effects. Keep in mind that single-coil bridge pickup sound depends heavily on picking technique – using light touch can prevent an overly harsh sound associated with these pickups.
An additional point of note is that bridge pickups tend to pick up more odd-order harmonics than even-order harmonics, leading to harsher and less pleasing tones than their even-order counterparts. By comparison, neck pickups usually pick up more even-order harmonics over odd-order ones for a smoother and more pleasant sound.
Your playing style and genre of choice will dictate which pickup best serves your needs; some prefer bridge pickups for their sharp, piercing sound that lends itself well to distorted riffs and rhythm parts, while others may favor neck pickups for their thick, warm tone when soloing or playing blues.
No matter your desired tone, Guitar Center offers a comprehensive selection of single-coil, humbucking and piezo pickups – as well as expert installation services that include rewiring preexisting connections – that will suit any musical vision. So whether it’s deep tones with humbuckers or the crisp bite of P90 pickups you seek – come visit one of their stores now.
Volume Controls
Jazz Basses offer bassists who wish to tailor the amount of sound coming from each pickup or combination, or both pickups together, individual volume controls. Each works like the EQ knobs on an amp: it allows you to cut or boost certain frequency bands of sound. This feature is especially helpful if you need to balance output across pickups – positioning each control around its center will produce neutral sound levels.
Volume controls provide another great way of customizing the tone of a Jazz Bass guitar. By altering either neck or bridge pickup volume levels, you can create anything from full to quiet sounds with just your fingertips. Or leave both controls up, and blend both sounds using an amplifier’s tone control for a range of subtle to aggressive tones.
Some Jazz Basses feature three or more volume controls for maximum tone control and versatility when shaping its tone. Furthermore, some basses include switches enabling users to select which coil of their dual or triple coil pickup you would like (rear for neck pickup, middle for mixed pickup and front bridge pickup), which gives the user more options when emphasizing certain frequencies while increasing output gain.
A distinguishing feature of the Jazz Bass from other basses is its hum-cancelling pickups. When both neck and bridge pickups are engaged simultaneously, they produce a wide-range signal with blooming lows and growling highs suited for modern slap bass techniques; by switching off both pickups at once they create an alternative midrange tone with more defined bass and top end, making this ideal for playing funk bass music.
Wiring
Are you seeking the sound and vibe of classic rock from the 1960s? Check out the Fender Custom Shop ’60s Jazz Bass Pickup Set. Its overwound pickups provide fullness, richness and low-end power that made Jazz basses such classic instruments. The Jazz bass pickup set comes complete with two pickups that can be combined to produce an array of tones. Most guitars feature potentiometers to adjust levels on individual pickups as well as a 3-way pickup selector switch to quickly switch between them. The middle lugs on each volume potentiometer serve to blend signals from two separate pickups, so when you roll down one control you reduce its level. Taper of potentiometers also has an effect on how loud or soft each control can become; typically available either with logarithmic or linear taper options.
Wiring can make or break a bass guitar build, so ensuring its performance is at its peak requires expert craftsmanship and is something Guitar Center provides with their vast selection of premium bass guitar wiring harnesses that offer professional-grade solutions that require no soldering to install and don’t interfere with other wiring runs. Long wiring runs may benefit from shielded coaxial cable to reduce noise interference issues.
There are also plenty of humbucking guitar pickups and wiring diagrams to help you create your ideal custom axe. Advanced bass guitar wiring schemes often include push-pull pots that offer coil splitting, phase cancellation, parallel/series switching for up to 22 different pickup combinations simultaneously on stage – perfect for musicians wanting instant switching between rhythm and lead tones or to adjust their guitar’s tone completely with precise control.
Jazz basses are known for their incredible sonic versatility, making them stand out from other instruments on any stage. By adding a Jazz bass pickup set to your arsenal, you can give your bass a distinct voice and stand out from its peers. Additionally, this section contains extended range bass pickups to help make playing 5-string basses easy – or retrofit an existing instrument as a 5-string model without making changes or modifications.