Advice for Bass pickups : SJB or STK ?

[laurentcliff]

Hi there,

I would like to change the pickups of my ARIA IGB 50 (configuration : P/J)

I made my decision for the P pickup (I'll take the SPB-3, since I play heavy metal most of the time) but I would like to use a different tone with the J pickup, something more "clean", for pop/jazz, for ex. But I don't know much the difference between the SJB and the STK models.

Do you think it's a good idea to have a P pickup for heavy and a J for pop/jazz, or I'd better buy the both pickups for heavy purpose (like SPB-3 + STK-2) ?

Any suggestion ?

Thanks in advance !

 

[jeremy]

Re: Advice for Bass pickups : SJB or STK ?

welcome to the forum!!

the hot stack is a great match for the qp p bass pup. both are noiseless which is another plus. the hot jazz stack is moderate in output and balanced in tone and will work fine for your pop/jazz stuff and youll be surprised how versitle the qp is.

ive put that set in a few basses and the results are always good

 

[prophetofthor]

Re: Advice for Bass pickups : SJB or STK ?

kill the hum if/when you can. i wouldn't put a true single coil in the jazz bridge position.

ive got the hot stack jazz bass pickup (STK-J2). i was torn between the hot stack and the classic stack for my crappy bass.

i found the hot stack a bit too middy and not enough bass, but since its very eq flat tone centered i can eq it any way i need it too.

looking at the DC numbers tho the classic stack bridge might be a bit overpowering vs the SJB-3, but i think it will be fine because less string vibration at the bridge and the SJB-3 is just physically bigger. i love the concept of putting bigger magnets in those pickups.

the dimarzio ultra bass also has a P/J setup. i've read several bass forums/reviews and they usually get rave reviews until you compare them against more expensive active systems. so if you are overly concerned with pickup balance you can also go that route.

if i had a bass with only the split P i would probably favor the SJB-3.

i'm a weirdo bass player since i'm a switch hitter. i play guitar and bass, but guitar was my first instrument. so take all the above with a grain of salt.

since you're tearing the guts out of it you might also want to consider going with rewiring your 3 controls. 1 vol 1 tone 1 blend. i find the 2 vol approach to bass awkward.

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: Advice for Bass pickups : SJB or STK ?

A friend of mine plays bass and modded his P-bass (or did he have a Jazz bass?!) with the quarter pound pickups, and says he absolutely loves 'em.

 

[laurentcliff]

Re: Advice for Bass pickups : SJB or STK ?

Thank you for the useful tips!!! I think I'll finally go for the STK-2.

@Propehtofthor : I share your opinion about having 2 volume controls (one for each pickup). I think it's quite useless, so I'll probably rewire the controls and do like you said