Newbie ? on Jazz Bass Pups

[Quinn]

Hi All,

Can someone tell me if there is a quick way to determine which pickup in a Jazz bass set is the neck vs. bridge pickup?

Thanks much!

Quinn

 

[sanrafael]

Re: Newbie ? on Jazz Bass Pups

Well, the two pups might use different pole piece spacing, but I blew up a picture, and they look the same. In that case, get a multimeter and measure the resistance. If the value are close, there is a really good change that it does not matter which goes in which position.

 

[Byakhee00]

Re: Newbie ? on Jazz Bass Pups

Hi Quinn, Welcome to the forum

as far as I know, in most quality jazz basses, the neck pickup is slightly shorter than the bridge pickup. The two are for the most part non-interchangeable.
Here's the kicker, Last time I looked, some manufacturers were using the same size jazz bass pups in both the neck and bridge for their lower end guitars, I believe fender does this with the MIM Jazz Basses, as do a handfull of other companies.
Duncan pups measure 3.491 for the neck, and 3.605 for the bridge.

Now, I'd say the best way to determine what exactly you have is to first measure either your existing pups, or the pickup cavity to determine what you'll need.

If they're both the exact same size, determine which size pickups you'll need to get (either two bridge or two neck), and then check the DC resistance of both, and throw the hotter of the two pups in the bridge.

Hope that helps

 

[Quinn]

Re: Newbie ? on Jazz Bass Pups

Thanks for the responses! I should have specified the particular pups I'm working with...

I had a set of Duncan Antiquity for Jazz Bass pups installed, but now want to label the stock pups that came out of my bass to differentiate which is which. The bass is a Fender American Standard Jazz circa 1999. I'll try measuring them to see if there's a difference in length.

Thanks again,

Quinn

 

[John Wymore]

Re: Newbie ? on Jazz Bass Pups

The USA pickups will definetly be different lengths. The neck is the shorter one.