Fender Original Jazz Bass PU Set

A few years ago I bought a Harley Benton JB-75 (with Wilkinson pickups) to do some home recording and I think it's a terrific guitar for the money. A bit later I bought the fretless model, which has Roswell pickups and it has a much fuller, warmer sound.

Having finally got down to some serious recording with the JB-75, I'm finding that the bass is getting lost in the mix no matter how much tweaking of the EQ, compression etc. I do. So, I thought that upgrading the pickups would be the answer, since the fretless sounds better with Roswells. All the reviews point to the Fender Original Jazz Bass PU Set as the answer so that's what I ordered.

I installed the pickups and was very disappointed with the sound, which seemed very mid focussed and a bit muffled. I'm not a bass player and I began to realise that I really didn't have a clue what Jazz Bass pickups should sound like. I re-read all the reviews and finally came to understand, as one wise soul put it, that it is all about the mids - you need the mids to cut through when playing in a band.

I went back to a recording I'd already made and recorded a new bass track with the Fender pickups and I finally got it. Whatever settings I selected on the guitar, the Fender pickups always cut through the mix and provided a firm foundation for the recording, which is exactly what I needed. I can't say that I am amazed at how wonderful they sound but they do solve the problem I was trying to address.

I bought these pickups as I already had experience of them when I had a Fender USA '62 Reissue Jazz Bass.

The units come with a pair of vintage style brass pickup shielding plates, which is a nice touch. The shielding plates have earthing wires attached, and have foam strips on the brass plate to allow for easy height adjustment.

The pickups themselves come with black covers, which are nice and smooth to the touch, unlike some sharper edged items. The pickup polepieces featured bevelled edges. These sit proud of the pickup covers. So, if you want the polepieces to be flush with the pickup covers, you'll need to insert a thin shim between the pickup tops and the pickuo covers. It's a very simple job, just use a thin piece of card.

As for the sound of the pivkups, they're really great. Very wide and open tonal range, with the classic "bark and bite" of the old Jazz Basses. As I menyioned previously, I have used these units begore onnother basses, and I was so pleased with them that I have bought this new set to use on another instrument.

The neck pickup is woody, with a throaty bark which, on its own, is almost like a P-Bass. The bridge pickup hasat bite which cuts through in a band setting. Both pickips together sound very warm, but still with loads of definition.

Grest price, nice touch getting the cavity shields, and the pickups themselves sound fantastic.

Bought these to replace the Wilkinson pickups that came with the Harley Benton fretless bass I bought through Thomann's last month.

One thing to be aware of, is that these are vintage jazz bass specs and such the bridge pickup is slightly longer than the bridge by about 1.5mm, so If you are thinking of popping these into a MIM, Squire or any other Jazz bass check out the sizes first, as it will save a lot of pain. Luckily the Harley Benton Fretless is of the vintage size spec.

These were quite straight forward to install and I just love that vintage fender jazz tone I'm getting from them. You even get the copper shielding plates which is a bonus.

The price is also very good as well and I couldn't find them cheaper elsewhere.