Do p-basses reject noise better than j-basses?

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easlern

easlern

Boredom artist
Hey all, while trying to solve a noise issue with my jazz, I started reading about the differences in jazz and precision pickups. The jazz is a single coil, which naturally picks up more noise than a hum bucker for example. But it’s not clear to me what the p bass uses- a split single coil which I guess works like a humbucker. Is that because the two splits have opposite polarity? Does that mean a p bass should reject noise better than a j bass?
 
What kind of noise issue? Could it be a simple shielding or grounding issue? I would check these along with the input jack/cable before swapping pickups or instruments...
 
My American Standard Jazz 5 string with stock pickups was very prone to the way it was pointing. turn in a circle and the hum would increase and decrease and change character very annoyingly. I bought a set of modestly price improvement pickups and with copper tape for shielding - the issue went away. Never had P bass.
 
All post 1957 Precision basses have a split coil humbucking pickup. The original P-bass had a single coil pickup, and it was susceptible to hum, just like a Tele or Jazz bass
 
I have the same issue Rob. I improved things only a little by replacing a ground wire, but I hadn’t thought about getting different pickups. I may try that, I am a little afraid though to spend the money and find no improvement. Do you remember what kind you got?
 
As already said, P-basses, save the earliest models, are much quieter.

You can minimize the [J-bass] noise a bit by keeping the levels equal on both pickups, but I found it necessary to upgrade to noiseless pickups for the J-bass I used for recording, at least in my space, I couldn't get the tones I wanted without introducing a lot of noise. Probably not an issue when playing live in most cases, but for recording, it was a struggle that never ended.
 
I looked back and checked - this is what I bought - Wilkinson MWJB5 neck and Bridge Pickups. They were actually quite cheap - I bought them because I wasn't sure they'd cure it but they did, and they sound better too. Tonally, pretty close to the originals but slightly higher output.

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I have a Jazz which I love but its got the single coil buzz...and if I rotate I can find a silent spot. Not really a huge issue...especially when the songs going and I can gate the wave in the DAW.
but my P-bass is dead silent and really nice for quieter songs. But its a different neck, different tones, and different enough that I keep them both.
 
The mwjb aren’t easy to get in the US, so I ordered some split coils from fralin. Also got some copper tape and shielded the inside of the bass while I was waiting for the order to fill. The pickups just shipped, so I should be able to get them installed by the weekend.

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Pretty excited about this, I’ve never had a clean bass tone before. :P
 
I got clean tone, no hum, but sadly, the same fingers!
 
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Yeah I wish they had a device to help that, I’d be first in line. ?
 
I got the pickups installed and the difference isn't night and day, but it is a lot better. With the stock "noiseless", I had buzzing coming up whenever I wasn't playing, even when holding the strings. But with the Fralins, it's pretty quiet as long as you're touching a string. The remaining noise is probably coming from the controls, which I kind of butchered a while back. When I feel like spending more time on it I'll see if there's something I can do there.
 

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