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Post subject: Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickup pole piece shape
Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 6:52 am
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Hi,

I am new to the forum, so pls excuse me if this problem had been covered earlier.

I had a couple of jazz basses in the last 15 years (one from '71, '78, one Marcus Miller from '01) and recently I bought a '62 Vintage Jazz Bass that was made in 1988.

Although I bought it from its first owner (with all original papers, parts etc.), it turned out that the pickups weren't original.

I went to the official Fender service (in Budapest, Hungary) and ordered the pickups for the bass.

To my surprise the "Original Vintage Jazz Bass Pickups" that I received have different shaped pole pieces. My former basses had absolutely flat pole pieces and these ones have some kinf of a coned shape. Also the flat pole pieces are in line with the PU cover and the coned ones are protruding them a bit.

Could someone tell me if the '62 jazz basses (made in '88) were supplied originally with these kind of pickups or not?

Is there a difference in the sound bw. the flat and the coned shaped pole pieces?

I also don't understand why there is no information about the different shapes on the Fender sites.

Thanks for your help!

Balint


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Post subject: Re: Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickup pole piece shape
Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:19 am
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I do not think it makes a difference in the sound but the pole pieces were beveled back in the old days. They were flattened because it's easier to hit the old style with your strings, so they are now flush with the plastic covers. I hope this helped you.


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Post subject: Re: Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickup pole piece shape
Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 6:42 am
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hypersloth wrote:
I do not think it makes a difference in the sound but the pole pieces were beveled back in the old days. They were flattened because it's easier to hit the old style with your strings, so they are now flush with the plastic covers. I hope this helped you.


Thanks!

What do you mean by "the old days"? Pre CBS? Because my basses from the seventies had pickups with flattened pole pieces. And the Marcus Miller model, that is supposed to copy the original seventies style, also has the flat pickups.

Since when does Fender use the beveled pickups again? Did they supply the '62 Vintage JB with flat or beveled PUs in 1988?
I just want my bass to be all original.


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Post subject: Re: Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickup pole piece shape
Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 1:45 pm
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Balint wrote:
What do you mean by "the old days"? Pre CBS? Because my basses from the seventies had pickups with flattened pole pieces. And the Marcus Miller model, that is supposed to copy the original seventies style, also has the flat pickups.

Since when does Fender use the beveled pickups again? Did they supply the '62 Vintage JB with flat or beveled PUs in 1988?
I just want my bass to be all original.


Pre CBS. I have the 1962 Jaco sig bass and it's beveled. The bass was built in 2008 so I can't tell for sure when Fender started using bevels for their reissuses. I assume they would have always used them to be period correct. I don't know when Fender phased out the beveled pups but they didn't use them in the 1970's.


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Post subject: Re: Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickup pole piece shape
Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 7:40 am
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Thanks again. I guess they reintroduced the beveled PUs around the '90s. However, I'm pretty sure that they didn't use them in '88 when my bass was built. It's a shame that there is no information about these PUs.

Moreover, if you check the specs for the Marcus Miller bass and the American Vintage '62 bass, both say they feature vintage jazz bass single coil PUs. If you compare the two basses though, the MM definitely does not have beveled PUs.

I just don't understand why Fender does not mark the difference between the two PUs.


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Post subject: Re: Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickup pole piece shape
Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 8:29 am
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Jah I know. They need to be on the ball since they are such a historical company but then again they don't have to "try " to sell their basses. I do know the bevels were phased out because players would hit them with their strings. They do look cool though, lol.


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Post subject: Re: Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickup pole piece shape
Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 5:04 am
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I just checked Jaco's Modern Electric Bass video, where he uses his bass with a Precision neck and I have to say, his pickups were not beveled either.
I am not sure about the period correctness anymore... :|


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Post subject: Re: Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickup pole piece shape
Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 1:48 pm
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True. I do know that at some point Seymour Duncan, the dude, personally re-wound Jaco's pick-ups because they had gotten weak. Jaco was also pretty fond of swapping parts around to suit needs/whims. So who knows what belongs where as far as that goes.


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Post subject: Re: Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickup pole piece shape
Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 3:05 pm
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The only Fender beveled pole piece pickups I have come in contact with came out of my Geddy Lee Jazz. They had cloth wire. They sounded thin and weak. The Geddy is supposed to be a copy of a 72. My real 72 has flat poles and regular wire. So does my 74 P bass. I'm looking thru the Fender bass book at pre CBS basses and I'm not seeing any pole pieces that are beveled or any mention of them in the text. I'm curious about this now.


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Post subject: Re: Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickup pole piece shape
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 4:22 am
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Jaco's pups could have been rewound but that wouldn't affect the pole pieces. It's true that we don't know if he had swapped the pups or not.
However, theres a '64 jazz bass, with all original parts on ebay right now, and it does not have beveled pups either.

The Geddy Lee bass on the other hand should have come with the same flat poles as the Marcus Miller basses to be period correct. I don't see the point of putting a "Pre CBS copy" pickup in a '70s jazz bass.

I don't have quality or sound issues with my beveled pups. They sound balanced and powerful. To me, they have a bit more upper mids than I desire, but otherwise I am satisfied with them.
I don't know if the stacked pots change the sound or not, but I would say they do.


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Post subject: Re: Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickup pole piece shape
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 4:35 am
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I've also found a 1960 jazz bass on ebay and it seems to have beveled pickups... :)


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Post subject: Re: Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickup pole piece shape
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 7:34 am
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My first Geddy had flat poles- it was an 04. The one I have now- I'm thinking is an early one. It's different than the 04. I'm still trying to date the bass. Not much luck. It is odd that it would have the bevels. Maybe someone put those pickups in it before I got it. The coil wire on the beveled pickups is black or deep blue almost black. They have cloth wire. The cloth wire doesn't look aged like the old cloth wire I've seen in old Fenders. Either way the beveled pickups I have don't sound all that good. I changed them and put in some Dimarzio's.


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Post subject: Re: Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickup pole piece shape
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 6:30 pm
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Actually, on the video that isn't his bass of Doom, which is a 1962. The one on the video is
a 1963 Fender Jazz, SN L14769. I suppose the pole pieces were changed about that time.

According to Kevin K., Jaco hated the stacked/concentric pots because the sound was "choked" a bit. I guess there was some loss of high end or what not. I've never tried them in a passive bass.


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Post subject: Re: Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickup pole piece shape
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 12:55 pm
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Balint wrote:
Thanks again. I guess they reintroduced the beveled PUs around the '90s. However, I'm pretty sure that they didn't use them in '88 when my bass was built. It's a shame that there is no information about these PUs.

Moreover, if you check the specs for the Marcus Miller bass and the American Vintage '62 bass, both say they feature vintage jazz bass single coil PUs. If you compare the two basses though, the MM definitely does not have beveled PUs.

I just don't understand why Fender does not mark the difference between the two PUs.
Honestly I think the pickups that you and I have are basically the regular pickups that you get in the American Standard and all they did was relic them a bit,because I have these same pickups in my CS 64 Relic that are socalled Vintage and are supposse to be wrap to socalled Vintage specs......... My $@! they're bright and have a weak output !
You can get these pickups for damn'er less than $80.00 bucks


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