Aero Instrument 5-String Jazz

Pickup features: Passive single coil
Impedence or other specs: ???

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Jazz 5
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Stock
Other pickups on guitar: Both are Aero now
Artists using this pickup: ???
You musical style(s): Fusion, Avant Garde
Reason for pickup change: Jeff Snider suggested these over EMG, which I thought would improve the sound

Perceived output level: My ears being a bit fresh to the stuff, I took the bass to a friends place and let him take a whack at it...we both agreed there was a lot wider frequency range, and sounding a bit tighter than stock. range
Tone: Full, without being gimmicky. Pretty glassy. No silly boosts or cuts (passive pickups & passive electronics)
Sonic evaluation: Ampeg SVT 3 Pro head, Ampeg Classic 4x10 w/ tweeter.
I picked the instrument because it felt good to play, mostly scale wise (shorter than the 35" I'd been using.) I played the stock bass for a year, and for me it sounded okay, but I went in to my guitar guru's shop and asked what would kick the most ass. I got my education that day. I got a passive bass because I like being in control of dynamics...I wouldn't want EMG then, because they average the dynamics out some. For effect, I sometimes run the bass into a guitar amp, so I needed it to behave like a guitar--more velocity, more breakup. That made sense. Jeff ever so eagerly pulled out an issue of BASS PLAYER mag, and had a shootout issue comparing all sorts of pickups, and Aero was at the top of the heap, and only a few more bucks than the competing ones. Larry also happened to live close to here, and Jeff had been supporting his enterprise and had some Aeros in his Strat and it sounded Godlike. True to the pitch, these Aeros are huge sounding. There is enough unhyped highs and lows to satisfy the clean/funky/pop crowd. There is the elastic feeling of a passive pickup that EMG doesn't really seem to have, even if you can eq the living f out of them. Aero just feels right. Its quite responsive. Its like stock, in terms of sound quality, but fine tuned to the higher specs demanded by real players. It's what Fender should be shipping with, but they know they can't. Imagine having these in fretless--there's your Jaco tone!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I have been trying to get more dynamics in my music and getting these pickups is one thing I did to keep from having some out of the box sound. They behave similar to what you'd expect, but they just sound better. My fave balance is nearly all Jaco, but with some neck added in for body.

Comments: For $110 a pop (mine were custom configured for a slightly different string spacing on my bass) they can cause a bit of sticker shock, but when viewed as a couple of gigs' pay, it's not so bad, because they'll keep sounding great for ever.
The only thing I really pray to the big pig in the sky for is a silent single coil. These are pretty darn quiet, as long as you observe the usual guidelines of shielding, grounding, etc. The tone that these things put out is going to steal the show anyway.
I'm not anyones Jaco or whathaveya, but there is something to be said for getting the best you can buy. I have been playing music for 12 years and do equal time on drums, bass, guitar and keys. I have all sorts of stuff, but there are things you just have to have that won't let you down--a Fender guitar, a Fender bass, a good acoustic drum set and an acoustic or basic electronic keyboard. Just having that rig dialed in and sounding sweet will get you far. The Aeros in your guitars are part of that.