DiMarzio DP149 Ultra Jazz Bass

these are stacked coil humbucking jazz bass 4 string pickups with four conductor wires

these are installed in a warmoth swamp ash dinky jazz bass with a aguilar obp3 18 volt preamp. neck is birdseye maple with a pau ferro fingerboard. at first i had some duncan vintage single coils in there, and they are good, but sound very "round" and bassey for my taste.

i use a swr 750 head with a swr 2x10 and a 3-way custom 12 cab for stage volume and smaller venues and these pickups with the aguilar preamp kill! i also tried some fender samarium cobalts in this bass and they are very, very modern sounding as they are a stack with ceramic magnets. the dimarzios are somewhere in between the vintages and the samariums, so great if this is your only bass.

my other jazz bass (only other instrument) is a custom fretless with nordstrand nj4se (the finer wire version) and are incredible sounding with the fretted neck too, but are $240/pr. If i were to suggest a bass on a budget, i would suggest a purchase of a mij jazz bass, a set of dimarzio ultra jazz pickups and a aguilar (or sadowsky) onboard or external preamp and have the bass setup right. my dimarzios were only $84.95 on ebay with free shipping!

On the surface, just a four-string exposed-polepiece pickup set. Advertised as a drop-in replacement for the stock Fender Jazz pickups or any other pickup with the same dimensions. The biggest improvement over stock is the fact that they're seperately humbucking (standard Jazz pickups are humbucking when used in tandem, but roll off the volume on one and you start getting buzz). Other improvements are epoxy potting, so they'll never start screeching, and bigger polepieces that are flush with the face of the pickup (less clicking).

One "gotcha" for the true electronics engineers out there; these pickups are not tappable. Instead of "stacked" humbuckers, these are "staggered"; imagine what you'd get if you took a P pickup apart and put the two halves of the pickup right next to each other. So, if you cut out one coil, you lose two strings. They're also not very well-shielded; they rely on their humbucking to remove noise.

I dropped the set (both neck and bridge) into a 2006 MIM Fender Jazz to give the bass a little more punch and native tone. The stock Fender pickups are fair, but Fender definitely expects you to swap em out once you know you should.

This is a Jazz pickup, but Jazzier. The bigger polepieces give a punchier sound and a slightly hotter signal over the stock pickups. The hum-canceling is a definite plus; Stock Jazzes really only have one good setting for the knobs, and that's everything on full. These pickups allow me to mess a little more with the knobs to determine my tone (in fact, I wired this bass with independent tone controls for each pickup). My bass now has better highs with more character, and a fat, yet round and punchy bottom end. Mids were reduced slightly, but are still present without being quacky.

If these pickups crapped out on me, it'd be a toss-up between getting another pair and shelling out the extra for Duncan Classic Stacks. I've basically had these in my bass since I found em at a guitar shop (I was deciding between them and the Classic Stacks from online dealers when I found these; they're cheaper than Duncans and very good nonetheless). I put a little clear nail polish on the polepieces to reduce clicking and inhibit rust, and they've been the balls of that bass ever since. I love em; the only thing I would change is to make them tappable.

Pickup features: humbucking/passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Jazz copy: ESP body, Warmoth neck
Position: middle
Pickup being replaced: Basslines Lightnin' Rods
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: "artists" at Modulus offer this set in their Genesis VJ
You musical style(s): Funk, alt. and classic rock, blues, R&B, etc.
Reason for pickup change: Not wild about Basslines reputation, even though these seemed to work, but the DiMarzio write-up in Bass Player's review of jazz pu's got me psyched to try them out in my newly acquired Franken-bass. Since the BP review was limited to passive jazz replacements, EMG didn't make the roundup, nor did the Basslines I replaced, but the Ultra Jazz set seemed to offer a strong all around product for relatively little cash and the Basslines products that were reviewed were only average.

Perceived output level: Plenty...i.e. enough to light up my preamp clip without help
Tone: Warm, bold, bright w/tone dialed up,smooth with tone rolled off
Sonic evaluation: My bass signal route: Sansamp Bass Driver, SWR SM-400, SWR Workingman's 4x10 or 2x10 cab. The Sansamp is typically for slap tone on a footswitch-I don't need it to inflate my signal. As humbuckers, I think these pu's gain inherent drive and warmth in their sound. Back off the neck volume; the nasally Jaco-ish tones check in. Back off the bridge; the J-bass punch and edge give way to a rounder P-bass area code. Wide open serves up a solid Jazz tone that projects without booming or assaulting the harsh mid frequencies just to get a note across, but mid scooping gets the more modern or slap sound into focus. I use three distinct tones from this single bass and don't need or even want a preamp in it. I believe these pickups are essential to this sonic melting pot of pieces-parts I've had great success with. Bonus: These are some of the cheapest around!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: I've been playing for six to eight years and have had this bass/pickup combo for the last few. Nothing short of that Modulus GVJ I mentioned could take me further down the road to "that" sound and HELLO-these pickups are in that bass too. Other basses I've had that have not beaten this one for me: Korean Spector with US EMGs, the US Fender J-Deluxe, a Warwick Corvette Std. (bubinga, etc) with Bartolini J's and preamp, and a '79 Musicman Sabre>>>very groovy stick. The Bartolini system I put in the Warwick worked great, but was too buttery smooth to project well live. The DiMarzios throw great tone live, but also behaved nicely in the studio for our demo so it seems I have what I need without many bells and whistles (or a battery to change). Unless you can't live without boutique electronics in your jazz routings, drop in some DiMarzios, plug in, turn up, and smile.

Pickup features: humbucking, passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Jazz - MIM
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Stock MIM Jazz set
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Jazz, classic rock, blues
Reason for pickup change: Stock PU's were noisey and of poor tone.

Perceived output level: Low output, clear and clean
Tone: The set is balanced with great classic Jazz Bass tone with no single coil noise.
Sonic evaluation: MIM Jazz Bass & 1973 Fender Musicman (stock). SWR Workingman's
200 w. head w/ SWR 2-10 and 1-15 cabs. WayHuge compressor (Orange Squeeze). The Ultra Jazz PU's made a dramatic improvement. Not counting the noise reduction from the humbuckers, the tone improvment was more than enough to recommand this PU set. These PU's were top rated in the BassPlayer Magazine Jazz Bass pickup shoot out.
Classic Jazz Bass tones are available as well as a more P-Bass type of
thump with the bridge PU rolled off.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: There PU's are great for any old-school type application. I don't think they would cut it for slap or more modern "active" PU tones with lots of mid-range.

Comments: I would indeed purchase these PU's again. I've played for many years
and play out regularly. My only wish for improvment in this style of
pickup is for more output with no change in classic tone. This PU set seems to be a very good value.

Pickup features: passive humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Am Deluxe Jazz Bass 1996
Position: middle
Pickup being replaced: stock Fender
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Funk/Acid Jazz
Reason for pickup change: better sound wanted

Perceived output level:
Tone: bassy with lot of highs with a kind of hole in certain middle frequencies
Sonic evaluation: details and sound files : http://www.subsonicfamily.com/bass

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Funk/Acid Jazz

Comments: Very good, but not as good as the DiMarzio in my sense. Again, if you want more details, sound files and comparisons with other pickups : http://www.subsonicfamily.com/bass/

Pickup features: Passive, Hum-cancelling
Impedence or other specs: My multi-meter showed approx 12.2 ohms

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Jazz Bass, Made in Japan
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Stock Fender
Other pickups on guitar: I replaced both w/ these dimarzio's
Artists using this pickup: no clue....couldn't care less
You musical style(s): Rock / Jazz / Fusion / Funk
Reason for pickup change: Stock single coils were too noisy for my recording purposes and very limited.

Perceived output level: I tested these w/a multi-meter and it came out 12.2 ohms. They are slightly louder than the stock pickups.than the stock
Tone: Great growl on low E, very classic jazz bass tone.
Sonic evaluation: Here is the deal. I am primarily a guitarist, but I picked up a Japanese Fender jazz bass for my recording projects but I didn't like the stock fender pickups. I also couldn't deal with the 60 cycle hum phenomenon with single coil pickups. Since both pickups must be on simultaneously to avoid the hum, this essentially means that you get only one tone out of the damn bass.....both pickups on. I don't care if you spend $80 per pickup with Lindy Fralin....you still get one tone....both pickups on.
So I looked into the "stacked" or "hum-cancelling" pickups. Sadowsky makes them and so does Duncan, Fralin, DiMarzio and others. Fralin charges $240 for a set (ouch). Duncans aren't too expensive, but I read some poor reviews. Sadowsky is pretty expensive, and I hear he doesn't really make his own pickups.
However, I was very intrigued by Dimarzio. They were rated really high in the Bass Mags j-bass pickup shoot out. Also, they supplied me with a diagram to wire it up with 2 push pull pots WHICH ACTUALLY GIVES YOU 8 SOUND COMBINATIONS! On top of that a set of pickups lists for $140, but you can get them for $90 from most dealers! Definitely a bargain. And they are not cheap. They are very professional, resonant and full of character.
They flat out sound KILLER. Really warm. Really punchy. They get that classic j-bass growl, plus several nice variations on it with the push pull pots. Very Very quiet. Perfect for direct recording.
I can't stress enough that I really love these pickups.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Rock, Jazz, Fusion

Comments: I would definitely buy them again if stolen. I am playing guitar and bass for over 20 years. DiMarzio is a really good company. They have been in the pickup space since the beginning. Companies don't survive that long (particularly in the music business) unless they make a good product.
They make a GREAT product and provide great customer service. I called tech support for advice twice before I even owned the pickup and they were very helpful.
I can't stand these guys who buy into the "hype" that a pickup isn't good unless it's made by some freak locked in his basement with a makeshift pickup winder made out of a sears blender. Give me a break. People can be such sheep at times.

Pickup features: Passive Humbucking (stacked) Jazz Bass pickups
Impedence or other specs: Output:250 millivolts

Model of guitar or bass: Fender American Standard Jazz Bass (maple fretboard)
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Stock Fender vintage spec single coils jazz bass pickups
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Mostly pop/rock,funk(no slappin' n' poppin'!),reggae,blues
Reason for pickup change: Wanted a little more output,something that filled the tonal spectrum a little more,without going active.Also,didn't like the polepieces on the Fender p/u's-not flush with pickup cover-annoying!

Perceived output level: More than the stock Fenders,but not like WAY more.
Tone: These pickups have a very balenced and warm tone.Definetly makes the bass sound a bit bigger,maybe even older.Very hip sounding.The bridge pickup is very impressive:lows blossom while keeping the throaty mids nice and focussed.High end is not brittle,maybe even subdued.
Sonic evaluation: My main amp is a mid-seventies Ampeg SVT through either a Nemesis 4x10 or an Ampeg SVT 8x10 cabinet.I liked the sound of the stock Fender p/u's,but wanted a little more output and punch.The DiMarzio Ultra Jazz pickups definetly more than fit the bill.The flush mounted polepieces are a great feature.These pickups are very quick and snappy,picking up the subtleties in your playing.They're also true to a Jazz Bass.There's no mistaking that special J-Bass tone coming from these.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: These pickups are great for rock,funk,blues,R'n B,just about any style. They're also dead quiet.Great for studio.I play all of the aformentioned styles, and have found that the overall tone of my American Standard Jazz Bass is better.

Comments: I would definetly buy these pickups again if I needed a Jazz Bass replacement set.I've been playing for over 14 years,and have used other DiMarzios in the passed and have always been happy with them.I love the way these pickups retain the true Jazz Bass tone without too much coloration,while providing added punch,warmth,and output.Oh,and I love thier dead quiet operation.Having read a couple reviews of these pickups and having used DiMarzios in the passed,I knew these would work out nicely.At first,I wished they had a little more output,but the overall tone rocks,so I got over that right away.They're louder that the stock Fenders anyway,so no big deal.I would definetly recommend these pickups,especially since they're cosiderabaly cheaper than Seymour Duncans or EMGs,plus they're hum-cancelling,passive,and were easy to install.Well done DiMarzio!

Pickup features: Humbuckers passive
Impedence or other specs: 12k (?)

Model of guitar or bass: Warmoth Jazz Bass
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Who cares ?
You musical style(s): Jazz/Rock/Blues
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Seems good to me
Tone: Very flexable / Boomy P bass to bright slap EMG tones
Sonic evaluation: I am using 250k pots with a push/pull tone pot for series or parallel tones. Amps = Ampeg B18N , Hartke 3500

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: Dislikes: When I boost the treble all the way up there are what seem like artificial high tones that are annoying to me. I just back off the treble a little bit.
Likes: Complete tone spectrum possible. Deep bass /strong mids / bright clear highs. Traditional exposed pole pieces. Very quiet. Half the price of some J bass pickup sets.