Question about pick-ups

[Dirk Blarinckx]

Hi,

I'm thinking of trading one of my basses for a '98 KS BSRJ5. A beatifull bass but I see it has stacked J-pick-ups instead of humbuckers. I've never played Stacked J's before.... Is there soundwise a big difference between both? Does it come close to the typical "Smith" sound of the humbuckers?
I know it has been discussed before but I can't find a straight answer to this question, so if anyone can discribe the biggest differences in sound between these two it would be very helpfull to me

Thanks,
Dirk

[Ken Smith]

Hi,

I'm thinking of trading one of my basses for a '98 KS BSRJ5. A beatifull bass but I see it has stacked J-pick-ups instead of humbuckers. I've never played Stacked J's before.... Is there soundwise a big difference between both? Does it come close to the typical "Smith" sound of the humbuckers?
I know it has been discussed before but I can't find a straight answer to this question, so if anyone can discribe the biggest differences in sound between these two it would be very helpfull to me

Thanks,
Dirk

The Js were made to have a Fender-ish sound and due to the pickups, they have some of that happening. Shorter thinner noes, more boom, less growl as compared to an exact made bass with the SBHB pickups in all the other basses.

The bass or a particulat model (in this case, same as a BSR5M of that period) has all other components exactly the same except for the pickups which ARE Humbucking but in a JJ configuration.

The Basses we made/make with the Js, sound as intended, a Smith bass with a Fender flavor in the sound. I hope this helps as only you playing both basses (5m, 5j) side by side can describe it better. Like the taste of food, sound is one of our basic senses and each person has their own ideas about it.