My bass, a Fender Jazz Bass V Standard from 1996, is working OK but is only noiseless when both pickups are turned all the way up. To remedy this I bought a new set of pickups.

Of course, two ceramic magnets attached to the bottom of unmagnetised metal slugs will not produce the same magnetic field as a magnetised AlNiCo slug (an alloy of Aluminium, Nickel and Cobalt), even within the same wire coil, which is why the type and placement of pickups will affect the sound of an instrument more than anything else. Sorry tonewood enthusiasts, that is fact. Stacked coils will produce a different timbre to the 1960 design too, but a lesser change than changing the magnet type or placement.

Fender this year reintroduced the Standard range of instruments, now made in Indonesia rather than Mexico, and still with ceramic magnets, as yet there is no five-string Jazz Bass in that range.

This is a pictorial story of their fitting.

Work was episodic. Due to my disability, I only worked for a maximum of an hour at a time. Then, on Thursday, March 27th, work ground to a halt after I slipped and fell down the stairs. No basses were damaged in the fall. On Monday 31st, I’m back and the bass is set up, the truss rod was a bit stiff, and playing well.

Sounding good too. The sound is a little brighter than before, but its when the effects are switched in that it makes a difference. It cuts through a Bassballs filter OC5 octave and Batallion preamp really well.

I’ll have to start recording myself and let you all see. Watch this blog.