Fender CS60Jazz Set

I bought my CS60's as a replacement for the stock pickups in my Fender MIM Jazz Bass. Although the MIM pickups aren't bad, as I have previously owned a USA Jazz Bass I know there is a difference. I wanted a more vintage and classic Jazz sound I know these pickups will deliver.

The pickups come nicely packaged in a plastic case with foam infill and a shaped cut-out for each pickup, and the case is perfect for keeping the old pickups in once you have removed them from your bass.

I didn't use the enclosed fitting instructions, as they really are a straight swap with a Jazz Bass.

I found the 2 No. brass cavity plates to be very light and thin, and are fairly loose in the cavities until they have the weight of the pickups on them to hold them down in position. The exposed wire ends have solder on them and soldering them on the back of the pots was very easy. They are fitted with a piece of black sponge on them which helps to let the pickups move when you are adjusting their height, although from past experience I knew that the sponge is not deep enough to raise the pickups to a usable position. I put some more sponge on mine to make sure but even then the pickups only raise just enough to the correct height. I would recommend using springs under the screws in addition to the sponge.

The wiring on the pickups and brass shielding plates is very good, the length of wire on the shielding plates is just about right but I decided to cut a couple of inches off all of the pickup wires as they are quite long.

The difference between the CS60's and the MIM pickups isn't 'night and day', but they are a definitely a worthwhile upgrade, they are slightly louder, have more depth and sustain, and I think they just give a nicer and richer sound (to my ears anyway).

As with my USA bass, I still find the bridge pickups on Jazz basses to be slightly quieter than the neck pickup, but I understand this is normal and subjective anyway. Once the pickup heights had been properly set to Fender's recommended heights I think I got them set to the optimum position. I haven't played the bass live yet, if I need to tweak anything I might decide to lower the neck pickup slightly to allow the bridge pickup to have a bit more edge.

Overall I am pleased with the pickups and would recommend them as a very good upgrade to the stock MIM pickups.

Reading the previous reviews I select this set to update pickups on my Fender (Squier) Vintage Modified Jazz Bass 70, hopping for more output.

But look's like the stock pickups of the Vintage modified Jazz Bass are already hot.

This pickup didn't give me more juce, but a small bit less.
To my ear they sound more detailed and singing compared to stock ones.

So not a big change for me, which is good concerning Squier stock quality :-)

I will expriment with other pickups later.

pro
- quality
- sound
cons
- hotter output is not there
- expensive

UPDATE : 06 August 2018

I have compared these with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound Jazz bass Set, on the same instrument. And finally keep the CS60Jazz, they are less hot but wider and more detailed on my bass.

The quarter pound was really great, Lot of output, but sound dry and bite narrow on my bass.

I I bought this fantastic pair of pick ups to give some power to a Squire bass that had a very poor dull tone. Goal achieved! Now sounds very good on par with its older brothers. Why did I put a "but" and two stars? When I opened the package, I noticed some problems. A fixing screw was missing and, worst of all, one of the wires connecting the bridge pickup! Are you kidding? I can accept the absence of the screw, but the lack of a connection cable between the coil and the rest of the electronics is definitely unacceptable. Unfortunately I discovered the problem after 3 months from the purchase and I recovered by taking the cable and screw from the old pickups, with a couple of more welds. A shame because the product is really good, the sound is full and present, but damn, wouldn't a little attention to detail be better?

I bought these to replace the original pickups on a Chinese Jazz Bass copy which plays well but lacked good electronics. I'm pleased - big rich sound with decent volume, a significant step up. I'm more an 'old school' player and value a warm and defined fingerstyle tone, but the pickups are also great for the occasional slap and plectrum stuff I do.

Note that not all Jazz-style basses have the same dimensions: while I've no doubt these will drop straight into a genuine Fender, my bass needed about a 2mm (and effectively invisible) adjustment to the scratchplate to accommodate the neck pickup's mounting lugs.

In this kit you get one neck pickup, a bridge pickup, brass plates for each pickup for shielding of the pickup routing and mounting screws. The finish of the pickups is excellent, the have a nice boutique feel and it´s also nice with the clothed wire.

Easy too install, just drop them in and solder, and then you are ready to go. The sound is classic Fender, bright and a nice steady bottom. I compared them with the pickups I swapped out, which are 90`s Fender Japan pickups and the impression is that the tone is similar, although the CS60 has a more expensive shimmer to the sound and are better built. In my view the pickups has to compliment the tone of the bass, the tone of the wood and strings and not alter the sound too much. I want the pickups to pickup the sound that the bass has and make just a little bit prettier and this kit does just that. There are more spectacular pickups on the market that has their own sound, like DiMarzio Model J´s with their fat bottom and mellow high end, but has not the classic sound that these has. So if you want a great classic Fender sound for your bass, this kit will do the trick.