Fralin Jazz Bass® Pickups feature hand-built bobbins, and hand-wound clarity. Their manufacturing process allows them to achieve unparalleled quality control. These Jazz Bass® Pickups consist of local fiberboard and USA-Made Magnets. Fralin winds each pickup by hand, one at a time. Each pickup is wound using their proprietary “Sectioning” technique. This gives the pickup a sweet, clear tone. Finally, they wax-pot the pickup to preserve the pickup, and prevent microphonics.
Offering a wide tonal range, they are wound to 60’s Specifications, which give them more output and balance. Expect a sweeter tone, with a warm midrange. Also, you’ll hear top-end sparkle and clarity. Nuances will come to life as you notice increased presence. They will break up late and stay clean longer.
Fralin’s pickups are dynamic – they’ll get punchy if you dig into them. They’ll have top-end spank when you slap them. You’ll also notice they’ll stay soft and dynamic when you play light. Finally, these Jazz Bass® Pickups are for those who are not happy with the tone from stock pickups. These tend to be sweeter-sounding, not aggressive. You’ll wonder why you didn’t make the switch earlier.
The 5% Overwind produces a thicker and darker tone. It reduces the highs by 5% and increases the lows and mids by 5%…basically thickening up the midrange while retaining brightness.
The Raised Centers raise the center pole piece magnets on your bridge pickup. This helps with string balance on fingerboards which have a radius of less than 9.5 inches. Do not choose this option if you have a flat fingerboard.
Size (Neck):
3.63” [92.2mm] Long
.74” [18.8mm] Wide
Size (Bridge):
3.74” [95.0mm] Long
.74” [18.8mm] Wide
Lindy Fralin Jazz Bass Wiring Diagram
Materials:
Fralin uses Vintage Specifications. Alnico 5 Magnets. 42-Gauge Heavy Formvar Wire. Hand-made bobbins.
Ohm Readings:
The Stock Output reads 8.4K on the Neck and 8.8K on the Bridge.
Polarity Information:
The Jazz Bass® Neck is wound Clockwise from Ground to Hot, and magnetized North to Strings. The Jazz Bass® Bridge is wound Counter Clockwise from Ground to Hot, South to Strings.
An excellent example of a classic J tone, Fralin’s Jazz Bass® pickups have a nice open tone and have a certain ‘sweetness’. They can have a slightly softer tone, but beautiful, and one can still hear the snap when digging, in especially in the pick tracks. Most players who are looking for a vintage sounding J set will be quite happy with these, regardless of genre.
Put on a good set of headphones and check out the audio demo below to hear it for yourself.
As always, keep in mind that these are generalizations. Your experience could be different depending on many factors.
As expected, these are similar to Lindy’s standard J offering, but with a bit fuller mids, as is common with overwound pickups. Output is a bit more as well. We hear less mid scoop, and a frequency range that is very even. Slightly darker than the standard Js from Lindy.
Put on a good set of headphones and check out the audio demo below to hear it for yourself.
As always, keep in mind that these are generalizations. Your experience could be different depending on many factors.