Deluxe 5 Jazz Bass Pickups - Dimarzio? re: 17.5mm string spacing

[hsp-sandiego]

Curious if the dimarzio area J pickups will work well with the medium/narrow 17.5mm string spacing on the Deluxe 5 jazz bass as most pickups are designed with 19mm string spacing.  routes are jb/jb or 3.75"+3.75".  looking for pups for a slammin' 70's / marcus tone.  bridge pup is in the 70's position.  wood is being cut this month by warmoth.  thank you and if any pics please post!  -harry

 

[Jeremiah]

I tried the DiMarzio Area J-5 set in my Washburn 5-string which has a very narrow string spacing, and found string balance to be pretty bad.

I'm not sure if this is because of the strings not lining up properly with the magnets, or just that this pickup is generally bad, though I don't have the same problem with the stock pickups, so for basses with narrow spacing I'd probably recommend something like EMGs or Bartolinis that have a blade type magnet rather than separate pole pieces.

Edit: also the DiMarzio Area J-5 set has both pickups the same length, which was fine for my Washburn, but might not work on a lot of other bodies which are routed for a longer bridge pickup.