Are the pickups stock; and if so are you considering upgrading them?
Yes and I don't know yet.
When I decided to do the modifications I had a specific goal in mind. To see if I could put together a jazz bass that was as nice as my Fender Marcus Miller Jazz Bass for no more than I paid for the Marcus Miller. That would be $545, including the $15 I paid for the strap locks on the MM. There's another thread that details this. I managed to put this bass together for a total of $504 and some change. If I change out the pickups, I'm looking at another $150 or so.
Now, let's talk about do I NEED to change the pickups......Not really. Especially if I plan to keep both this bass and the Marcus Miller, which I do. I need to play this a lot more over the next few weeks to know what I have on my hands here, but my preliminary thoughts are that it has a real nice fat bottom in the Low Z mode, but might be a little too bright in the High Z mode. I would like to get a sound like Louis Johnson gets on "Stomp" or "Ain't We Funkin' Now" or like Prince gets on "Let's Work". It's actually a bit brighter sounding than that.
Now, fact of the matter is, the Marcus Miller nails that tone and the sunburst bass nails the James Jamerson / Willie Weeks tone. Bookends.
Peace,
James