tom1946 Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Morning all, hope you are well I have a tech query regarding my mex jazz bass. My friend has fitted a pair of Fender Samarium cobalt noiseless pickups to it, also some better pots. The result is that played through my 35 watt Kustom bass practice combo, even flat out the volume is less than half of the original pickups. Played through a 450 watt Marshall combo I have in my shop it's much better. There is also a 60 marshall combo here as well and it's very poor through that too. Is it the case that these pickups need driving a lot harder to work? I wouldn't have thought so? Can they be fitted wrong? It's only two wires and my friend although a guitar person is quite skilled. I would be grateful for any help or advice please. Thanks. Tom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~tl Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 How close are the pickups to the strings? Lower than before? I know it sounds like a simple thing, but it can make a huge difference to the volume of the bass. Might be worth trying to raise them a bit if you can. There's also the possibility that the SCN pickups are just lower output than the previous ones, but I wouldn't think they'd be too much lower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom1946 Posted March 17, 2009 Author Share Posted March 17, 2009 Thanks for the quick reply, we set them to a similar height to the originals then played about a bit. The bridge pickup seems very weak. I don't suppose the fact that the bass is not an active one makes a difference does it? I've spent a lump of money on these and they aren't very useable without a big amp. I didn't think 'noiseless' meant no output Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 [quote name='~tl' post='436860' date='Mar 17 2009, 08:08 AM']How close are the pickups to the strings? Lower than before? I know it sounds like a simple thing, but it can make a huge difference to the volume of the bass. Might be worth trying to raise them a bit if you can. There's also the possibility that the SCN pickups are just lower output than the previous ones, but I wouldn't think they'd be too much lower.[/quote] They are noiseless right? You should be glad any noise is coming from them... Just joking, I'vs had SCNs, it sounds like your pickups may be a tad low as ~tl says but similarly, it wouldn't surprise me if the output is lower... I guess if you are that interested, try a meter on the two sets of pickups and see what the values are. It could explain a lot. Don't worry about it too much though, that's what your input gain on your amp is for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 [quote]I don't suppose the fact that the bass is not an active one makes a difference does it?[/quote] That could be your answer. Aren't these pickups normally used just with the Fender 18v active pre-amp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~tl Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 [quote name='GreeneKing' post='436877' date='Mar 17 2009, 08:38 AM']That could be your answer. Aren't these pickups normally used just with the Fender 18v active pre-amp?[/quote] I believe they [i]usually[/i] are, at least in Fenders basses. However I'm sure there have been some models with them that are passive. It could account for the lower output though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low Down Dave Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 There should be quite an increase in output as these pups are supposed to meter around 11.6k. They can be used in passive basses or active basses, Fender tends to put them in the more modern sounding active basses because they are noiseless (stacked single coils, so in effect humbucking), and there is less chance of boosting the noise/hiss when you boost the treble than on standard single coil pups. Check the pickup height, as a rule of thumb you want to be just able to just slide a pound coin between the strings and the pickup (you can tweak the height to taste later but that gives you a good starting point). If you have a meter check the output, if it reads OK it’s a wiring issue. Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjbass Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Could the pups be wired out of phase? I remember seeing a helpful youtube video about it, but i can't find it atm. I think the symptoms were something like low output when both pickups are on full, but with either the nexk or bridge soloed the volume was louder. I'll try to find the vid, but i'm sure someone here knows about it. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low Down Dave Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 [quote name='pjbass' post='437000' date='Mar 17 2009, 10:45 AM']Could the pups be wired out of phase? I remember seeing a helpful youtube video about it, but i can't find it atm. I think the symptoms were something like low output when both pickups are on full, but with either the nexk or bridge soloed the volume was louder. I'll try to find the vid, but i'm sure someone here knows about it. Paul[/quote] Yes that was my first thought but Tom does say that the bridge pickup seems very weak, so its unlikely to be just a phase thing. Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom1946 Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 Wow, thanks for all the replies and help. I am not very technical as I've only been playing a few months. I am learning fast though Our band had a rehearsal last night and playing through a 100w kustom combo it was a lot better. I'm going to take it apart myself and have a look at what's been done re-the issues discussed above. Re using an ohm meter, I have one but not sure how to use it on the pickups? I'll report back when I get a look at it. Thanks again! great forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low Down Dave Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Just set your meter to 20k, and touch the ends to the 2 wires coming from your pickup, one will be the middle lub of the volume pot the other on top of the pot. With jazz basses and both volumes on full you will get a low reading, so turn the volume on one pickup off to get a more accurate one. David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussFM Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 The bridge pickup on my Deluxe Jazz is pretty quiet, and that's got the noiseless pickups in. No problem with the neck pickup, just the bridge. I usually dial out the bridge a bit anyway though so I never bothered to look into it, sounded good as it was! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom1946 Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 So it's not just me then, I have so much to learn. Thanks for the help re-testing David, I'll have a go. When I get a few hours spare I'm going to read as many of the topics a possible as they are a mine of information. ^_^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbloke Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 They aren't loud pickups. My bass is lower output than a lot of others including standard fender jazz, Warwicks, etc... but as other people have stated - they sound great so I wasn't hugely fussed. What are they like when only a single pickup is soloed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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