Jazz bass controls wrong?

[Linddsyj]

Hi....bought a jazz bass kit for some home recording. The controls seem strange... I’ve contacted the supplier who claim that there are separate vol controls.... however when the bridge pickup is turned off or down, the volume of the neck pickup increases significantly....when the neck pickup is switched off.... the volume of the bridge pickup is pretty low. I thought it maybe a pan switch but apparently not. Is this normal for a Jazz?

 

Many Tks..

 

 

[neepheid]

Pickups wired out of phase perhaps?  Swap the hot/ground of the bridge pickup and see if it helps.

[Old Horse Murphy]

If you run Jazz Bass pickups both at full volume you get that sort of out of phase sound with a lower overall volume output which then increases when you turn one of the pickups down. It shouldn't be massively discernible though.

Are the pickups roughly the same height? I always find a bridge pickup to be quieter than the neck one and have had to adjust pickup heights to balance them out. 

Edited August 14, 2021 by Old Horse Murphy

[Dan Dare]

On 14/08/2021 at 20:53, Old Horse Murphy said:

If you run Jazz Bass pickups both at full volume you get that sort of out of phase sound with a lower overall volume output which then increases when you turn one of the pickups down. It shouldn't be massively discernible though.

Are the pickups roughly the same height? I always find a bridge pickup to be quieter than the neck one and have had to adjust pickup heights to balance them out. 

 

Good advice. The second point is particularly true. It's even more noticeable on a P/J in my experience, where the P pickup has much higher output. I always have to set the bridge pickup quite a bit closer to the strings to equalise the volume.