Harley Benton jazz basses JB-20 Vs JB-75 (their vintage modified clone)

[kodiakblair]

On 08/03/2022 at 07:09, Bassfinger said:

At risk of starting a riot, don't believe all the guff about pickup magnets.

No argument from me .

 

On 07/03/2022 at 09:20, shoulderpet said:

What are your thoughts on the aftermarket pickups you have tried?

Doubt that would be of much help. You're looking for a brighter tone , I generally use a 0.1uf cap/ roll the tone pot back/ tapes or flats and have been known to employ a foam mute. We're looking for different things from a bass 👍

 

 Take on board @Bassfinger's post and re-read the Herrick spec. Both the alnico and neo singles use 42AWG and are wound to 7.8k ohm. The only difference is in the pickup height, the Neo is 4 mm taller. I wouldn't be surprised if the alnico and neo were the exact same item only the neo version has 2 bar magnets either side of the poles; in a similar manner as the Entwistle PBXN.

 

There's no "added treble" it's just the increase in output makes you more aware of the existing highs.

 

This lad explains it quite well.

 

 

[shoulderpet]

Ok so 1 mod completed, after trying a couple of different wiring configurations I decided to just go with 1 volume no tone for the brightest tone possible without wiring direct to the output jack.  Tim at Gig.ink cut the new control plate for me.  Tonally this beast is bright, lots of growl and treble on tap.

 

I have a transparent pickguard on the way which will cover up the screw holes but still keep the red finish visible

 

I tried the Kiwi polish trick on the neck but I ended up removing it with some alcohol shortly afterwards as it barely took to most of the neck but on the edges of the neck it left a red stain 🤮

 

I have been looking into replacement necks and I am considering getting one of the Northwest P bass necks, a Tele style headstock would be nice but is by no means a deal breaker, it is more the pale satin finish that bugs me, I have always been a vintage tint gloss kind of person

 

Ok just noticed that whilst the tone is lovely and bright with the volume on full it gets noticeably darker as the volume is rolled off, is this normal?

 

Edited March 10, 2022 by shoulderpet

[kodiakblair]

5 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

Ok just noticed that whilst the tone is lovely and bright with the volume on full it gets noticeably darker as the volume is rolled off, is this normal?

 

Aye it's normal and you can stop it happening quickly and cheaply 🙂

 

All you need is a cap or a resistor+ cap.

 

[shoulderpet]

3 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Aye it's normal and you can stop it happening quickly and cheaply 🙂

 

All you need is a cap or a resistor+ cap.

 

Thanks, it is normal on a single pickup bass? I noticed as I turn down the volume it sounds like of like I have a tone pot that has been turned down about halfway which is odd as I have no tone pot at all

[kodiakblair]

44 minutes ago, shoulderpet said:

Thanks, it is normal on a single pickup bass?

It's normal.

 

Peavey were using treble bleed wiring back in 1978. It's standard in Fender Pros , here's their reason ( in the red box).

 

 

 

Edited March 10, 2022 by kodiakblair

[shoulderpet]

13 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

It's normal.

 

Peavey were using treble bleed wiring back in 1978. It's standard in Fender Pros , here's their reason ( in the red box).

 

 

 

Thanks, I will add treble bleed to my "to do list" 

[shoulderpet]

19 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

Aye it's normal and you can stop it happening quickly and cheaply 🙂

 

All you need is a cap or a resistor+ cap.

 

 

I am currently using a solderless pot for the volume, I have done a mock up using the stock capacitor that came with this bass (obviously I would be swapping this for the .001 cap), I am a bit of novice with wiring, would this work?

 

Normal colour scheme (black is ground, white is hot) and each leg of the capacitor is going into the solderless connection for pickup hot and ground wires.  Just for sh!ts and giggle I gave this a try with the stock Harley benton treble cut capacitor that they use and the volume functioned as a volume control but with the tone rolled off

 

 

 

The back of the pot looks like the below (I had to disconnect the pickup wires to get a better picture) I noticed that the lug on the end is not pushed back and soldered to the back of the pot like it is in the treble bleed diagram from your post , the red wire is not attached to anything and I have covered the end of it with electrical tape so it is not making contact with anything

 

 

Edited March 11, 2022 by shoulderpet

[kodiakblair]

6 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

Just for sh!ts and giggle I gave this a try with the stock Harley benton treble cut capacitor that they use and the volume functioned as a volume control but with the tone rolled off

The stock cap value is much too high for treble bleed.

 

6 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

I am a bit of novice with wiring, would this work?

Here's some alternate options.

 

https://octavedoctor.com/treble-bleed-circuit-what-is-it-and-do-i-need-it/

[shoulderpet]

10 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

The stock cap value is much too high for treble bleed.

 

Here's some alternate options.

 

https://octavedoctor.com/treble-bleed-circuit-what-is-it-and-do-i-need-it/

Yes the treble bleed requires a 0.001 value, I was just curious to see if I could make a capacitor work by putting the legs of the capacitor into the solderless connections

Edited March 11, 2022 by shoulderpet

[shoulderpet]

On 11/03/2022 at 17:48, kodiakblair said:

The stock cap value is much too high for treble bleed.

 

Here's some alternate options.

 

https://octavedoctor.com/treble-bleed-circuit-what-is-it-and-do-i-need-it/

Thanks

[shoulderpet]

So I received my transparent pickguard, unfortunately the screw holes are in the wrong place  if it was a solid colour pickguard I would probably just drill new holes but as its transparent sadly I cant do that.

 

I have decided that I am going to get a bunch of cheap pots, jacks and capacitors and use these to practice my soldering on, I have a spare P pickup that I can use to test that the wiring all works, I will continue to use solderless components in the meantime but I feel like learning to solder is probably an invaluable skill to have.  

[kodiakblair]

3 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

So I received my transparent pickguard, unfortunately the screw holes are in the wrong place  if it was a solid colour pickguard I would probably just drill new holes but as its transparent sadly I cant do that.

Hope you're sending it back for a refund or undrilled replacement 👍