Upgrades and tinkering on a Jazz copy.

[jonno1981]

Hello hive mind. I’m considering making some changes to my jazz bass. 
 

it’s an all parts/mighty mite combo which work really well together. The setup is fantastic, lots of positive comments from other folks who’ve played it. 
 

Between myself/previous owners we’ve upgraded the hardware on it. It’s sporting gotoh tuners, badass bridge and emg jvx pickups - which is their vintage voiced set and strung with ti flats. 
 

I have two issues with it:

 

1. Body finish I find is too bright. I’d love to dull it down a bit. I’ve considered a relic but conscious that it’s poly and may become a hideous looking disaster. Thinking some light wet sanding to reduce thickness of clear coat might dull it down a bit. Could reduce risk by doing the back first I case I mess it up or find it falls off in chunks or something. 
 

2. Amplified tone. It’s quiet! Comparing to a cheapo but great Yamaha 414, it’s about 1/3rd the output. It’s really noticeable. Yes I’ve adjusted pick-up height up, changed the battery and looked for any adjustment on the pickups, nothing. It’s with the factory harness with pots/ jack etc. 

 

It’s been problematic in the studio. More gain is required and I have to use an external pre-amp which I just don’t need when using the bb. As a result the bb has become the go to. 
 

So thinking of solutions to #2, new pickups and possibly on broad pre amp seem the way to go. If I go pickups first (bound to cost £150+ for anything), plus another £45-65 for the loom, I’m in for £200+. If I still think I need the on board pre something like a j retro then it’s £150 ish on top. 
 

option 3 - stop thinking and buy a squire 40th anniversary (edit from 50th!!)for £300ish and keep the jazz as is! 
 

What would you do?

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by jonno1981

[SurroundedByManatees]

I see it has EMG pickups. 

 

They shouldn't be really quiet. If I recall correctly these pickups are active (no preamp, just the pickups) and require a battery. Maybe the battery died?

[nikon F]

i wouldnt wait nine years for the squier 50th ,,,id either get a 40th anniversary or wire the one you've got series parallel and see if it made a difference

[jonno1981]

Ah thanks on 40th anniversary correction. 
 

Tried a couple of different new batteries and no dice. Same output. 
 

It’s an emg pre wired kit with clip style connectors which limits modding capabilities on existing wiring. 

[jonno1981]

Opened it up and it is soldered at the pots! 
 

Some possibilities for tinkering here. 

[JoeEvans]

I also feel like the EMGs ought to give you respectable output levels, is it worth getting the pickups and wiring checked by someone? I guess I'm wondering if there might be a problem with the volume pot or something ...

 

[itu]

Upgraded? Here we tend to say modified.

 

1) You really want to dull the finish, try wire wool, or very fine water sand paper (500/1000/2000).

 

2) The output level does not bother me a lot - I tend to turn the gain up accordingly. The solderings look extremely well made. If the output level is something you want to change, try a preamp. Artec"s tone stack is cheap as chips, John East's full mixer very high end.

 

Some say that "active" (i.e. battery powered pickups, or tone stack) equals higher output level than "passive". This is not obvious. Buffering means, that the existing output of the pickup is changed from high impedance (hi-Z) to lo-Z. Neither is better or worse, only different. A battery powered circuitry may (!) amplify the signal, if the designer has decided to do that, but as said, it is not always so.

[jonno1981]

I just made a bit of a revelation. Foam under pickups had disintegrated and pickup screws were poking out as pickups had dropped down. Readjusted pickup heights with some new foam and it’s a different beast. Used 3mm reference pressing on last fret as advised by emg and pickups are much prouder than before and MUCH higher output. String resonance doesn’t seem to be suffering as a result. 
 

Will head to local hardware place when it opens and try with the wire wool trick. Thanks! 

Edited December 26, 2023 by jonno1981

[diskwave]

Never ever use wire wool on an instrument...it gets in the electrics, scratches the finish...terrible stuff.  To dull. Strip it right down and yes then use 1500 to 2000 wet and dry wet with a tiny drop of washing liquid....will look mnaturally worn afterwards albeit scratchy and duller. having said that I'd just trade it for a CV 70's or 60's jazz....Brill instruments.

[Geek99]

Put sellotape, or better masking tape over your pickups first if you really must use wire wool 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Geek99

[Bassassin]

Use a nylon/plastic scouring pad rather than wire wool. The good thing about thick poly finishes is that if you don't like the result dulling it down, it'll T-Cut back to the original gloss with a bit of elbow grease.

 

Just had a look at the JVX pickups out of curiosity, and it does look like you may be missing a thing or two!

 

https://www.emgpickups.com/jvxset.html

[lemmywinks]

Active pickups with a passive harness isn't a popular configuration but it does work well, I had active SD Lightnin' rods in my old fretless with regular passive wiring, sounded great.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/resources/pickup/wiring-diagrams

[JoeEvans]

You can give a super-subtle but convincing relic effect by dulling down the whole body (I'd recommend stripping everything off it then using 1000-grade wet and dry, dipping it regularly in a bowl of water to stop it from clogging); then using T-Cut to polish up just the areas where your right wrist and thumb would touch the bass while playing. 

[jonno1981]

8 hours ago, Bassassin said:

Use a nylon/plastic scouring pad rather than wire wool. The good thing about thick poly finishes is that if you don't like the result dulling it down, it'll T-Cut back to the original gloss with a bit of elbow grease.

 

Just had a look at the JVX pickups out of curiosity, and it does look like you may be missing a thing or two!

 

https://www.emgpickups.com/jvxset.html

It’s the original wiring harness as supplied by emg. They’ve changed the kit over the years for sure and use more clip-on connectors at the pot end of the chain now.  

[Bassassin]

6 hours ago, JoeEvans said:

You can give a super-subtle but convincing relic effect by dulling down the whole body (I'd recommend stripping everything off it then using 1000-grade wet and dry, dipping it regularly in a bowl of water to stop it from clogging); then using T-Cut to polish up just the areas where your right wrist and thumb would touch the bass while playing. 

 

Or just play it - it'll gloss up naturally at the contact points. Just like factory satin finishes do!

[NancyJohnson]

Is this the same one you used in Heights?

[NancyJohnson]

Concerning foam pads, I'd advocate using latex tubing on the screws.  It'll compress and bounce back on adjustment.

[Baloney Balderdash]

Also the foam that EMG pack their pickups with cut to appropriate size is absolutely perfect for use as pickup cavity foam.

 

[jonno1981]

3 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

Is this the same one you used in Heights?

Hi Paul! Yep. 1st few years used a sadowsky metro. Wish I still had it - the one that got away……

used this for many years for at least last album stuff. Various always on external preamps. 

[NancyJohnson]

1 hour ago, jonno1981 said:

Hi Paul! Yep. 1st few years used a sadowsky metro. Wish I still had it - the one that got away……

used this for many years for at least last album stuff. Various always on external preamps. 

 

I really liked this one.  Didn't think there was much wrong with it.  Remember you saying it was just a parts built one.

 

If you want to try the latex tube method, happy to pop some over 

[neepheid]

Presumably those volume pots are 25K, not 250K or more?  Active EMGs use 25K pots for volume.  I see the tone one appears to be a 25K, can't see any reason why the other two wouldn't be 25K but thought I'd ask.

Edited December 28, 2023 by neepheid

[jonno1981]

All 25k pots. Thanks for checking. The level is workable now the pickups have been cranked back up. Cheers. 
Im toying with the idea of trying an artec 2e drop in but not sure how to wire it. The emgs have a signal and wire to battery but no earth output. 

[itu]

You have the signal, the power, and the ground, which is the shielding. That makes 3.

[Johncee]

Recently fitted Gemini Mountain Lightning pickups to my JB. They sound immensely good, and Mike is a great guy to deal with.