American Professional II Jazz - V-Mod II pickup output query...

[HeadlessBassist]

Now then... (sorry, came over all Yorkshire there for a moment!) I picked up a mint condition 2023 Fender American Professional II Jazz in a trade yesterday. After setting it up (especially with my regular pickup heights), the output seems a little on the low side. Nice sounding bass overall and buttery to play, but I was wondering whether anyone else has had this issue of the V-Mod II pickups being a bit on the quiet side..?

 

And yes, the mint scratch guard is going to be replaced by a vintage tort one. 

[kwmlondon]

I had one of the series 1 USA pro jazz basses. The v mod pickups were fantastic, though very smooth when compared with other basses side by side but I thought they were fantastic pickups. I remember them giving a very good signal. Maybe an issue with the vol pot?

[HeadlessBassist]

1 hour ago, kwmlondon said:

I had one of the series 1 USA pro jazz basses. The v mod pickups were fantastic, though very smooth when compared with other basses side by side but I thought they were fantastic pickups. I remember them giving a very good signal. Maybe an issue with the vol pot?

 

Agreed. I always loved the original V-Mod pickups in my previous American Professional V.1 Precision with their mix of Alnico 2 & 5 magnets. I'm thinking of dropping in to get my Tech to test them on Monday to see if anything is actually wrong with it. It's a barely used bass that was bought new by a guitarist and never really played much or taken outside his house, so I'm assuming it's got no gremlins as such.  

Edited yesterday at 19:29 by HeadlessBassist

[Lozz196]

I experienced similar with a Pro V1 Jazz, compared to my US Standard Precision it was much quieter. Still sounded good though.

[HeadlessBassist]

It was interesting to compare it to my American Original Jazz - the Original's Pure Vintage 64's are meant to be overwound, so you'd generally expect a lot less output compared to the modern basses, but the Original is much more present and punchy.

[HeadlessBassist]

Problem sovled - the Jazz was sounding 'thin' and lacking definition more than anything, probably due to the £8 set of Warwick Red Label 40-100 strings I threw on it. It's now got a new set of Elixir 40-95s and it's got all of its proper fullness and rich tone back. Much better! Beware cheap string sets... 🤦‍♂️

[kwmlondon]

2 hours ago, HeadlessBassist said:

Problem sovled - the Jazz was sounding 'thin' and lacking definition more than anything, probably due to the £8 set of Warwick Red Label 40-100 strings I threw on it. It's now got a new set of Elixir 40-95s and it's got all of its proper fullness and rich tone back. Much better! Beware cheap string sets... 🤦‍♂️

Ahhhhh.