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. 

 

Edited yesterday at 08:04 by HeadlessBassist

[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 Saturday 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 initially 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... 🤦‍♂️

 

Also, after a large amount of trawling on here and TalkBass, I've found that the V-Mod II's are a little lower on output, due to a slight overwind to make them a little less lively than the original V-Mod set.

Edited 4 hours ago by HeadlessBassist

[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.

[HeadlessBassist]

Much better with the vintage tort guard (and the Elixirs!)

 

[kwmlondon]

58 minutes ago, HeadlessBassist said:

Much better with the vintage tort guard (and the Elixirs!)

 

Lovely. For some reason I associate the black and red tortie combo with 70s instruments but that's not for any logical reason. It's very stylish though. Love it.

[HeadlessBassist]

13 hours ago, kwmlondon said:

Lovely. For some reason I associate the black and red tortie combo with 70s instruments but that's not for any logical reason. It's very stylish though. Love it.

 

I know what you mean - the original mint one always reminds me of the older Mexican instruments with just cheap white/parchment single ply.

Edited 4 hours ago by HeadlessBassist

[kwmlondon]

Just now, HeadlessBassist said:

 

I know what you mean - the original mint one always reminds me of the older Mexican instruments with just cheap white single ply.

The USA Pro I had came with the mint white one. I have NO idea why when every other part of the isnstrument scramed quality. I especially like the tuners and the bridge!

[HeadlessBassist]

They obviously have some style gurus there that don't seem to understand that pale scratch guards remind us of Fender cheaping out on us, LOL

[Lozz196]

It’s funny but although I love that tort guard on that Jazz on my own US one I for some reason kept the white guard on it, even tho I had intended to tort it. 

[HeadlessBassist]

1 minute ago, Lozz196 said:

It’s funny but although I love that tort guard on that Jazz on my own US one I for some reason kept the white guard on it, even tho I had intended to tort it. 

 

"To Tort, or not to Tort? That is the question..."