Problematic Fender P

[Greg R]

I've never been able to get my 76 P-Deluxe to sound like it once did. A couple of years ago, the tone pot went south and I replaced it with another 500K. Didn't sound the same. Then I had to change the cap. Now it's really not the same. Any P fans out there who could tell me what cap value sounds best to them, assuming you have a split pup at the neck and a jazz at the bridge? I am also not opposed to changing pups at this point and would like to know if there are any "standards" out there that many have migrated to. I play mainly r&b and edgy blues. I love this bass, but I'm running out of ideas.

[The Mock Turtle Regulator]

Originally posted by Greg R
I've never been able to get my 76 P-Deluxe to sound like it once did.

I've never heard of a Precision "deluxe" model from that era- do you have a pic of it?


Fender basses usually have 250k pots.
500k pots would give a bit more brightness (less loading of the pickups, hence they're used on Gibsons with humbuckers eg. the T-bird).

[Ziggy]

I'm with MockTurtle on this one; "250k pots are what you should being using." The 500k pots are typically used with the Bartollini actives.

Also, be sure that you soldered the cap. to end terminal, and the other end grounded to the tone pot. A .05 cap it standard issue, but you can go as low as .02 for less treble cut as you trim the tone pot down.

michael s.

BTW: if you're looking for parts and wiring configs, check out http://www.guitarelectronics.com for parts and wiring diagrams