Fender "Cowpoke" P-bass Special buzz

[latigid]

Hey you all,

Got a 1990's Fender P-Bass Special, also known as the "Cowpoke". Made in Mexico, has the stacked knobs. I believe it has active P and J pickups. Purchased new for around $350 back then. Looks like this...



Anyways, it has a constant buzz. I can reduce it by turning down the treble, or eliminate it by turning down the volume completely. Touching the strings or other metal parts of the bass has no effect. Fading between P and J pickup has no effect.

I had a guitar tech go through the electronics as best he could, cleaning pots, etc. But the buzz remains. He said maybe there's a solder joint that's faulty on the circuit board. Who knows.

Could I rip out the electronics and replace them with something else? If so, suggested manufacturers? Any other advice?

[walterw]

ripping the guts out entirely would be the best thing you could do for that otherwise cool bass.

the sky's the limit for replacements, but you can't go wrong with a good vintage-style P pickup (fender "original", duncan "vintage", as well as top-shelf stuff from fralin, lollar, or nordstrand) and (this is key) a hum-canceling J pickup.

i really like the dimarzio area J, which is vintage-accurate in looks and sound while being dead quiet. being a split-coil pickup, it doesn't have the output loss associated with stacked pickups, and so will balance better with the P pickup.

as for the wiring, again anything goes. a volume for each pickup will give you a bunch of different sounds as long as you don't miss having a tone knob. so will having a master volume in one hole and a blend pot in the other.

you could get clever and use a stacked knob to get a volume for each pickup in one hole, leaving the other for a master tone knob, or even for a preamp/EQ with bass and treble also on one knob. EMG makes a good one, called the BTC control.