J Noiseless Pups HELP!!!

[dday110]

I have a made in Korea Squire J Bass, about 10 years old. Over the last few weeks, have completely sheilded it with copper tape, put in new V/V/T pots (250k) from stewmac. After that was done, I ordered a set of Fender J Noiseless pickups from Musicians friend. The instructions in the box were for the wrong pups, so I did some research... based on size alone, put them in the (hopefully) right spot. Wired black wire to ground, white/yellow to hot of the pots. I have the ground wires run as a star like the sticky tutorial.

Anyways, the main problem, I hear a TON of treble out of my new pups, and almost no bottom end. The neck pickup when played by itself is almost inaudable... it is so soft it's worthless!!!!

Anyone have any suggestions?


Thank you so much,
Don

ps... pics to follow....

[Nighttrain1127]

It sounds like it iw wired wrong and or you might have a bad pot. You need to get the wiring Diagram from fender Support to make sure they are wired properly. Also the noisless pickups have a bit lower output than normal pickups.

[dday110]

Here's a picture of the wiring.

Yellow from Bridge pickup, White from Neck pickup...

grounds to central connection in the cavity.

any thoughts?

am i making a mistake by putting the new noiseless pups in a passive setting? are these pickups considered humbucking and should I have used 500k pots? help!!!!!

[J.D.B.]

They wire like a standard Jazz(other than the hot lead colors). Try here:
http://www.axesrus.com/images/BASS1.jpg
Other than central grounding it should be the same on the pick up side. 250k pots are correct. I can't tell from your picture how the the tone cap. and pot are wired so, compare to the diagram. If, after you get them both working they tend to cancel one another or output drops as you turn up the second pot(either to the other), then you'll need to reverse the wiring on one pickup(ground and hot) to bring them into phase. Height is important for output and you'll likely need to adjust it(up or down) for best sound. Be sure to get the jack polarity right, too. Post back and let me/us know how it went.
Josh

[dday110]

I am off to a meeting, so I will try all this when I get back....

The tone cap is wired to the right terminal (as looking at it upside down) and to the ground of the jack. The middle of the tone pot is just like the diagram.

I have already adjusted the heigth of the pups/strings, and am no better than before.

I will try switching the wires on the bridge p/u, seeing that is the one that sounds the worse!!!

Thanks, will update when I get back!!

Don

[dday110]

well, switched the bridge pup, and the sound was worse, so it's obviously in phase now. just don't understand why it's so bright, with no bottom end. i put the pups direct to the output jack and no difference in sound, so not the pot's fault...

i'm at a loss...

yeah i've adjusted the pup heigth....

should i try switching the neck pup instead?

[J.D.B.]

The bridge pick up is usually a brighter sound anyway. Does the tone knob have any effect? Is the cap. a .47(or "half" a microfarad?). Either pick up(doesn't matter) can be switched to get proper phasing. The neck pick up is very quiet when soloed still? Even by itself to the jack directly? Hmmmm. I wish I knew how those pick ups were supposed to sound, but I haven't used/heard them. You might have a bad one(neck). You checked the jack for correct usage, right? That is, you're hooking ground to ground, hot to the hot? I wish I could help you more. Anywhere near Detroit?
Josh

[dday110]

yes, everything is wired correctly...i'm just thinking that maybe these pickups are not the right match for my setup? way too much treble, and not enough low end. If it weren't for the hum, I'd put my original pups back in.

Maybe recomendations for a similar style pup - Must be QUIET, J-bass pups, passive, and looking for just a pure thick sound. My dad has an American fender jazz deluxe, and even passive on that bass sounds better than this!!! !(if you ignore the hum...)

I play mostly jazz, and am currently in a Springsteen tribute band, if that helps.

Also, in Cleveland, Ohio

[J.D.B.]

I like the Duncan "hot stack" humbuckers. Quiet and powerful. Try to find a tech to look at it before you throw in the towel. My US Jazz only hums audibly when a pickup is soloed. I always mix the two to keep the hum at bay.
Josh