mim active jazzV=toneless, help please

[jellymax]

i like the way it plays & looks, but compared to my
60s classic jazz (stock 4 string vintage pickups), the
sound is very poor. murky, lacking punch & presence.

the dlx V is 2006 with noiseless pickups, battery is good
etc...

i did a search & found some say the preamp is the main
culprit, others say it is the pickups. the least
expensive thing to try would be to switch out the preamp
with a passive jazz control plate with pots.

part of the problem is that the 60s classic jazz sounds
so good, that it even blows away my stingray5 that
i have had for 12 years!

i understand that not all replacement 5 string pickups
will fit this bass. given that, how can i get where i want
to go with this bass?

[jsingles]

if you preffer the sound of the passive jazz bass, then you might be better off removing the preamp indeed. and at that point if you still dont like how it sounds, switch out the pickups.

im not sure what will fit exactly, but im sure you can find some that will. perhaps nordstrands?

i play the MIA version of your bass, and mine has an 18v preamp, which i find to sound very warm and nice, but it certainly does NOT sound like a passive jazz bass, which has a little more grit and punch to it. my active jazz is much more versatile though, and sounds much better for slap than most passive jazz basses ive played.

[mani]

I have 2002/2003 model that I fitted with Aeros from a Lakland DJ5 and then an Audere. The Aeros sounded so much better that the stock pickups, even with the stock preamp still in there, so that's what I'd suggest to do first. I love mine now, and it has become my number 1 over a Streamer Jazzman 5 string custom shop and a Stingray.

[jellymax]

thanx for the input. so far it seems, 1 vote for switch electronics first, 1 vote for
switch pickups first. keep em comin...

as far as electronics go, its true i would likely go to passive rather than hunt for a
better preamp mainly because i like the snarl/growl & punch of passive, plus it is
1 less battery to worry about.

so which is worse, my preamp or my pickups. i've a feeling they both suck

[PilbaraBass]

I have a similar issue, but different...

my Squier Active V sounds really good...but the preamp controls are next to useless (sounds pretty much the same no matter where I put the tone knobs)...the only thing that changes the character of the bass is the pickup blend and the "slap switch"...

so what I'm doing...

I'm going to install a 2-band (vs the 3-band stock) preamp...it will be my design but similar in function to a Sadowsky or Aggie OBP-1 (40Hz/4kz boost only). I'm re-using the "slap switch" as a active/passive switch and installing a passive tone control (a la Sadowsky "VTC"). In addition, I may (still debating) installing a series toggle (a la S1).

This oughtta give me about 300% more tonal options than what I already have...which are great, BTW...but limited.

[Georynn]

I put an OBP-3 in my Squire Jazz V... sounded 1000 times better, but I still think the P'ups are VERY weak and lifeless...

Big singles! Installing mine in a few hours...

[riku888]

I have a '98 Jazz V deluxe (MIM). Pickups were rubbish. They were made up of 2 coils each. One around the E and B pole pieces and one around the other 3. The problem was that when you had the neck pickup solo'd and you bent the e string down the string would leave the magnetic field of the coil, but not actually reach the next magnetic field, so the note just died. very poor design. I replaced them with a set of Fender SCN's and I love them. I'm thinking about changing the pre to an Audere, but they're kinda expensive (and I'm meant to be saving for a house).

[markdavid]

I vote for swapping out the pickups first IME changing the pickups will make a more noticeable improvement than swapping/removing a preamp , besides that you dont want to remove the preamp only to find that there is no improvement in sound because the pickups are poor (which is often the case on MIM basses)

[PB+J]

I had an mim Deluxe V for a while--excellent bass after some modifications. I suspect that fender built some kind of compressor circuit into that preamp. It always sounded polite and kind of bland, and I noticed that when I put a stomp box compressor in front of it, it was extremely difficult to get the stompbox to do any compressing. I swapped the preamp out for an aguilar OPB-2 and liked it a lot better, although I almost always used it in passive mode

[jellymax]

another problem is the bridge pickup is noisy/microphonic, even though it sounds
no better or worse than the neck pickup.

i am in the process of collecting the parts to do a swap to passive electronics. i'll
update soon

guess i shoulda bought a standard jazz V to begin with but i do like the
sunburst/tort combination. good thing i got it used

[jellymax]

update; removed preamp & went to passive tonight. thru heaphones sounded
good so far. will update after tommorow nights gig.

parts used; new control plate, 3 250k pots, new jack, tone capacitor .047mfd
cost--approx $25 bucks

[Rano Bass]

I'm curious about how those pickups sound without a preamp.
A friend of mine replaced those pups for a set of bartolini and he's very happy with the results.

[jellymax]

sounds much better, still not as good as my jazz 4 with vintage single coils though.
weaker signal as well.
i did notice the pickups could be adjusted higher--i'll try that soon.

all in all, much warmer & closer to vintage tone!

[badboy1984]

Do you like passive tone or active tone?

If you passive tone then remove preamp and change pickup.

If you like active tone, change both the pickup and the preamp, since the stock electronic and pickup is bad on MIM bass.

[jellymax]

lately passive is what i like. in a band setting it pokes thru the mix well & is warm
sounding i guess. punchy.

i see you have a classic series 60's jazz. that bass is my benchmark for tone since
i changed amps 1.5 years ago. the amp does not like my stingray 5 much. trippy.