Vintage Noiseless Active pickups

[beefcake92]

Hello, i have a question about these pickups, they came on my fender active deluxe jazz bass. I bought the bass at a local music shop about 2 years ago, the store has free tune ups for a year when you purchase a guitar there. About a month ago i brought my electric that had been under service with the local music shop since i had received it to a bass lesson for a change from taking upright lessons. My bass teacher was shocked when he looked at my pickups and saw that the metal circles in the pickups had been pulled out at different lengths across the pickups. According to him you are not suposed to pull out the metal pieces and they are suposed to lay flat. I cant remember when i got the bass if it layed flat across the pickup or was so called "honeycombed" across, and the guy who serviced my bass is no longer working for the music store to question about this.

My question to you guys is if these bass pickups are meant to have the metal pieces up or if they are suposed to be flat. They are Vintage Noiseless Active pickups.

[testing1two]

If the pickups are truly the vintage noiseless then the pole pieces should all be flat. A way to check if they are indeed vintage noiseless pickups is that the pole pieces all have beveled edges. If the edges aren't beveled then you have different pickups inside the noiseless covers.

Pictures would be most helpful in this case.

[beefcake92]

These pickups come stock in the bass. So you are saying that if they are really the pickups that should be in my bass they should be flat? I cant post a picture at the moment but it looks as tho my pickups pole pieces are way further out than other other pictures of the pickup i can find. Almost like the guy at the music shop took a pair of pliers and pulled them out further for some reason.

[line6man]

First off, those pickups are passive.

Some pickups have staggered pole pieces for a more consistent string response on basses with a curvy fretboard radius. Most non-adjustable Jazz pickups always have flat pole pieces though.

Take a look at the underside of the pickup to see whether the pole pieces lie flat with the flatwork or if they are pushed up.

[Bijoux]

I have these pick ups on my Jazz Bass deluxe. the poles under the D and A string are raised to adjust to the contour of the fingerboard.
is that what you are talking about?

[beefcake92]

I dont believe they are passive, it takes a 9 volt battery and the bass is called an Active deluxe jazz and im prety sure that its called and active jazz because of the pickups

[beefcake92]

Originally Posted by Bijoux

I have these pick ups on my Jazz Bass deluxe. the poles under the D and A string are raised to adjust to the contour of the fingerboard.
is that what you are talking about?

Yes that is what i am talking about, the poles are raised under the d and a string.

[line6man]

Originally Posted by beefcake92

I dont believe they are passive, it takes a 9 volt battery and the bass is called an Active deluxe jazz and im prety sure that its called and active jazz because of the pickups

The bass has a preamp, but the pickups are passive.

[Bijoux]

yeah, you know, I thought that was weird at first. I actually prefer when they are all flat. also, although seems like a good idea in theory,but I am not sure that it works that great either...

[beefcake92]

Originally Posted by Bijoux

yeah, you know, I thought that was weird at first. I actually prefer when they are all flat. also, although seems like a good idea in theory,but I am not sure that it works that great either...

The main problem is that my strings are constanly hitting the poles because they are so high up, it makes a clicking noise when it collides making my sound so crappy when i play aggressivly.

[beefcake92]

Originally Posted by line6man

The bass has a preamp, but the pickups are passive.

Interesting, do you think that the guy who serviced my bass couldeve ignorantly pulled the pole pieces out? Im still fuzzy to if they are meant to be staggerd or if they come flat out of the box.

[testing1two]

They should look like this:

[beefcake92]

They look nothing like that , pole pieces are way higher and they are not beveled like in that picture
Altho the black casing and everything else is the same

[line6man]

Originally Posted by beefcake92

Interesting, do you think that the guy who serviced my bass couldeve ignorantly pulled the pole pieces out? Im still fuzzy to if they are meant to be staggerd or if they come flat out of the box.

Like I said, take a look at the bottom of the pickup to see if the pole pieces lie flat with the flatwork, or if they are pushed inward.

You risk damaging the coil by trying to hammer the pole pieces up.
It's doubtful that your tech would have done such a thing, whether or not there was a problem with the string response.

[pyrohr]

I have a CS bass with "custom noiseless" and had a bass with the noiseless pups and the middle poles A and D string are raised. If your bass is making noise due sloppy playing lower the pups until it stops.

[walterw]

right, your pickups are normal; just lower them until they stop hitting the strings.

better yet, bag them entirely, as they're weak and dull compared to what else is out there. if you want to keep the "vintage" vibe and the hum-canceling, the dimarzio area Js will blow them out of the water in terms of output and liveliness.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by beefcake92

The main problem is that my strings are constanly hitting the poles because they are so high up, it makes a clicking noise when it collides making my sound so crappy when i play aggressivly.

Lower the pickups.