Fender American Deluxe Jazz Bass Owner's Question!

[GG7]

This question is for owners of the American Deluxe Jazz Bass regarding the behavior of the pickup pan pot.

I just got my 4 string version about a month ago and just got a larger amp for it today. I was messing around with the pickup balance/pan pot tonight and I am not seeing a heck of a lot of gradual panning from the bridge to the neck pickup and back again.

All the change in tone seems to happen right off the center detent either way, and when I continue to turn the knob more to one pickup or the other, I really don't hear any change in balance.

Is this normal?

Up till now, I had been playing the bass through a little Ampeg BA108 practice amp, so I assumed that the lack of real change in tone was the little amp's fault. Now with this larger and more full tonal range amp, I am still seeing this same lack of audible tonal change/pick up volume changes past the first couple of degrees off center detent.

Trying to decide if I need to call Fender about this or not. I would think that there should be more gradual control over the pickup balance instead of all of the change being loaded into the first couple of degrees of turn off center.

Thanks in advance!

[cjp3044]

Originally Posted by GG7

This question is for owners of the American Deluxe Jazz Bass regarding the behavior of the pickup pan pot.

I just got my 4 string version about a month ago and just got a larger amp for it today. I was messing around with the pickup balance/pan pot tonight and I am not seeing a heck of a lot of gradual panning from the bridge to the neck pickup and back again.

All the change in tone seems to happen right off the center detent either way, and when I continue to turn the knob more to one pickup or the other, I really don't hear any change in balance.

Is this normal?

Up till now, I had been playing the bass through a little Ampeg BA108 practice amp, so I assumed that the lack of real change in tone was the little amp's fault. Now with this larger and more full tonal range amp, I am still seeing this same lack of audible tonal change/pick up volume changes past the first couple of degrees off center detent.

Trying to decide if I need to call Fender about this or not. I would think that there should be more gradual control over the pickup balance instead of all of the change being loaded into the first couple of degrees of turn off center.

Thanks in advance!

It's broken. You should just give it away to someone down the hill, someone that likes Jazz basses - anyone come to mind?

[JoeWPgh]

Hard to say without hearing it. Every J bass I've had had a major step in tone once one pickup is rolled back a little

[GG7]

Originally Posted by cjp3044

It's broken. You should just give it away to someone down the hill, someone that likes Jazz basses - anyone come to mind?

LOL!

I know you!

I didn't ask you privately cause I know you don't have an active Jazz like this one.

I actually prefer the traditional separate pickup volume controls over this pan pot thing, but anyway... I am looking to hear from someone else out there that actually has the same bass to see if they hear real detectable tone changes at every position on the pan knob, or just right on each side of the detent.

On mine, a good 70% of the knob's throw on each side of the center detent doesn't seem to change anything. It is behaving more like an on off switch than a pot.

P.S> Thanks Joe...These Deluxe ones with the active system are totally different than the traditional J Bass pickup volume controls. Instead of a separate volume knob for the neck and bridge, you have a single pan pot that I assumed was supposed to fade one pickup out as you turn the knob all the way towards the other pickup, with both at even volume at the center detent.

[kingkeld]

I have a 2011 Fender Jazz V Am Deluxe, and it behaves just like you describe it.

In one way it bothers me that I can't really mix/blend the tones much more than half-n-half, on the other side I can super easily swich mic (tone) if I want to sound different in the middle of a song (this happens a lot depending on my mood).

It'd be nice to be able to blend them totally to my liking, though.

I'd say that your bass is acting as it's supposed to.

[mjac28]

I wonder if you can use a different pot with a different taper?

[P Town]

I have both the Am Dlx J, and P, and they both work the way yours does.

It works fine for me.

I would love to have a detailed schematic for the pre-amp circuit, but I did not find it on the Fender site. I wonder if FMIC would provide one opon request.

[phatbass30]

Originally Posted by kingkeld

I have a 2011 Fender Jazz V Am Deluxe, and it behaves just like you describe it.

In one way it bothers me that I can't really mix/blend the tones much more than half-n-half, on the other side I can super easily swich mic (tone) if I want to sound different in the middle of a song (this happens a lot depending on my mood).

It'd be nice to be able to blend them totally to my liking, though.

I'd say that your bass is acting as it's supposed to.

exactly like mine.

[cjp3044]

Originally Posted by GG7

LOL!

I know you!

Welcome to Talkbass my friend. You actually know several of us here - I saw you talking about your recent purchase of this jazz bass, the Ampeg and the Ric 4003 that's on it's way and I thought to myself - too much of a coincidence. Not wanting to hijack your thread, but stop over here and introduce yourself to our own little TB club: Fresno Area Bassists

Now about your bass question - I think what you are seeing is normal - correct me if I'm wtong, but the pan pot (blend) works in passive mode as well, right? If that is the case, then the blend control is a passive control and that is inherently how passive blend controls work. My other buddy that has the exact same bass as you is running his strictly passive these days because he likes the live tone better for his sound, but he plays solo in active mode.

[GG7]

Thanks for all the responses guys and making me feel welcome here! And thanks for the link cjp! I will head over there and bookmark too! I figured that a lot of you guys were on here, but you didn't give me a chance to ask you! lol!

So... This is normal behavior huh? I am relieved to hear that my bass is not acting abnormal compared to everyone elses', but this still seems kind of lame compared to how I thought this pan knob was supposed to work.

What CJP added makes sense and yes, it does control the pickups in either passive or active mode, and yes, that behavior does strike me as the kind of coarse control you might see with a passive system.

Still... It sure would be better if the control was more gradual and gave you finer detailed control over the blend instead of that almost on/off switch type of effect. I can't imagine being able to really use it live very effectively, since it is so touchy right off the center line. I do hear balance changes going on, but they are all loaded into a very tiny portion of the knob's throw.

I too wonder if swapping in a different value pot would open it up and give you a finer and wider control behavior?