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New Audere JZ3 & 74 Fender Jazz pickups-Question

Chunk-O-Funk

Chunk-O-Funk

Apr 1, 2005
6,459
23
60
East Providence, RI
#1
Basically I'm looking for help diagnosing a problem. I think one or both of my old Fender Pickups may be bad but I'm not sure. I just installed a new Audere JZ3 preamp as well.

The first thing I noticed when I plugged in the bass was these pickup are very "lively" or sensitive. Microphonic may be a good description. Handling the bass or tapping on body or the pickups comes through loud and clear. More so than any other bass I have played ever.

The main problem is the bridge pickup. The best way I can describe the sound is it's like playing through an old AM radio. All high end. There's no getting that Jaco sound with this one, not even with the bass cranked up and the treble turned down. With both pickups turned on the sound improves dramatically, but it's still not where it should be. It really only sounds good with both pickups on in the low Z mode.

Does what I described sound like a bad or shorted pickup?

Do pickups go bad? These pickups haven't been in a bass for quite some time.

Could I have been the cause of the problem? There were no leads on these pickups, so I had to solder some on. I have used a soldering iron plenty of times before but it's not every day I solder pickups. I only have a 25w iron and was very careful not to get the pickups hot.

The only thing I have not tried yet is messing with the Z-mode adjustments. I was also thinking of connecting the bridge pickup to the neck connection on the preamp just to rule out a defective preamp.

Any help would be great.
Thanks
 
#3
It sounds like you may have the same problem as me.

I just recently had new pups installed, and they've now become microphonic. However, I don't get the thin sound from them. The thin sound may be related to phase, according to luknfur. But the microphonics, as far as my searching has gone, is pickup related (loose pole piece).

If you can test your pickups without the pre, then it should give you and idea of what's going on. ie: if the pickup is bad.

Unfortunately, in my case, I don't want to go in and mess around with what the tech has done to my bass, since all four pups are microphonic, and I'm hoping it's a wiring issue, and not damage to the pickups.
 
#4
Microphonic is probably pickup related but make sure your input wires to the socket are tight (they do not need to be overly tight but not fall out loose).

If the wire insulation in a pickup breaks down then they can also get very microphonic.

The lack of lows sounds like phasing - at low frequencies the sound will cancel. At high frequency the coils are not identical enough to cancel. But this can only happen when you have both pickups on. You can simply swap the 2 wires on 1 pickup (not both) to fix a phasing problem.

Since you solder on your own wires – if there is a break then the connection could be capacitively coupled – this will allow high frequencies to pass better – but I would expect High Z-Mode to sound best…

So you solder on to the brats? The magnet wire can get disconnected from the back side when the solder is melted.

Email me if you need more support

Thanks
David
 
#5
Hi David, Thanks for the reply.

I am most certain I am chasing a pickup problem. Jauqo III-X was kind enough to offer his help over the phone on Monday. He seems to have extensive knowledge of your product and speaks highly of it. Jauqo was very helpful and got me pointed in the right direction.

Thanks again Jauqo!

Thanks David!
I will be sending you an email just to confirm my suspicions.

The microphonic problem is on neck pickup and the tiny sounding problem is the bridge pickup. So I do have a couple of more questions before I just go and toss a couple of original 1974 Fender Pickups.

Thanks for your help.
Your customer suport gets an A+ in my books.
 
#6
Just an update for those who might be interested in the Audere preamp.

I installed a set of Nordstrand NJ4SV's pickups a couple of days ago and it is dead quite.

The Audere JZ3, Nordstrand combination is nothing short of awesome. With the 3-band eq and the z-mode switch there are tons of tone options.

I totally recommend.

I will be starting a thread soon with some sound samples for those interested.


Thanks for everyone's help.
Very much appreciated.
 

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