A little project I took on: I bought this 1993 Fender Jazz Bass Plus in Caribbean Mist on a whim. I have a Stu Hamm bass from that same era with the Kubicki preamp and figured it would be in the same ballpark except with a 34" scale. Turns out I REALLY don't like the sound of Lace-Sensor pickups, especially paired with the Kubicki preamp. They produce a real bitey aggressive upper mid character along with a glassy modern top end. Sounds very 80s active bass guitar to my ear. But I liked the overall feel of the bass, the neck, the balance etc. So I decided I'd do a passive conversion and replace the clunky neck-dive-inducing tuning machines with Hipshot Ultralites...
Easy right? NOPE
Turns out the Lace-Sensors are strange both sonically and physically. Instead of using the standard Jazz Bass footprint, they have dimensions right in between standard neck and bridge size, the same for both. And the screw ears/flanges are also in non-standard locations. So that left me with three options:
1) Abort
2) Get the bass routed to accommodate standard size J pickups (permanent mod)
3) Get some 3D-printed covers made for the passive pickups that will drop into the existing routes
I chose option 3. It was quite a process, but in the end I have a fully reversible modification that still achieves the intended goal. I chose the Nordstrand NJ4SV set (dual coil, vintage voiced) and Bourne 250K pots with a .047µF cap. Weighs 7.4 lbs and sounds killer.
Easy right? NOPE
Turns out the Lace-Sensors are strange both sonically and physically. Instead of using the standard Jazz Bass footprint, they have dimensions right in between standard neck and bridge size, the same for both. And the screw ears/flanges are also in non-standard locations. So that left me with three options:
1) Abort
2) Get the bass routed to accommodate standard size J pickups (permanent mod)
3) Get some 3D-printed covers made for the passive pickups that will drop into the existing routes
I chose option 3. It was quite a process, but in the end I have a fully reversible modification that still achieves the intended goal. I chose the Nordstrand NJ4SV set (dual coil, vintage voiced) and Bourne 250K pots with a .047µF cap. Weighs 7.4 lbs and sounds killer.
