Bad routing job ruined tone???

[Lane777Turgeon]

Hey y'all, need an opinion.
So as a teenager, I did a really messy, inconsistent, un-subtle routing job on my 1996 Fender Jazz.
I shortly after replaced the neck with a fretless neck. Now the bass plays great, but sometimes seems kinda...weak. Little in the way of lows, and treble, actually.
I'm not sure if it's the setup of the bass, or the messy lack of wood under the pickguard. Thoughts?

 

[Geri O]

It think it’s safe to say, take the lack of wood under pickguard out of the equation. There’s several other things that can be checked and dealt with.

 

[BLDavis]

I have an alder P bass that I had gutted under the pg. It removed over half a pound of weight and made the body a bit more resonate. If anything, it improved the tone.
Not sure what's happening with your bass without more info. Pix might help.
B.

 

[lark_z]

Are you sure the neck screws are nice and tight?

 

[bholder]

Nope.

 

[two fingers]

Hey y'all, need an opinion.
So as a teenager, I did a really messy, inconsistent, un-subtle routing job on my 1996 Fender Jazz.
I shortly after replaced the neck with a fretless neck. Now the bass plays great, but sometimes seems kinda...weak. Little in the way of lows, and treble, actually.
I'm not sure if it's the setup of the bass, or the messy lack of wood under the pickguard. Thoughts?

It's very unlikely that removing some wood under the guard explains weak tone.

Give us more details.

Body and neck woods, brand, model, etc.

Electronics. Pickups, preamp (if applicable), etc.

Bridge. Brand and model, or at least style.

Strings. Brand and model. Age/rough estimate of hours of playing time.

With this info we can start to paint a picture.

 

[Lane777Turgeon]

I'll try and get pics soon.

It's a 1996 Fender Jazz Bass MIM with stock pickups. Pretty heavy bridge, don't know the model. Maple neck with ebanol fingerboard. Don't know about the body.

Strings are usually Daddario Chromes.

It has thousands of hours of play time no doubt.

 

[Lane777Turgeon]

I have an alder P bass that I had gutted under the pg. It removed over half a pound of weight and made the body a bit more resonate. If anything, it improved the tone.
Not sure what's happening with your bass without more info. Pix might help.
B.

 

[Lane777Turgeon]

It's very unlikely that removing some wood under the guard explains weak tone.

Give us more details.

Body and neck woods, brand, model, etc.

Electronics. Pickups, preamp (if applicable), etc.

Bridge. Brand and model, or at least style.

Strings. Brand and model. Age/rough estimate of hours of playing time.

With this info we can start to paint a picture.

 

[96tbird]

Nah, that isn’t it. That’s not going to suck your bass and treble out. Look elsewhere. Make sure your solders are all firm.

may I ask, you do move your playing position of the right hand to change tones? Bridge/thin neck/thick?

Still, OMG!

 

[BlueRock]

Changing a neck can impact the sound more obviously than anything other than strings or pickups.
Swapping necks on around on a bunch of Fenders I found the sound of a particular neck is often very apparent regardless of the body, pickups and strings.
Some necks sound better than others on a particular body. Some just sound better than others period.

 

[two fingers]

OK, so not your most delicate work.

That said, none of that explains weak tone.

Tell us more about the bass. That will help us help you.

 

[Lane777Turgeon]

It's a 1996 Fender Jazz Bass MIM with stock pickups. Pretty heavy bridge, don't know the model. Maple neck with ebanol fingerboard. Don't know about the body.

Strings are usually Daddario Chromes.

It has thousands of hours of play time no doubt.