Hi all,
Hoping someone can help me out here. Try as I might to understand wiring diagrams found online, my mind just goes blank looking at them.
I recently bought a used 2011 Fender MIM Jazz bazz. In terms of feel and playability, it beats the 2008 MIA Jazz I used to own.
The tone, however, is too bassy. No treble, lack of mids, no note definition (I thought it was the guy's amp when checking out the bass). So I just ordered a set of Dimarzio Area J pickups. I couldn't remember whether J pickups were typically wired in series or parallel and started reading up on it.
This led me to wondering if maybe the pickups are fine and the previous owner of the bass changed the wiring to series. Looking at the soldering job, there's no question it's the work of an amateur. And the thick beefy tone is consistent with what would be the result with series wiring (although it sounds nothing like a P-Bass. I own three P-basses). Problem is there's no toggle to switch to parallel.
Also, the two volume controls work independently. I thought series wiring essentially meant only one volume control would be working. With that said, both volume controls seem to be the exact same ... either they are both working as a master volume for both pickups, or the bridge pickup sounds the exact same as the neck pickup! lol
For sure, the wiring is different than my other two Jazz basses.
Here's a pic and it's even hard for me to follow looking at it in person. The black wires for both pickups are soldered to the middle pot. There is a black wire from the first pot on the left going to ground. White wire for neck pickup goes to the first pot. White wire for bridge pickup goes to the middle pot. Then we have a white wire from first pot to middle, middle to tone pot and tone pot to jack ... phew:
Any thoughts? I'm guessing serial with two master volumes, but clearly have no clue. If this is some variation of parallel wiring, then these pickups are gone
Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
Hoping someone can help me out here. Try as I might to understand wiring diagrams found online, my mind just goes blank looking at them.
I recently bought a used 2011 Fender MIM Jazz bazz. In terms of feel and playability, it beats the 2008 MIA Jazz I used to own.
The tone, however, is too bassy. No treble, lack of mids, no note definition (I thought it was the guy's amp when checking out the bass). So I just ordered a set of Dimarzio Area J pickups. I couldn't remember whether J pickups were typically wired in series or parallel and started reading up on it.
This led me to wondering if maybe the pickups are fine and the previous owner of the bass changed the wiring to series. Looking at the soldering job, there's no question it's the work of an amateur. And the thick beefy tone is consistent with what would be the result with series wiring (although it sounds nothing like a P-Bass. I own three P-basses). Problem is there's no toggle to switch to parallel.
Also, the two volume controls work independently. I thought series wiring essentially meant only one volume control would be working. With that said, both volume controls seem to be the exact same ... either they are both working as a master volume for both pickups, or the bridge pickup sounds the exact same as the neck pickup! lol
For sure, the wiring is different than my other two Jazz basses.
Here's a pic and it's even hard for me to follow looking at it in person. The black wires for both pickups are soldered to the middle pot. There is a black wire from the first pot on the left going to ground. White wire for neck pickup goes to the first pot. White wire for bridge pickup goes to the middle pot. Then we have a white wire from first pot to middle, middle to tone pot and tone pot to jack ... phew:
Any thoughts? I'm guessing serial with two master volumes, but clearly have no clue. If this is some variation of parallel wiring, then these pickups are gone
Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
