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Fender Blacktop Club

#101
Just installed the new 250k pots and orange drop cap with new jack. Wow, what a difference! This is how it is supposed to work! Full volume controls, seems like a wider, warmer range of tone control.
Love how the bridge pickup only sounds pretty close to a jazz sound with bite, and the neck pickup only is pretty close to P bass.
Very distinct tones, with a full range of blend now, for only $15 or so!

Next up is black abalone pickguard.

Thanks for the tip on the pots and cap StrangerDanger!
 
#102
ShadowVampyre said:
Just installed the new 250k pots and orange drop cap with new jack. Wow, what a difference! This is how it is supposed to work! Full volume controls, seems like a wider, warmer range of tone control.
Love how the bridge pickup only sounds pretty close to a jazz sound with bite, and the neck pickup only is pretty close to P bass.
Very distinct tones, with a full range of blend now, for only $15 or so!

Next up is black abalone pickguard.

Thanks for the tip on the pots and cap StrangerDanger!
Click to expand...

I'm glad it worked out. :D
 
#103
I went into a Best Buy near my workplace yesterday. It would seem they're getting out of the musical instrument business. Almost every instrument, amp and accessory was getting a clearance sale bump.

They had two Blacktop Precisions (black paint-jobs for both) on sale for a little over $300. I wanna say $309, but don't hold me to that. So if someone's jonesing for one, you might be able to snag one "on the cheap".
 
#104
Skygoneblue said:
Does anyone have any sound clips of the Blacktop P, specifically soloing the neck pickup with a lot of tone for a punk sound?

I play in a rocky punk band, and I cant' decide if a Blacktop P or J would be better for my situation. I'm not real picky for body shape or neck; I'm more concerned with the tone.
Click to expand...

The p has great tone for lots of genres. I play blues, classic rock, and a little funk and get all the tone for the spread. Its worth checking out.
 
#106
Skygoneblue said:
Does anyone have any sound clips of the Blacktop P, specifically soloing the neck pickup with a lot of tone for a punk sound?

I play in a rocky punk band, and I cant' decide if a Blacktop P or J would be better for my situation. I'm not real picky for body shape or neck; I'm more concerned with the tone.
Click to expand...

I use my Blacktop P for a doom/stoner/post-metal/all things heavy band.

It is awesome for it! Used to play in punk bands back in the day, I would say for this bass I'd actually be dialling the neck pup down a bit and letting the bridge bite punch through the mix for me. For punk, that is.

For my current setup and I have the bridge at 6 and the neck pup dimed.
 
#108
Hey, everybody!

First post ever and I wanted to use it to join this club!

I'm new to bass playing but not new to music. I researched basses for a while and this is what I landed on.

I was thinking of upgrading the pickups and read that it was good to have a hotter pickup in the bridge position. Is it okay to have two identical pickups?

I was thinking two Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders. It'll be a while, but I'm starting my research early.

Here's a pic:
fenderblacktopjazz_zps9755b6ee.gif
 
#112
I finally got a decent picture of my Blacktop Jazz:
2013_0422Image0025.jpg
Picked up in October 2011 and has become my main player. Added the red pearl pick guard (1st time in 30 some years I bought something for an instrument that was purely cosmetic) and an Audere JZ preamp (V V T/B) that I picked up new/used here on TB. The preamp solved the volume issue and added some nice tonal variety. ;)

Number please!
 
#113
emdsd said:
I finally got a decent picture of my Blacktop Jazz:
View attachment 333266
Picked up in October 2011 and has become my main player. Added the red pearl pick guard (1st time in 30 some years I bought something for an instrument that was purely cosmetic) and an Audere JZ preamp (V V T/B) that I picked up new/used here on TB. The preamp solved the volume issue and added some nice tonal variety. ;)

Number please!
Click to expand...

What was the volume problem you were having? I havent noticed anything wrong on my blacktop yet just curious what to possibly be on the lookout for.
 
#114
mmoore2490 said:
What was the volume problem you were having? I havent noticed anything wrong on my blacktop yet just curious what to possibly be on the lookout for.
Click to expand...

I found the volume was either off or ON with very little change from "3" to "10". I think others have mentioned this in posts also IIRC. When I want to make changes to tone or volume "on the fly" I want to be able to do it on my bass as many times getting to my amp isn't always easy. I've found with the Audere everything I need is at my fingertips! As always, YMMV! :D
 
#115
emdsd said:
I found the volume was either off or ON with very little change from "3" to "10". I think others have mentioned this in posts also IIRC. When I want to make changes to tone or volume "on the fly" I want to be able to do it on my bass as many times getting to my amp isn't always easy. I've found with the Audere everything I need is at my fingertips! As always, YMMV! :D
Click to expand...

well that i do have, its either on or off, and i would love to be able to mod it to fix that. what are the 250k pots that everyone seems to be in agreeance with on here? im not new to playing bass, new to moding them though. :help: :)

i am in the middle of doing some small mods like black dome knobs, and a pickup cover. (just wish i could find one in black)

edit: i found what the 250k pots are on GC. how hard is it to do this kind of mod? and is the cap change necessary too?
 
#116
mmoore2490 said:
well that i do have, its either on or off, and i would love to be able to mod it to fix that. what are the 250k pots that everyone seems to be in agreeance with on here? im not new to playing bass, new to moding them though. :help: :)

i am in the middle of doing some small mods like black dome knobs, and a pickup cover. (just wish i could find one in black)
Click to expand...

For whatever reason, as I understand it, Fender uses 500k pots in these basses and switching to 250k will solve the volume "issue". I think the JZ3 I installed comes with 250k pots.

I too am new to mods. I had always had passive basses till I picked up an already modded 55-01 in Dec 2011. After that I've come to appreciate the extra tonal variety a preamps can bring. :D After reading up a little on preamps here on TB, I figured why not try one in my Blacktop Jazz to "fix the volume issue" and see what else it might do. The Audere seemed to have the best 'bang for buck' and ease of install....and as you probably figured by now, I really like it! :hyper:
 
#118
emdsd said:
For whatever reason, as I understand it, Fender uses 500k pots in these basses and switching to 250k will solve the volume "issue". I think the JZ3 I installed comes with 250k pots.

I too am new to mods. I had always had passive basses till I picked up an already modded 55-01 in Dec 2011. After that I've come to appreciate the extra tonal variety a preamps can bring. :D After reading up a little on preamps here on TB, I figured why not try one in my Blacktop Jazz to "fix the volume issue" and see what else it might do. The Audere seemed to have the best 'bang for buck' and ease of install....and as you probably figured by now, I really like it! :hyper:
Click to expand...

sounds good! thanks for the help. the volume thing has really started to annoy me. i do seem to get a variety of tone from the tone knob alone though with both pups fully on.
 
#120
mmoore2490 said:
well that i do have, its either on or off, and i would love to be able to mod it to fix that. what are the 250k pots that everyone seems to be in agreeance with on here? im not new to playing bass, new to moding them though. :help: :)

i am in the middle of doing some small mods like black dome knobs, and a pickup cover. (just wish i could find one in black)

edit: i found what the 250k pots are on GC. how hard is it to do this kind of mod? and is the cap change necessary too?
Click to expand...

The mod is very easy, you just need a soldering iron and basic soldering skills. the cap is not necessary, but worth it, since you are resoldering everything anyhow.

It was like $13 in parts, and 30 minutes of work, and really, reallly made the bass come alive with different tones, different ranges of volumes.

I highly recommend it!
 

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