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Fender P-Lyte questions...

kvane

kvane

Sep 26, 2007
125
1
Seattle, Washington
#1
Ola TB! I've recently acquired a late '90's Fender P-Lyte. From all the searching I've done (especially here) I can't find one like mine. It's a 2-part mahagony, natural finish body with a P-J configuration. What makes it unique is that the bridge p'up is a humbucker, not a single coil. Hopefully I can get two Seymour Duncan SJB-1's to fit in there, we'll see... I traded for this to replace my Fender JP-90 (I like PJ's), whose tone I loved, it sounded like both precision and vintage jazz, nice-n-deep in the midrange, very "growly". I'm wanting to achieve that same sound with the P-Lyte So, my couple of questions:

1. It has an active pre (p'ups are passive); could I simply just take the pre-amp out and wire the p'ups directly to the pots, or do I need another pre-amp?

2. I want a "chimier" bridge (i.e. nickel, zinc...). Even though I may not use them, I want to keep the string-through as an open option. It's a four screw design that I can't find a "drop-in" for. I don't really want to put more holes in the body, but I will if necessary. What do you think of the Badass III's, etc.?

bass002.gif

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#6
I have a P-Lyte Deluxe almost exactly like that. Mine is a bit battered, and the stock pre-amp has been removed and replaced with passive volume and tone pots for each pup. It's not a great sounding instrument in this configuration, but it's okay. I've been thinking about putting a Aguilar preamp in it.

I'm not sure how much you'd be able to do with the humbucker pup. It doesn't seem to be the same size as some of the other dual-J pups (i.e. Rio Grande), and other options would probably require some wood work. A vintage-type P-pup (Fender, Duncan, Fralin, etc.) with passive controls might get you closer to the classic Fender sound. The mahogany body, however, is a departure from the classic P design that you'll never be able to overcome.

I'm not sure that the stock bridge is brass (if that's what you're thinking), it appears to be gold plating over something. Who knows what the "something" is.

There are lots of things you can do to this bass, but I'm not sure that any of them would be much of an improvement.

If you wan't a P/J that sounds more "Fender-y", you might want to keep your eyes out for a used Precision Bass Special. The older model ('03 and earlier) has passive controls. The newer one has an active pre, but a new PG, pots, and some handy work with a soldering iron can make it passive pretty easily.
 
#7
EricF's quote:
"I'm not sure that the stock bridge is brass (if that's what you're thinking), it appears to be gold plating over something. Who knows what the "something" is."


I don't know if it's brass or not, I do know that it's not a coating because I got curious about it and raked a straight razor on the bottom part of the bridge to see if it was just coated, still goldish in color (from what I can tell) all the way through.
You are right about the mahagony, only so much can be done with that, so I turn to technology!:smug:
I'm just fishin' for ideas at this point. There are a lot of creative people here. Thank you for your knowledge and experience EricF, these are some of the inputs I need.
 
#8
kvane said:
Cool, thank you PapaJustice. Did your tone get a little brighter with the Badass III?
Click to expand...

When I put on the bridge I also did a whole lot of other mods (preamp, pups, etc.) but the little time I played it post-Badass, pre-electronics upgrade I noticed greater clarity and sustain. The bridge is just super-solid and well-constructed. I remember looking at pictures of the bass from before I put on the Badass and thinking 'wow, that stock bridge is so wimpy!'

I just noticed though that you said you need 4-screw bridge. The Badass III is a 3-screw bridge--my mistake. You might want to try a Hipshot bridge-- check their website cuz they have a lot of options.
 
#9
Yeah, I looked at Schaller, Hipshot, and a few others. I've got a couple of basses with the Badass II and I love 'em. I think that the III will do it for me, as far as a bridge anyway. No one makes a four screw drop-ins without being customed. Oh well, the extra hole will be hidden by the bridge.
 
#10
I have a fretless Lyte Deluxe that I put EMG PJ pups in along with their BQS system running on 18volts.
The rout for the bridge pickup was much bigger than the "J" pickup, so I mounted it close to the bridge, and made a brass cover for the oversize rout with a cutout for the J pickup.
I left the stock bridge, it has all the sustain that I could ever want. I am very happy with the results.

A little off topic, but has anyone else ever seen a fretless Lyte? I am fairly certain that it came from the factory as a fretless, but I have never seen another.
 
#11
My P Lyte isn't a Deluxe, but I got it sounding more Fendery by yanking the preamp and putting in overwound pickups. Got a Duncan QP in the P position and a DiMarzio Ultrajazz in the J. I left the bridge on it, though. I like it just fine as it is.
 
#12
kvane said:
2. I want a "chimier" bridge (i.e. nickel, zinc...). Even though I may not use them, I want to keep the string-through as an open option. It's a four screw design that I can't find a "drop-in" for. I don't really want to put more holes in the body, but I will if necessary. What do you think of the Badass III's, etc.?

100_0367.gif
Click to expand...


I have the same bridge (but without the through body stringing option) on my early '90s J Bass Plus. IMO, it's the best bridge Fender has ever made and I think it sounds much better than the BadAsses I've used over the years.
 
#14
kvane said:
It is a rather solid, heavy bridge. I may just leave it on. I do have QP's that I'm gonna drop in the neck position. Would I need to get new pots in order to make it passive on these?
Click to expand...
I really don't know. I yanked out the entire guts because I thought the preamp was terrible, but I don't know if you can wire those pickups to the preamp as it is. Really, that's why those basses didn't sell. Worst active pickups on the market. No balls. I hate to mod basses but I made an exception for that one.
 
#16
I had one of these for about 7 years and did a few hundred gigs with it. I loved it. I could get amazing tone out of the one that I had. Left it completely stock and strung it thru the bridge. I never felt the need to change anything on the bass. The bridge is very solid. Solid enough for anything you'll ever need. I found that the midrange control was the secret weapon on this bass. That's the control I would pretty much use to get the right tone for different rooms. I could almost pre-set the treble and bass controls and just tweak the midrange control to get just the right tone for any room. And it is mahogany, not basswood. I had to get rid of mine because the downsized body and extra-long neck gave my left shoulder a lot of trouble after 7 years. I sold it in 2004 and I still miss the tone of that bass. I had often thought of pulling the pre-amp and pups out of it and installing them in a MIA Jazz bass but never did it. I think you ought to leave this bass stock, put a good set of your favorite strings on it and play it just as it is for a few months before you cannilbilize it. I would almost guarentee that if you put all new pick-ups and a new bridge on this bass, you're never gonna get that "vintage" sound you're looking for out of it. Even if you don't use the pre-amp. )-(
 
#18
I have this same bass. It is all stock. No mention was made of what strings you are using, unless I missed something. Strings make a big difference.

I use the TI Flats, and compared to other strings I tried, those strings get that right Fender sound for me.
 

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