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Fender Stu Hamm Urge I - Help Please

#44
spade2you said:
Burgundy mist metallic. I had 2. I could never get mine to play great. I now have a setup guy who would have figured out what I missed.

I think only the Tony Franklin has "balanced" P/J pickups by having a hot J and an underwound P pickup. To compensate, I boost a little bass and mid with the J pickup.
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They call that burgundy? Sorry Fender, that's not burgundy, lol.

The issue with this one is that the P pickup has low output, so the opposite of what might be the natural inclination. At any rate, the seller and I have been able to establish that there's definitely an electronics malfunction happening. It's just difficult to know what's causing it.
 
#45
those tuners don't look like the tuners on my bass ~
Kitsapbass said:
Not an unknown issue with Lace Sensors - at least IME. Currently have 2 basses with them and they’re pretty quiet compared to my other basses.

That being said, Lace is still in business so getting replacements isn’t an issue - if you’re even wanting to keep them. I know a few people who changed theirs out.
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for the record, the original series stu hamm urge basses did not come from the factory with lace sensors. the pickups do have closed tops like lace sensors do, but they are some sort of proprietary design particular to these basses.
 
#46
Mea culpa.

Went back to the old stone tablets (hard copies of Bass Player magazines) and found in there that the pickups are “custom-wound Fender JPJ pickups” per what Stu wanted.

Anyway - I brought it up from where I keep all my music magazines - OP, if you have questions, I may be able to do some research for you if you have other questions.
 
#47
Kitsapbass said:
Mea culpa.

Went back to the old stone tablets (hard copies of Bass Player magazines) and found in there that the pickups are “custom-wound Fender JPJ pickups” per what Stu wanted.

Anyway - I brought it up from where I keep all my music magazines - OP, if you have questions, I may be able to do some research for you if you have other questions.
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Haha, I just bought the March '94 copy off Ebay for the review. You have a copy?
 
#48
sumeursault said:
Haha, I just bought the March '94 copy off Ebay for the review. You have a copy?
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I have almost all of them until 2018 or so - then I ran into issues with them actually delivering the subscription. Killed it after 3 months of nothing.

Also have a bookcase of old Guitar Player and Guitar World magazines. Actually for the second time. My (now ex) wife tossed them all when I was sent off station, so I rebuilt the collection after 2015.

That being said, the issue I pulled was September 92 - discussing the design and build of the Urge basses. Cover is “Masters of Funk”.
 
#49
Kitsapbass said:
I have almost all of them until 2018 or so - then I ran into issues with them actually delivering the subscription. Killed it after 3 months of nothing.

Also have a bookcase of old Guitar Player and Guitar World magazines. Actually for the second time. My (now ex) wife tossed them all when I was sent off station, so I rebuilt the collection after 2015.

That being said, the issue I pulled was September 92 - discussing the design and build of the Urge basses. Cover is “Masters of Funk”.
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Ah, maybe the one I bought has the review? Or maybe I bought the wrong one altogether...
 
#50
So I did end up purchasing this instrument, and it does indeed have an electronics issue with the P-bass pickup. If someone out there has a wiring diagram and/or a schematic for the URGE 1, that could be very useful.
 
#51
There doesn't appear to be any good wiring schematic online BUT as much as I hate to direct to AI it might be a good path. ChatGPT can put together a pretty good wiring schematic based on online data and you can even upload a photo of your wiring to give it more clarity. Might even help with troubleshooting. Just an option. Not sure if it would pay off but it might.
 
#52
sumeursault said:
I'm considering purchasing an original Stu Hamm Urge bass. The seller sent me a video demonstrating the electronics and there seems to be a huge dropoff in output level between the P and J pickups. Is this normal, or is something malfunctioning?

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Something isn’t right with the rear J pickup. It’s very quiet and not functioning properly. I have the identical instrument and the volumes don’t drop like that
 
#53
Johnny Alien said:
There doesn't appear to be any good wiring schematic online BUT as much as I hate to direct to AI it might be a good path. ChatGPT can put together a pretty good wiring schematic based on online data and you can even upload a photo of your wiring to give it more clarity. Might even help with troubleshooting. Just an option. Not sure if it would pay off but it might.
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In my experience, ChatGPT makes very big errors about guitars/basses. For example, it told me most humbuckers use 250k pots and most strat pickups use 500k pots…
 
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#54
sumeursault said:
I dunno, dude. I'm not beyond vanity...and that color is objectively hideous, lol. What do we even call that? It's like a pinkish purple, or purplish pink. Pinkle? 🤣

Oh... and let's not even talk about the all black hardware.........EXCEPT FOR THE BRIDGE
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It’s called Burgundy Mist, a classic vintage Fender colour. My Stu Hamm Sig is this colour and it’s gorgeous. The video doesn’t do it justice.
 
#56
Root 5 said:
Something isn’t right with the rear J pickup. It’s very quiet and not functioning properly. I have the identical instrument and the volumes don’t drop like that
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Now having it in my possession, I believe it's the P-pickup that has the problem. I'm able to balance the two J-pickups such that the 60-cycle hum cancels out, and the blend pot seems to be working. Question for you though -- Do any of the pots have center detent? None of mine seem to. The blend pot has maybe just the slightest little catch in the middle, but I can barely feel it. The EQ pots have nothing that I can tell. Ideally all three of those (Blend/Treble/Bass) would have center detents.
 
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#57
sumeursault said:
Now having it in my possession, I believe it's the P-pickup that has the problem. I'm able to balance the two J-pickups such that the 60-cycle hum cancels out, and the blend pot seems to be working. Question for you though -- Do any of the pots have center detent? None of mine seem to. The blend pot has maybe just the slightest little catch in the middle, but I can barely feel it. The EQ pots have nothing that I can tell. Ideally all three of those (Blend/Treble/Bass) would have center detents.
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Yes they do
 
#60
Root 5 said:
Not the volume. The knob on top for blend I believe has a center detente. I forget! Would have to haul it out.

The middle knob is bass & treble and have centre detente.

The rear knob has 4 positions
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Okay, well darn... That means that all three of those pots need to be replaced. Yowza...

They're working otherwise, there's just no longer a center detent. There's the hint of one for the blend (which is the bottom knob), but nothing for treble/bass.

Crazy to me that the exterior could be in such amazing shape, but the guts are kind of a mess.
 

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