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Fender Stu Hamm Urge I - Help Please
- Thread starter sumeursault
- Start date
Okay I checked mine:
front knob - only the bottom knob has a detente. Top one no.
Middle knob: neither the top or bottom have a detente.
Rear knob is a 4 way switch.
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Okay, great! That means only the front stacked pot needs to be addressed. Although, tbh, having center detents for the treble/bass boost/cut would've made a lot of sense...
Thanks for your time!
You’re welcome! They’re a nice instrument, rare, and I think you’ll enjoy it. Mine was made in 1997, burgundy mist like yours.
How did you date yours? From the neck? I can't find a serial number lookup that will recognize the odd "SE" serial on this.
For discussion:
I feel like the headstock is a bit of a design flaw -- The E-string tuning peg is almost in line with the E-string nut slot, which means the lateral break angle for that string at the nut is quite extreme. According to the write up in BPMag, the R&D process was extensive/lengthy, so I assume this was a tradeoff Stu and the Custom Shop were willing to make in order to achieve the smaller headstock?
I feel like the headstock is a bit of a design flaw -- The E-string tuning peg is almost in line with the E-string nut slot, which means the lateral break angle for that string at the nut is quite extreme. According to the write up in BPMag, the R&D process was extensive/lengthy, so I assume this was a tradeoff Stu and the Custom Shop were willing to make in order to achieve the smaller headstock?
I went by the serial number on the back of the headstock. However I’ve learned recently they cannot be trusted with the USA Urge basses so mine may be later than 1997.
BassHappy
Supporting Member
Hopefully some of this info might be helpful to some of you. It's the research I kicked up when I was looking into my Stu Hamm Urge I prototype:
Interesting! Per my earlier post about the headstock -- notice how the E-string post is slightly farther to the left on that bass relative to the MIA Urge I. So the headstock shape is slightly different. It also has what appears to be EMG pickups and a high-mass bridge.
On a side note -- aren't the MIMs kind of funky looking with the P-bass style body and J-bass pickup config?
When I reached out to Fender Consumer Relations about obtaining technical documentation on the MIA Urge I, they said, "Unfortunately, something happened to our file for that one and it is corrupt and unable to be opened." Huge bummer. I told them they should hire a data-recovery specialist to rescue the file. Anyone on here a data recovery specialist?
Update on the electronics repairs -- I'm working on replacing the 4PDT 3-way switch, as that seems like the low-hanging fruit (very carefully...VERY slowly). Tested the pickups and they're all healthy which is good news. I'd imagine it would benefit from replacing the pots, but I'm not sure (a) how to source the parts and (b) whether I want to try to fix something that isn't broken (yet).
BassHappy
Supporting Member
That is too bad about that Fender file, but stuff happens. Not sure about the tuning peg issue with MIM vs. MIA. I have no idea. Don't mind the body shape and love the pickups. I am just happy that I finally have a full two octave and wonderfully playable 32" medium scale bass with an actual Fender logo on the headstock.
I have a Stu Hamm the urge 1 USA or many years. It plays really smooth and the neck is great. I think it is normal the P pickup is louder than the J's.
I had to set the P pickup quite a bit down to balance the volume with the J pickups. What I noticed is that the passive position is really soft compared to the two active positions. Can other Urge 1 USA owners confirm this?
Anyway, here is me playing the bass in a weird tuning:
I had to set the P pickup quite a bit down to balance the volume with the J pickups. What I noticed is that the passive position is really soft compared to the two active positions. Can other Urge 1 USA owners confirm this?
Anyway, here is me playing the bass in a weird tuning:
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I'd assume passive is always going to be lower output relative to active unless the designer intentionally "steps down" the output of the active preamp to match the passive output.
Dude... Great playing! And I love the LPB color. My sense is those are exceptionally rare. Did you add the position dots or was that a previous owner?
Thanks! The dots are just stickers I added for convenience, they are removable. Not sure if LPB is more rare than other colours for the Urge. I also really like the green version. Burgundy is also nice.
Yes passive is always a bit softer but the difference on the the Urge bass is really much more than on other basses. But I guess this is normal for this bass? That's why I never use passive mode on this one.
