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Fender Ultra Precision bass

#141
Do any of you guys with ultra V's buzz like crazy when you are not touching the strings? Doesn't matter if it's in passive or active mode. I figured these pickups were supposed to be noiseless since they have the extra coil underneath them to cancel out the hum, and for the money I would expect the base to be shielded. However it doesn't look to be the case. For the money they really should shield the instrument.

So far thats my biggest complaint. Thankfully i can do that my own but to pay someone on top of buying the bass, im quite annoyed actually.

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#143
RobertAuCoin said:
I have never had that problem in three years. Sorry you experienced this!
Click to expand...

I suppose it's par for the course but it's getting fixed now!!

20230209_154249.jpg


And this is why the ultra have noiseless pickups. They are essentially humbuckers but stacked coils instead of side by side. Far less susceptible to outside interference but still any professional bass should be properly shielded.

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#144
bassguitarist85 said:
Do any of you guys with ultra V's buzz like crazy when you are not touching the strings? Doesn't matter if it's in passive or active mode. I figured these pickups were supposed to be noiseless since they have the extra coil underneath them to cancel out the hum, and for the money I would expect the base to be shielded. However it doesn't look to be the case. For the money they really should shield the instrument.

So far thats my biggest complaint. Thankfully i can do that my own but to pay someone on top of buying the bass, im quite annoyed actually.

View attachment 4963747
Click to expand...
Had a single pole that buzzed when touched. Had some extra shielding put in just in case. No other problem with either bass. Another QC moment for fender. Good luck sorting it out.
 
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#145
TrevorG said:
Had a single pole that buzzed when touched. Had some extra shielding put in just in case. No other problem with either bass. Another QC moment for fender. Good luck sorting it out.
Click to expand...

Muuuch better. Almost shut it up entirely. Far less susceptible to outside interference! Grounded the two cavities together with one wire and then at the same ground point connected the bridge ground to the volume pot. What I didn't take a picture is I put shielding underneath the pick guard too.

Yeah really crappy offender to not shield a $2300 bass. I mean if I'm going to spend my money I want everything to be turnkey. Thankfully it looks to be this is the only thing I need to do for the bass. The odd thing is my 2020 precision and 2022 jazz ultra Cobra blue are not buzzy at all. They must have copper paint in there I haven't looked though.

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#148
bassguitarist85 said:
Yes they did correct
Click to expand...

Ok, Fender's marketing stresses no hum or buzz;
No Hum or Buzz — Just Vintage Jazz Bass Tone
Get vintage Jazz Bass tone, but without the annoying hum and buzz! The Fender Vintage Ultra Noiseless Jazz Bass 5-string Pickup Set delivers the iconic tone of a vintage Jazz Bass, enhanced with modern winding techniques for noiseless operation. [from Sweetwater sales page]

I had P pickup on my December 2019 Ultra P where G string pole pieces raised up about 1 year later and pulled away from copper tape and after that had buzzing when not touching strings with my PJB Headphone Amp but only Buzzed when touching pole's with with MarkBass amp
Got new pickup sent to Local Guitar Center Service[went there because good friend worked in service]

When he removed P pickup it looked like standard pickup with some copper tape across the bottom of pole pieces but replacement looked like bottom of Jazz pickups in above picture. [there was no 'Shielding'] not needed according to Fender Service who was on phone during process.

Not a peep of noise now dead silent as it was before pole raising actually.

I suspect something went wrong with grounding in your case but IDK; since no complaints from others

for Ultra P users here is picture of first batch P pickup on Ultra[with raised pole's :)]

upload_2023-2-9_20-9-20.jpeg click
 

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#149
PS; My Bass seemed to have a rough ride getting to me based on condition of box; E-A side of P pickup needed snapped back on to cover,[poles were inside cover] maybe reason for eventual G poles raising?

Didn't come from Fender/Shop that way; shop called me and asked how I wanted to set it up and Bass came with spec's I asked for.

I am very content with Bass and Value it represents; Sounds great, fit and finish excellent along with great playability.

It was a slight bummer for me to deal with pickup as it must have been for OP; I needed help but fortunately OP was capable of taking care of problem on his own.
 
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#150
Nebadon2000 said:
PS; My Bass seemed to have a rough ride getting to me based on condition of box; E-A side of P pickup needed snapped back on to cover,[poles were inside cover] maybe reason for eventual G poles raising?

Didn't come from Fender/Shop that way; shop called me and asked how I wanted to set it up and Bass came with spec's I asked for.

I am very content with Bass and Value it represents; Sounds great, fit and finish excellent along with great playability.

It was a slight bummer for me to deal with pickup as it must have been for OP; I needed help but fortunately OP was capable of taking care of problem on his own.
Click to expand...
My ultra p from Feb 2020 had pickup issues on the p pickup as well. The cover was popped up so there were sunk polls. When inspecting there was a huge glob of solder in between two polls. removed it and all has been well. I marked it up to the start of covid lockdowns and QC slipping.
 
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#151
Here is the before and after video sound examples. It's like night and day. I submitted my review for Sweetwater.com. Hopefully they post it. It's not their fault. Fender should have put the shielding in there for this caliber of an instrument no question.

Hopefully this helps others. Grateful that I have the capability to do it myself. I'm sure others who are not capable would be pretty upset picking up a $2,000+ instrument and finding out that it buzzes a lot.


- this is the before
- this is the after
 
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#152
bassguitarist85 said:
Here is the before and after video sound examples. It's like night and day. I submitted my review for Sweetwater.com. Hopefully they post it. It's not their fault. Fender should have put the shielding in there for this caliber of an instrument no question.

Hopefully this helps others. Grateful that I have the capability to do it myself. I'm sure others who are not capable would be pretty upset picking up a $2,000+ instrument and finding out that it buzzes a lot.


- this is the before
- this is the after
Click to expand...

Unbearable ..
 
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#154
Well I just joined the Ultra club last week.

Picked up a 4 string Ultraburst Precision and slapped some TI Jazz Flats on it.

Absolutely loving it really opens up some modern sounds that I desperately need for my cover work. I've been gigging on a Custom Shop 64 reissue Jazz and a real deal 60 Precision (both with TI Flats) but getting too nervous having them in the car when I'm heading straight to the gig from work.

They're basically a perfect instrument with one exception... why oh why does the roll-off knob not been set up to work on active mode like a Sadowsky?

Otherwise a gorgeous instrument.

Edit: Paid $2k USD
 
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#156
LLendrum said:
Well I just joined the Ultra club last week.

Picked up a 4 string Ultraburst Precision and slapped some TI Jazz Flats on it.

Absolutely loving it really opens up some modern sounds that I desperately need for my cover work. I've been gigging on a Custom Shop 64 reissue Jazz and a real deal 60 Precision (both with TI Flats) but getting too nervous having them in the car when I'm heading straight to the gig from work.

They're basically a perfect instrument with one exception... why oh why does the roll-off knob not been set up to work on active mode like a Sadowsky?

Otherwise a gorgeous instrument.

Edit: Paid $2k USD
Click to expand...
Sadowsky hasn’t got the mid tones control in their preamp, feature which characterise the Fender preamp.
It has got too many knobs already for my taste but it is really powerful in what it does.
Learning how to properly use it will surely make the active tone control, without mids and mid frequency control/selection, unnecessary.
I’m basically a passive bass player but yesterday I played mine extensively all active on ‘70s rock tunes and I was quite pleased.
By the way .. what a neck!
 
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#158
LLendrum said:
Well I just joined the Ultra club last week.

Picked up a 4 string Ultraburst Precision and slapped some TI Jazz Flats on it.

Absolutely loving it really opens up some modern sounds that I desperately need for my cover work. I've been gigging on a Custom Shop 64 reissue Jazz and a real deal 60 Precision (both with TI Flats) but getting too nervous having them in the car when I'm heading straight to the gig from work.

They're basically a perfect instrument with one exception... why oh why does the roll-off knob not been set up to work on active mode like a Sadowsky?

Otherwise a gorgeous instrument.

Edit: Paid $2k USD
Click to expand...

Congrats on new Bass; And yes it is great for Cover band that play's a variety of tunes also light weight and very comfortable to play for those long nights gigging.

I didn't use tone control very often on my P basses since 1975 [always wide open] but I can see and have read many would really like that feature especially in Active mode.

I guess rolling off treble on Active EQ may help some; sorta like Fenders Grease Bucket Tone control circuit but if I remember most didn't like it:)
 
#159
Mh .. a three controls preamp is designed to make a tone control unnecessary; so wanting something which is purposely not there doesn’t take into account the design features of the Fender preamp.
Then we can discuss whether the Sadowsky 2-band plus active tone control does a better job than the Fender 3-band (I don’t believe there would be a lot of difference).
I once had a Fender Marcus Miller JB with only lows and highs boost .. it was quite ok ..
 
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