Going passive on a Fender American Deluxe JB

[obieito]

Hi all, I would like to get some advice. I own a '99 Am Dlx JB and after this time and some experiences I am thinking about either making it passive or trading/ selling for a passive one.
I did some research and this exact model sadly cannot get a passive/active switch due to its circuitry.
So I'd like some advice on pickups for a classic JB sound, as I don't really use active eq.
Also I'm quite happy with the rest of the bass, neck is wonderful and it is lightweight.
But do you think I'd get a better deal selling this one as is and getting a new passive? Or would you switch pickups and knobs and hopefully get the pure JB sound?

 

[rojo412]

Which pickups are in that bass:
Are they the Suhr-designed ones with the large pole pieces?

Or are they the "Noiseless" model, which were designed by Bill Lawrence?

- If they are the Suhrs, those are great pickups, but definitely have a more modern, scooped sound than your typical Fender sound. Those are a side-by-side humbucker and while they are my personal favorites, they probably sound different from what you are looking for compared to a lot of other pickups.

- If they are the Noiseless models, those tend to be more like the Fender sound. They are a stacked humbucker and have less of the mid scoop. They may be just what you are after!

Either way, if you were to remove the preamp and replace it with passive controls, you'd definitely notice a rather large change in sound, as that preamp tends to color the sound of the pickups quite a bit.
If you did that first, you could easily find out if the pickups then needed to be changed. And all of this would easily be put back to normal if you eventually decided to sell the bass.

Personally, I'd recommend starting with removing the preamp and see how that turns out for you. It's easy and low cost. If you like everything else about the bass (and I know those are fantastic basses to play, I've owned a number of them over the years), this could make it just how you want it with little effort.

 

[deluxejusa]

I have a 2000 deluxe jazz. I actual wired in a passive switch, but part of the circuit is still effecting the tone negatively. A passive tone control would help, I'm sure. I ended up replacing the pickups with Fender custom shop 60s. This opened the tone up quite a bit. I highly recommend this change if you are ok with a little noise in your signal.

 

[obieito]

Which pickups are in that bass:
Are they the Suhr-designed ones with the large pole pieces?
View attachment 4031080
Or are they the "Noiseless" model, which were designed by Bill Lawrence?
View attachment 4031081

- If they are the Suhrs, those are great pickups, but definitely have a more modern, scooped sound than your typical Fender sound. Those are a side-by-side humbucker and while they are my personal favorites, they probably sound different from what you are looking for compared to a lot of other pickups.

- If they are the Noiseless models, those tend to be more like the Fender sound. They are a stacked humbucker and have less of the mid scoop. They may be just what you are after!

Either way, if you were to remove the preamp and replace it with passive controls, you'd definitely notice a rather large change in sound, as that preamp tends to color the sound of the pickups quite a bit.
If you did that first, you could easily find out if the pickups then needed to be changed. And all of this would easily be put back to normal if you eventually decided to sell the bass.

Personally, I'd recommend starting with removing the preamp and see how that turns out for you. It's easy and low cost. If you like everything else about the bass (and I know those are fantastic basses to play, I've owned a number of them over the years), this could make it just how you want it with little effort.

Hey, I somehow had missed your answers!
The pickups are the Noiseless ones, the first batch after Suhrs. I think your advice is the best I've found so far. My regular shop offered to try the alternatives of making it passive or switching the preamp which as we all know wouldn't be cheap.
So I think I will follow your advice and give it a try "passivized"
I thought it wouldn't be so easy to put back, if it is so, I'd really love to taste its sound with passive controls...

Thank you very much!!!

 

[obieito]

I have a 2000 deluxe jazz. I actual wired in a passive switch, but part of the circuit is still effecting the tone negatively. A passive tone control would help, I'm sure. I ended up replacing the pickups with Fender custom shop 60s. This opened the tone up quite a bit. I highly recommend this change if you are ok with a little noise in your signal.

Yes it seems to be quite hard technically to get that passive switch in these first Deluxes...
So before spending in those pickups (I've also looked at the Originals, the ones the AVRIs mounted) or the preamp, or a small fortune in both, I think I'll try it passive and go on from there!

After all, not my style nor my technique have ever gotten much use of the active eq, I play classic rock stuff 90%. I'll follow Rojo's advice first and I'll keep you posted thanks a lot for your answer too! I know it's kinda recurring topic but I wasn't happy with the info I found searching the site.

 

[obieito]

So yesterday I took the bass to my local shop (Rockbox Overdrive Shop, great people there!) for the "passivizing" process.
I'll have more news next week!

 

[Heavy Blue]

Hi all, I would like to get some advice. I own a '99 Am Dlx JB and after this time and some experiences I am thinking about either making it passive or trading/ selling for a passive one.
I did some research and this exact model sadly cannot get a passive/active switch due to its circuitry.
So I'd like some advice on pickups for a classic JB sound, as I don't really use active eq.
Also I'm quite happy with the rest of the bass, neck is wonderful and it is lightweight.
But do you think I'd get a better deal selling this one as is and getting a new passive? Or would you switch pickups and knobs and hopefully get the pure JB sound?

I’d hang on to what you have and follow rojo’s suggestions. Those are great basses. I should’ve bought the one I could’ve got.

 

[obieito]

So I've got the bass already passivized
I'm hoping to test it soon with my main amp.
So far I tested it for a bit at the shop and at home with the vox amplug. So far I'm very happy with the results! I like the sounds I'm startin to get. It has V V T T knobs, both pickups together sound really well!
It's funny but it seems to have more dynamics now than before with the preamp.
Maybe on the long run I'll think about new pickups but first I want to learn this new configuration.
Maybe I'm lacking a bit of mids but then that might be the amp sound I'm missing, I won't be sure until I take it to our rehearsal place!

Thanks for the advice all, and yes I agree the bass is really sweet to play as it's always been, it's been my main beloved one for 20 years now ...