Is it possible to undo a PJ job?

[jamro217]

I'd Leave it in. If the sound of the J pup is the problem, disconnect it but don't bother with all of the aggravation of filling holes. matching wood grain, refin… In reality, a '73 P isn't the holy grail of basses and sometimes the effort to restore such an instrument isn't as financially rewarding as it would seem. If it was a custom color prototype that somebody hacked up, that'd be different. You can always flip it for an unmolested '73 P.

 

[dr doofie]

View attachment 3498898 I have a 73 Precision which, back in the day (1978 or 79) was modified by adding an original Fender Jazz pup in the bridge position.

Well, after pondering for a while came to the conclusion that this setup doesn't cut it anymore for my needs as I have 3 jazz basses that cover that particular sound that sometimes I use.

I'd like to know if anybody here has reversed a PJ job on an authentic older Fender (sunburst) and if so, what kind of results were achieved. TIA

I just took off the pick guard, snipped the wires, pulled the jazz out, and filled in the gap with some dense foam. It’s a little difficult to see in the photo but is serves the purpose. I couldn’t leave the gap; my fingers always seemed to find it.

 

[TDPRI Bones]

Pull the pickup and put one of those SRV "Cutom Made plaques over the hole. Custom Engraved "CUSTOM MADE" plate for ES-335, 355 with Bigbsy.

 

[Spidey2112]

IMHO, the modification is just as authentic and historically accurate as the original instrument.

Yep... parts of it's history is the bass picked up a hitchiker in the form of a J pickup. 'Nuff said.

You've had it long enough to know it's not an axe murderer, so I'd keep it.

 

[wraub]

Personally, unless seeking a full refin and restore, I'd either replace the J with something different, or simply remove it.

 

[gregmon79]

Just do what I do when I want only the P sound and turn down the J pickup all the way. Way too much is made of the alleged tonal change of adding the pickup and volume pot. I've never heard a lick of difference with any PJ pickup set I've ever used.

 

[GreyBeard]

Filling the hole left by the pu would be hard if not impossible to do without a complete refinish. I think it looks pretty cool as it is. And, it can pull off a Jazz or P sound when you need it. I'd leave it as it is. (jmho)

 

[eddododo]

Unless you want to refinish it opaque, you’d need to have someone with real expertise like JohnK or straight up the StewMac guys do it; otherwise just leave it

I see you snipped the wires for the PUp.. if purity is your goal, you’d need to remove the pot and likely rewire the P volume to a proper voltage divider instead of the shunt they usually use for 2-pickup basses. That being said, I’m with JimmyM in that the tonal differences are more subtle than some would suggest- but I also have a bee in my bonnet where the mathematical reality of the wiring is concerned, so I understand taking the J pickup out of the circuit.

 

[micguy]

On the other hand, the amount of times I've run any passive bass with the volume knob at anything other than full-on in 45 years of playing bass is never, so it's not like I'll stay up nights worrying about it

That's fine - we differ in our approach to the instrument. I play church gigs, and the way I play, it's all about subtlety - being a subtle presence at times, making things build, etc. I typically end up playing with the volume dimed about 10 percent of the time - only at the climax of a couple of songs out of our set. Hence how the thing operates with thing dialed back is something I'm very aware of. A VVT wired Jazz is not a very good instrument for what I do - my Jazz is wired very differently as a result. For a Rock gig? that's a different scenario.

 

[InhumanResource]

View attachment 3498898 I have a 73 Precision which, back in the day (1978 or 79) was modified by adding an original Fender Jazz pup in the bridge position.

Well, after pondering for a while came to the conclusion that this setup doesn't cut it anymore for my needs as I have 3 jazz basses that cover that particular sound that sometimes I use.

I'd like to know if anybody here has reversed a PJ job on an authentic older Fender (sunburst) and if so, what kind of results were achieved. TIA

I would leave that beautiful old girl just the way she is. If the bridge pickup is a bother, dial it out.

 

[JimmyM]

That's fine - we differ in our approach to the instrument. I play church gigs, and the way I play, it's all about subtlety - being a subtle presence at times, making things build, etc. I typically end up playing with the volume dimed about 10 percent of the time - only at the climax of a couple of songs out of our set. Hence how the thing operates with thing dialed back is something I'm very aware of. A VVT wired Jazz is not a very good instrument for what I do - my Jazz is wired very differently as a result. For a Rock gig? that's a different scenario.

Lol... you do realize that subtlety can be achieved with the bass volume knob all the way up, right?

 

[micguy]

Lol... you do realize that subtlety can be achieved with the bass volume knob all the way up, right?

Technique is part of the equation, but when you play with as much dynamic range as we often do, the volume knob is an indispensable tool as well. Last I checked, it's pretty much impossible to do a swell with just your fingers. We approach things differently - that's cool; we can learn from each other.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

I'm surprised not more people mentioned series wiring via a push/pull. When I had a PJ, that mod added CRUSHING MONSTER TONE on the fly.

 

[Chrisenbacker69]

It is possible. I'm 99% sure I've seen it before here on TB and if my memory doesn't fail me, it was John Kallas @johnk_10 who did that by just making a "pickup" made out of wood that fitted perfectly into the pickup cavity along with matching the wood grain pattern. But I just can't find the thread. Another option is to cut a bigger piece of wood as somebody else suggested. The thing is that you have to refinish the whole body. Here's a video that shows something pretty similar. Hope it helps.

It also helps to be Dan Erlewine...

 

[Eilif]

Since some here (myself included) have become weight freaks, I can only speculate how much lighter the bass will become without the pup, pot, wiring and knob. I'm willing to fill the hole with foam and just add a thin veneer of plywood to make it look somewhat original.

-The foam + plywood idea is horrifying. It simply will not work if you hope to actually hide the hole at all.

-As for weight, if you patch it with wood (the only viable long term solution), there will be almost no weight savings at all.

This is one of those situations where you probably need to just leave it alone. This is a 70's we're talking about, not a 60's so value-wise the combination of expense for properly filling and refinishing added to the devaluing of the instrument by being refinished will probably exceed any increase in value you might get by returning to the original single pickup configuration.

Either learn to live with it or go all the way with fill and refinish. There isn't really a middle ground here.

 

[Bassist30]

Vinny Fodera did it for a friend of mine. He put in a block that was a very good job.

 

[pbassnut]

View attachment 3498898 I have a 73 Precision which, back in the day (1978 or 79) was modified by adding an original Fender Jazz pup in the bridge position.

Well, after pondering for a while came to the conclusion that this setup doesn't cut it anymore for my needs as I have 3 jazz basses that cover that particular sound that sometimes I use.

I'd like to know if anybody here has reversed a PJ job on an authentic older Fender (sunburst) and if so, what kind of results were achieved. TIA

Lucky for you, the J pickup install was done professionally and appears to be in the right location. You could just leave the J pickup in place and disconnect it. However, the best option would be to alter the VVT setup in favor of a VT with a three way pickup selecter. This eliminates the loading effect of the J pickup in the circuit and more or less allows for a "pure" P sound when the P pickup is solo'd. I have a PJ wired in this manner and it does make a difference (positive, IMHO) compared to my other PJ that has a VVT setup.

 

[fretno]

It was a thing to do for a min back in the day , the other thing was to sand the finish off , at least it didn't get that too . I would leave it if it were mine . No biggie . But it can be restored by a talented Luthier , I think you'd need a refin after that though . Nah forgetaboutit and just rock it .

 

[dalkowski]

Leave it be or send it to me.

 

[Paulabass]

The J pickup is now part of the provenance of the bass. Any 'fix' will look like a mess without a complete refin.