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Is this misalignment normal?

ThatBrianGuy

ThatBrianGuy

Guest
Nov 14, 2017
145
141
#1
I picked up this bass on Facebook a year or so ago and did a little work on the electronics and did a setup. Plays great, more/less my go-to bass for any situation. I generally play in church, and I'm sitting there looking at my bass between songs and I notice that the E string doesn't line up with the posts on the pickups. There's a slight shift at the bridge pickup but you can REALLY see it on the neck pickup. Everything else seems good though. even spacing up the neck, the nut is in the correct place and the other strings line up fine. Anyone know why this is, or if it's normal, or how to fix it?

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#3
Coolhandjjl said:
A proper Jazz Bass has a neck pickup that is slightly narrower so the strings continue to align over the poles as you move up towards the fretboard. Those look to be the same size. Measure them and report back.
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You are correct sir. The pickups are exactly the same size. Upon further investigation, the neck pickup looks newer. Seems the previous owner may have swapped it out at some point...for some reason....with a bridge pickup. HMMMMMMMmmmm thanks!
 
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#6
lz4005 said:
Use your ears, not your eyes.
If there isn't an imbalance between the tone or volume of the strings there isn't a problem to be fixed.
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Yeah, it sounds great. No complaints. Just noticed it and wondered why it was the way it was. I like to tinker, so I'll probably pick up a new matched set and swap 'em. If I don't like that sound, I'll swap 'em back. :)
 
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#7
BassAndReeds said:
I doubt two things:

1. The offset distance will have any negative effects on tone or playability.
2. Anyone will notice visually the difference from 3 feet away or more.

So I’d not worry about it, unless you paid a lot for it.
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Nope $250 from a guy on Facebook. I swapped his "custom" pick guard back to something more original and fixed the busted cap on the tone knob. So, pretty cheap. I'm not worried about it, it was just a curiosity.
 
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#9
Coolhandjjl said:
How did you get a stock Jazz pickguard to fit?
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I didn't. It was an after market, and I had to do some grinding on it. The PG was from Guitar Fetish, so I called them and asked if having to grind on it was normal. They said, "yes, our pick guards are not always a perfect fit on all Jazz basses, it's common to have to file the pickup openings a little for a custom fit." Looking back that should have thrown some red flags, but it didn't at the time.
 
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#11
There were some makers of generic J basses who only equipped theirs with two of the bridge pickups so they only had to route two of the same size hole, and stock only one size of pickup. I guess in a high volume situation, things like that can add up. Maybe that’s another reason Guitar Fetish told you they expect customers to have to file the pickup opening for exact fit.
 
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#16
Bolsyo said:
Older MIM jazz basses have the same size pickup for both neck and bridge, so this might be as intended. I have played lots of basses where the pickup poles don't line up perfectly with the strings, they sounded great and there were no problems.
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Yeah, it sounds great and this is a MIM, so it might be original. The posts look different, and a little more shiny on the neck pickup. The plastic casing has a slightly different sheen to it as well. So, I suppose it could be original or aftermarket. Either way, it sounds good, and I know what the (not a) problem is and if the spirit moves me to swap it I will, but it's not going to be a huge priority for me.
 
#17
ThatBrianGuy said:
I picked up this bass on Facebook a year or so ago and did a little work on the electronics and did a setup. Plays great, more/less my go-to bass for any situation. I generally play in church, and I'm sitting there looking at my bass between songs and I notice that the E string doesn't line up with the posts on the pickups. There's a slight shift at the bridge pickup but you can REALLY see it on the neck pickup. Everything else seems good though. even spacing up the neck, the nut is in the correct place and the other strings line up fine. Anyone know why this is, or if it's normal, or how to fix it?

View attachment 3356622 View attachment 3356623
Click to expand...
Meh.

Straight ahead, it’s noticeable. Move one inch in any direction it’s not. Ignore the OCD.
 
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#18
My MIM Jazz has the same string alignment "issue" where the E string passes over the pickup pole. I too worried a bit about it at first, but since everything sounds fine, I sort of forgot about it. But this post had me thinking about things, so I looked at the basses on Fender's website. If you zoom in on their professional MIA Jazz basses, it seems that they're all set up this way. I guess that's the way they're supposed to be.
 
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#19
Totally normal, not much of an issue. The only way I've seen to correct it is to do what Sadowsky does on their Jazz basses - use impeccable build precision and increase the bridge string spacing to 20mm. Their 4-string basses come with 20mm spacing bridges stock and the strings line up perfectly between the polepieces. They do offer standard Fender width 19mm (.075) spacing bridges, which I actually use on my Sadowskys. I grew up on that spacing on a 4 string Fender and can't change!
 
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