Jackson Spectra: details, electronics, and some fixes/upgrades

[bordinco90]

Mechanical Fixes/Upgrades

On mine, I've had to fix the following hardware:

• The nut was soft plastic that bound to the strings: a GraphTech PT-1445-00 nut is a drop-in replacement (just a bit of sanding to fit and adjust string height at first fret).
• The Jackson sealed tuners hold steady, but the gears bind, making tuning a chore. Tightening the screws and a couple sprays of WD-40 Dry Lube (PTFE based) down the center and sides of the posts fixed that.
• The nuts holding the knobs and switch were loose.
• The volume pot was crackling, sometimes without even touching it: blowing it out with compressed air got rid of some crud inside causing that problem.

Bridge Limitations

The bridge will not work as-is with large and/or tapered B strings (like a Kalium 148, or a D'Addario 145T):

• The saddle height screws are too short to raise the action of a tapered B string, so you need 3mm shims under both screws. There is just enough adjustment range for a tapered E string.
• The shims make the saddle intonation screw stick out so much it will touch the tapered B string when plucked. The screw must be set back with wire (or a bushing) around the thread, at the head. (This tucks into the bridge, so it's invisible.)
• The slight bulge at the end of a non-tapered B string larger than about .125 will not fit through the bridge. I had to drill it out to 11/64". The bridge is NOT made of brass (only plated), but of some unknown very soft silver metal (zinc?), so drilling was very easy and neat.

Do you know the size of the tuners? I was thinking of buying some Gotoh GB707 tuners and was wondering if they were the same size as some ibanez basses. Thanks!

 

[bordinco90]

I just bought the 4 string version of this bass except in the matte army green. I agree with that the bass has great "bones" so to speak. The hardware is terrible (tuners, knobs, ect...). I think mine has plenty of headroom and sounds great. I did put a set of Gotoh GB707 tuners on mine, upgraded the knobs, and strap buttons. Overall I really like the look, feel, and tone of the bass. Oh mine also came with sharp fret ends, not too bad, but noticeable. I easily fixed that with a diamond file.

 

[Nightsprinter]

Change your saddle height adjustment screws if you get a chance. They're made of play-doh and will strip if you look at them the wrong way.

 

[Aric Keith]

Final Setup and Results

I re-strung with long scale D'Addario Chromes, 40-55-75-95-132 for balanced
tension with the B string (about 40lbs per string), which *just* fit on the 35"
scale (the silks reach the tuner side of the nut). The neck relief went down
to a little less than 1/64", about 0.010", without any buzz. The truss rod is
barely doing any work here. The action goes from 3/64" at G to 6/64" at B.
There is no clank unless I dig in. Intonation adjustment was minimal and
uniform, with about 1/4" total difference from G to B.

To improve headroom and clarity even more, I raised the pickups as much as they
would go, then fixed the warbling by playing high up the neck on both the
treble and bass sides and then lowering the same side of the neck pickup very
slightly as needed. No adjustment was needed to the bridge pickup.

And that's it. The muddy tone is gone. I have simple and flexible tone options
in active and passive mode, without any hum. The B string is clear. It's
pleasant to the ear and hands.

View attachment 5015950

Could you tell me what type of switch the very bottom toggle is? My friend brought one of these to me with the switch missing, and I need to wire in a replacement for her.

 

[TallestGuy]

Could you tell me what type of switch the very bottom toggle is? My friend brought one of these to me with the switch missing, and I need to wire in a replacement for her.

It's a simple on off three pole switch to switch between passive and active.

 

[thrashingbass]

Could you tell me what type of switch the very bottom toggle is? My friend brought one of these to me with the switch missing, and I need to wire in a replacement for her.

I know it's likely too late by now, but it's meant to be a series/outer single coils switch. I had mine replaced for another for parallel/single coils operation for my Nordstrand Dual Coils set, though the stock pickups are by no means bad. You could just add whatever she wants to do-IMHO, the stock configuration is quite usable, but I always preferred series because the single coils choice was a bit too thin for me with the stock pickups, and the volume drop a bit drastic (not a deal breaker, just something I did not prefer.)

(The active/passive selector is the push/pull volume, as you must know.)

 

[B-flat?]

What are the stock pickup dimensions for the 5 string spectra bass? I am kicking around getting a 5 string spectra bass as a mod project.