Modded Marcus Miller Jazz Bass

[Chunk-O-Funk]

I once had a talent knob installed. It didn't do anything either.

 

[weeding]

Get a knob called "playing ability" or "skill" or "to the gig" and then you can make witty cracks.

Any girl that can do that, you should marry her. But watch out, because if things turn nasty she could do messy things with that iron..... to your bass

 

[bassmanwho]

Hi nice pics and I love the gigbag you're using.
BTW can you post some sound clips of your baby? I'm getting a used Marcus and would like to take the preamp off and left it passive with the stock pickups. Is that be a good idea? Pickups are pretty expensive here and we don't have many options to choice from. I had played it in a rehersal room and found the hiss and humming pretty serious. So, I am thinking maybe taking of the pre will solve this problem or I still have to shield it? And I am very curious what will it sound like after your mod. Thanks a lot for sharing! If I get mine, and the mod works out fined, I'll post it here

 

[Dan1099]

Keep in mind, the preamp is boost-only, so it's easy to overboost things, if you don't know this. Overboosting treble would certainly lead to his and hum. That said, mine did buzz unless I had my hands on the strings, until I shielded it. Also, it's the nature of a jazz bass to hum when one pickup is favored more than the other. There's nothing you can do about that noise, except buy humbucking pickups.

I don't have any capabilities to record my bass at the moment. Sorry.

 

[bassmanwho]

Thanks Dan, However, I also own a Fender JB 78 with EMG on. On any circusmtance, the bass doesn't hum and hiss, even a little bit. Recording, live gigs, rehearsal room... no problem. It was very distinctive becuase I just took the Marcus Miller Bass to the same rehearsal room then the hum and hiss are very obvious, compared with the Fender 78.

Thanks for your feedback

 

[needmoney]

Thanks Dan, However, I also own a Fender JB 78 with EMG on. On any circusmtance, the bass doesn't hum and hiss, even a little bit.

Well your EMG's are most likely active pickups, so naturally they're going to be much quieter than single coils.

 

[bassmanwho]

Finally I got my MM. The output jack has been replaced and now it has true-bypass mode. (I took off the battery for a test). However, I don't find it cut through very well in a live mix, and the passive mode generates slightly more volume then the active, if nothing is boosted (tre/bass at 0). So I am planning to take the preamp off and have a friend wire it to vol pan tone. Is this a good idea? I don't know if the stock pikcups are any good. And one more thing is my friend meansured the resistences on the two pots and the neck pot has more resistence. Is this correct? My friend said commonly both of the pots is supposed to be 250k. And when I switched to passive and dialing one of the volume knob, it has this wierd changes of the sound. Sounds like a little bit a "wah" effect.

Any suggestion on the mod will be much appreciated

 

[ptidwell]

I dropped a J-Retro preamp in my MM.
it change the bass totally. Its high quality circuit used three stacked knobs plus a single knob for vintage tone control.
It includes an active blend circuit plus a three band equalizer with bass, varible frequency mid, treble, and bright function.
The passive tone circuit operates in both active and passive modes. This preamp is designed by John East http://www.east-uk.com/jrhome.htm it was a bit pricy at $325.00 but for the tone I am now getting from the MM it is well worth the money. Stock I felt like it was just a slap instrument. The J-Retro has made it a very versatile j bass.