Is there a setup issue here? Also, would you be able to post a video of your issue? Describing tone issues and ideas is almost pointless without a reference of some sort, IMO.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
My jazz bass is ridiculously bright
- Thread starter eoinwalsh
- Start date
I am pretty sure I read here on TB that some of the highway one jazz basses were wired wrong form the factory. I would do a search of maybe someone familiar with that issue will contribute. Good Luck! I love my jazz.
Well, well. Maybe the solution is as simple as putting some stick-on labels on the tops of the knobs, V - V - T ??? Probably easier than replacing the pickups, re-wiring the bass, or trying to get a decent tone with that mattress foam crammed under the strings.
you have 3 options get it fixed, get new electronics, or get a new bass. im convinced that asking questions like this on this website can only add to your confusion and 8 times out of 10 end in dumb arguments...
eoinwalsh said:
I meant tone control fully on vs fully off. There is only one tone control on your bass. That's the one at the bottom, close to the jack socket. Is there a big difference in sound between tone fully clockwise and fully anticlockwise? (Regardless which pickup is selected)
It is not unusual to have near all/nothing volumes. Linear rather than log taper pot will do that. I actually like that in a Jazz bass. I can have both pickups on, and roll off neck just a bit to get a more cutting tone from the bridge, for instance.
If you can post a clip it will help a lot getting to The bottom of this.
The OP should post a pic of the wiring for sure, until that's done this is even more guesswork than usual, there was also mention of both Treble and Bass knobs on the bass and I'm confused by this.
I think OP should make another post in the Amp section, since
there is one in the Pick-ups and Electronics section - can't leave anyone out !- Maybe even in the Technique section ?
Just sayin
there is one in the Pick-ups and Electronics section - can't leave anyone out !- Maybe even in the Technique section ?
Just sayin
Sorry, if you "turn down the bridge pickup, turn up the neck pickup" as stated in the post that you quoted, you will be using both pickups. It's always a good idea to read a post before you rush in with a response, so as to not appear foolish.
Its the Badass bridge, I put one on a jbass and had the same experience as the op. I put flats on and it sounded great, but Ill never go for a high mass bridge again.
Here's an experiment you can do at home if you have a standard passive Jazz bass. Turn the neck pickup all the way down and turn the bridge pickup all the way up. It should have a trebly, bright sound. Now gradually turn the bridge pickup down whilst simultaneously turning the neck pickup up. Normally, the tone will get deeper and less trebly. UNLESS, the pickups are wired out of phase. In this case, going from one pickup only, to both pickups combined, will reduce the lows resulting in a thin, trebly, irritating sound. Much like that described by the OP. So if he went from using the bridge pickup only to using more neck pickup (as some have suggested as a remedy) it wouldn't help much if the pickups were wired out of phase. So checking for the correct wiring would be a good place to start. And if the bass has a Badass bridge on it, trade it for one of those bent sheetmetal jobs.
JB696 said:
Read again, and you'll see he complains about it sounding thin while using only the bridge pickup, my little sarky friend.
And I'd rather seem foolish than an a**hole
You are right, though, that the thing described above sounds like a typical phase issue. But that would not affect the sound of one pickup alone. Yet the op's descriptions contain so many mistakes, what with the neck tone knob etc, that the problem may be with both pickups on only, DESPITE his previous report.
It all seems too inconsistent.
Posting a picture of the wiring will make it obvious if the neck and bridge pickups are miswired.
OK, here's a followup. I shoved a piece of one inch mattress foam under the strings of my jazz bass between the pickup and the bridge. Just as I suspected, it took out most of the nasty treble. But I'm not sure if this is the tone the OP is looking for. Not much fundamental or sustain either. Sounds sort of like whacking an empty cardboard box with a stick.
lol. A bass tone so dead, that it's got back up again and started eating the other bass tone's faces.
+1
I do think the OP problem is that the highway 1 has that greasebucket tone circuit. Like someone said before (and it is mentioned on fender website - or was) this circuit takes the treble off without "boosting" the lows. Definetly doesn't work like a regular passive tone control.
I'd recommend wiring the bass again with a regular VVT circuit and that might work. I have a Jazz Bass with Badass bridge and XL rounds and it growls a lot with bridge pickup soloed and the tone control back just a bit.
McNach, you are very confused. And, as could be expected, have now resorted to name calling. I had hoped that post #53, very simply explained, would clear things up, but apparently not. So I'll go through it once again. Here is the situation, which applies not only to the OP's bass, but all standard passive Jazz basses. Start with the neck pickup all the way down and the bridge pickup all the way up (or soloed). As you turn the bridge pickup down and turn the neck pickup up you have now combined a signal from both pickups. Now the bridge pickup is no longer soloed. This was a simple suggestion to the "too trebly" problem that was offered by myself and other TBers as well. With both pickups engaged, being "out of phase" will indeed affect the tone of the bass.
