I rescued this bass a few months ago from the FB classifieds. It was in dire shape: The knobs were gone, split shaft pots snapped off, the switches were actually bent, the battery connector had disconnected from the wires, the bass was FILTHY and it smelled like an ash tray. It was obviously never kept in a case and played hard. There are scratches, dings, scrapes, bumps and bruises.
I’ve owned a few Fender Elites over the years, liked them mostly for sentimental reasons (my first bass was a 1983 American Standard P), and felt bad for this bass when I saw it - rehab was needed. I took the entire thing apart and cleaned EVERYTHING. Pots and rusty screws were removed and tossed. I also oiled the fretboard with pure lemon oil, which restored some of the color. When I was done I took it to my tech, who had the bass for several months - he replaced the pots and switches, but the bass had a horrible grounding hum that he had a lot of trouble diagnosing. He changed out just about everything, shielded the entire cavity, did some work with the bridge and couldn’t get the bass to quiet down.
Finally, realizing that I never really bonded with the Elites due to their odd electronic controls and glass breaking high end, I told him to pitch the Pre Amp bad go passive: V/V/T and a pickup selector switch (the rear switch being disconnected completely). Once the pre was out of the amp, the hum disappeared and I finally got to go pick it up yesterday.
I cannot be happier with the tone this thing is producing. The neck pickups are aggressive and scream Motown with the tone rolled back. The rear pickups and bright and jazzy, and when they’re both on the tone smooths out very nicely. IMHO the tone is so much better out of these basses/pickups without the pre!
It’s far from perfect, but has some serious mojo! Down the road it’s going to need some new bridge saddles (they’re frozen in place) or perhaps replace the bridge completely. It’s currently strung with some broken in Elixirs, which seem to be a great fit.
I’ve owned a few Fender Elites over the years, liked them mostly for sentimental reasons (my first bass was a 1983 American Standard P), and felt bad for this bass when I saw it - rehab was needed. I took the entire thing apart and cleaned EVERYTHING. Pots and rusty screws were removed and tossed. I also oiled the fretboard with pure lemon oil, which restored some of the color. When I was done I took it to my tech, who had the bass for several months - he replaced the pots and switches, but the bass had a horrible grounding hum that he had a lot of trouble diagnosing. He changed out just about everything, shielded the entire cavity, did some work with the bridge and couldn’t get the bass to quiet down.
Finally, realizing that I never really bonded with the Elites due to their odd electronic controls and glass breaking high end, I told him to pitch the Pre Amp bad go passive: V/V/T and a pickup selector switch (the rear switch being disconnected completely). Once the pre was out of the amp, the hum disappeared and I finally got to go pick it up yesterday.
I cannot be happier with the tone this thing is producing. The neck pickups are aggressive and scream Motown with the tone rolled back. The rear pickups and bright and jazzy, and when they’re both on the tone smooths out very nicely. IMHO the tone is so much better out of these basses/pickups without the pre!
It’s far from perfect, but has some serious mojo! Down the road it’s going to need some new bridge saddles (they’re frozen in place) or perhaps replace the bridge completely. It’s currently strung with some broken in Elixirs, which seem to be a great fit.
