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NBD: Geddy Lee CIJ

29A

29A

Aug 25, 2014
181
156
Seattle, WA
#1
UPS delivered it yesterday and I stayed up way too late last night playing it! I called GC to see if they had a black pick guard in stock so I took it over there to make sure the holes all lined up okay since I want to keep the white option in case I want flip it. They did, it fit, so life is good.

Some previous owner put passive Barts on it and modded the wiring so the controls are set up as master volume / blend / tone. The blend pot is notched in the middle where both pups should be full blast, but the bass is loudest with just one or the other solo'd.

Anyone know why that might be?

Anyway - woohoo, yay me, yada yada. Pretty stoked! I still got a ton o love for my AmStd P, though. As long as this turns out to be a keeper, I think I'll be done GASing for basses for a while (yeah right!).

Pic shortly ...
 
#3
Cool, thanks. I'll have to play around with it some more to get a handle on what it's doing, but I really like the idea of it being set up that way.

And the pic ...
 

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#11
Thanks all! Another late one with this thing last night - quite tired today as a result, but it was so worth it.

I'm really liking this bass, pretty much everything about it so far. Plays great, sounds great, looks great ... what's not to like? Woot!
 
#12
Most Jazz basses have slightly lower output with both pickups set to equal level because the pickups are wired in parallel with hum cancelling going on at the same time. I'm not too clear on it. I think the pickups are wound in opposing directions to each other and the magnetic poles are also opposite between the two pickups.
 
#13
Paul M said:
Most Jazz basses have slightly lower output with both pickups set to equal level because the pickups are wired in parallel with hum cancelling going on at the same time. I'm not too clear on it. I think the pickups are wound in opposing directions to each other and the magnetic poles are also opposite between the two pickups.
Click to expand...

I think you're right. And its just how pickup mechanics work. I believe Strats also do that when you put in the fourth or second position.

I prefer hum cancelling quiet pickups over humming loud pickups anyday.
 
#14
Is the output significantly lower with both pups on full? Could be the pickup phasing is incorrect (one pickup is out of phase with the other). Get a wiring diagram and check the wiring.

Great bass! You'll love it. I just responded in another post how I almost got rid of mine to get something else after it sat a year in the case. I did a bunch of mods over time but recently put it back to original and now it's like a new bass for me.
 
#15
I got a chance to play it a lot more over the weekend and wasn't noticing the effect as much. The pickups were set really high so I lowered them a bit and I think that freed up the strings a bit, but it's noticeably not as hot as my P.
 
#16
29A said:
I got a chance to play it a lot more over the weekend and wasn't noticing the effect as much. The pickups were set really high so I lowered them a bit and I think that freed up the strings a bit, but it's noticeably not as hot as my P.
Click to expand...

Turn down only one of the pickups just a small amount and the level will actually go up a little.

Turn down the bridge pickup just a little, it will sound a more like a P Bass and you will still have some hum cancellation.

Turn down the neck pickup a little and you will be closer to the Jaco sound while retaining the solid foundaton of the neck pickup.

If the the pickups have been wired "out of phase", that is, if the wires on one of the pickups were connected backwards, reversing its polarity, the bass will sound thin and have a nasal sound with weird overtones when both pickups are at full volume.
 
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#17
I used to have one of these, sounded great for punk, alt, etc. I never liked Rush, I bought the bass because it was an awesome bass. Sold it because the neck would go out every week due to it being so thin. The truss adjustment is in the heel so every week I would have to take the neck off to adjust it, put it back on, see if that did it, rinse, repeat. Sad :(
 

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