no low-end with new SD antiquity II pickups

[disaster_face]

i replaced the stock pickups in my Jaguar with Seymour Duncan Antiquity IIs, expecting an increase in low-end based on everything i've read. I got the opposite. There's hardly any lows... it barely sound like a bass anymore. I've tried messing with the pickup height and tried new flat-wounds, but nothing seems to help. i have the bass cranked all the way up on my preamp and all the way up on my amp, and it's still pretty lightweight.

This was the first time i've ever changed pickups, so maybe i missed something... The wiring seems ok... all the knobs work. It doesn't appear to be a phase issue, since it's still a problem when one pickup is turned off.

any ideas?

thanks

 

[gm2_in_co]

I'm no tech so I probably should just shut up, but could you have them out of phase with each other? (I'm assuming you're using a pair.)

 

[Chris K]

Same non-tech blabla here, but I do my share of soldering EOIAW...

Did you change the wire, pots, TONE CONTROLS?

(Mine didn't work the last time I did a wiring )

 

[73jbass]

This is your first time doing a pickup swap,so you have something wired wrong. Take it to a pro,and have it done properly.

 

[algernon]

Hello there

You may try to wire each pickup directly on the output jack, one at a time, to see how it sounds without the other pickup and volume/tone controls interfering. The lack of low-end makes me think that the culprit may be a tone capacitor mistakenly connected in series with the output so that it cuts all the "boom". Just my 2 cents, I have no experience with Jaguar basses.

Good luck,
Adrian

 

[R. Laevinus]

Jags are pretty complicated beasties. One thing to look out for is that SD and Fender pups are wired in reverse - i.e. if you're installing one SD and one Fender, you need to reverse the leads on one of them to get them in-phase.

Now normally this wouldn't matter, seeing as you did a complete swap, but I'm wondering if the relatively complex switching/preamping on the Jag is causing trouble for you. I'd personally try reversing the leads on the pickups.

You also want to check for shorts, that all the pots are proerly wired, that you didn't mess anything up with the selector switches, etc. A Fender wiring diagram would help - I downloaded one, so I know they can be had.

I have an Antiquity 2 pickup in my P-bass, and it has gotta be one of the bassiest pups I've ever used, so I'm pretty sure the pup is not the problem. Good luck!

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Post up a picture of the guts?

It certainly sounds like the effects of a phase issue, but as you say, if have the volume of one pickup all the way down, that would practically eliminate it.

 

[FunkMetalBass]

Wiring a capacitor in parallel = treble cut.
Wiring a capacitor in series = bass cut.

Did this happen to you?

 

[disaster_face]

Thanks for all the replies...

I'm going to try wiring the bridge pickup directly to the jack like algernon suggested... at least that will let me know if the wiring is the issue. The jag has pretty complicated wiring, but i didn't touch most of it. i just connected the new pickups where the old ones were connected. I don't see how i could have screwed anything up, unless maybe a blob of solder is touching something it shouldn't be... everything works though, which is why i suspect it's not the wiring. maybe i got one of the pots or the capacitor too hot when i soldered? oh well, i guess i'll know for sure tonight.