weird pot behaviour...

Hi guys

just dropping by to ask a couple of things about my Squier Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz Bass, recently acquired 2nd hand for 200€..

the pickups are definitely NOT Duncan Designed - since they bear no markings whatsoever, i'll pull them out one of these days to check out if there are any clues under them...

they sound quite nice & are on the quiet side of things as far as hum & other ''afflictions''...

however it's the pot's behaviour that baffle me a bit :

1 - i have 1 Volume pot per PU & 1 tone pot for both PU. when i set BOTH vol. pots to their max, the sound kind of ''ducks'' a little !?
2 - if i back one or the other a tiny bit the overall level actually goes up
3 - if turn all the way down either of them & the remaining one to it's max i get a full sound as well, w/ good volume, punch, etc...

looking at the control plate & without having pulled it out, i can see the knobs are a bit further away from the plate than usual in these basses - could they have been replaced - ''upgraded'' !?.. - w/ what seems to be longer shaft ones & maybe even the wrong type ?

what would the original spec be ? perhaps even an original wiring diagram so i can compare what was & what's there ?

it's not like the bass DOESN'T sound good - it does & it's tone is actually quite nice but i never had anything such as this volume ducking happen to me before so i'm a bit baffled

last but not least : i think i'd like to make it active - what would be ''the right way to do it'' if there's such a thing...

now i can't but tomorrow i'll post some photos - any suggestions about what could be off would be most welcome

many thanks to all

Nuno

 

well that explains it then - i NEVER played a Jazz Bass before !!...LOL...

i just took the whole thing apart & will post some photos, if you would be so kind as to have a peek later or tomorrow....

the pots are CTS which i suppose are not original Squier fare ?..

 

i'll be with you guys in a sec just uploading the pics to Flickr... :-b

 

OK, here we go - if curious here are a few photos & no, sorry ! they are NOT about my rolling skills................. ;-)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/72157634522800076/

the pots are CTS & as far as i can tell have this code written on them 013446 250K A 0626 CTS

the little green thingamajig is ....well green, & has this printed : K 42Y-2
160V
0,0047uF +/- 10%

all the soldering seems fine, i compared it's wiring to this one :

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=std_jazz_bass & it all seems correct as well so between this & your answers i'm concluding it's all good & the behaviour is pretty ''standard'' so to speak

as Baird6869 & line6man say, rolling off slightly one pot kind of boosts the volume level

any ideas what the PU's on this bass could be ? besides having absolutely no identifying marks the only thing is that blue tape - typical of any manufacturer you guys might know ? not that it matters , as i said it DOES sound quite GOOD - i'm just curious..

now all this ''pot talk'' gave me the munchies : hey Troph, would you help me find a box of Hershey bars i KNOW i left here somewhere ? ;-)

thanks to all of you, this forum is one of the best - much appreciated

 

Bobba66

i feel you my friend, myself i feel like a car spinning it's wheels in a sand bog & not going anywhere !!...LOL...

 

well, not wanting to take advantage of you guys but since we're all here & considering you are a lot more knowledgeable than me in these matters...
even when i was only thinking about buying it, i've been toying with the idea of getting a preamp for it...
now on my Cort GB35 i got a Delano Sonar2 preamp & it sounds AWESOME but
1 - wouldn't it make this bass sound a bit like the Cort
2 - in your experience what would be a preamp that would bring the ''sonic signature'' of this instrument forth but still preserving it ?

if it brought a bit extra ooomph to the table i wouldn't mind either....