Wierd setup on 2006 Fender Active Jazz

[smittyxi]

Edit: Whoops, spelling: "weird".

I bought a 2006 Fender MIM Deluxe Active Jazz on craigslist for $200. It plays well and I confirmed the serial number as a 2006 MIM.
When I got it home, I noticed the electronics were different than the diagrams on Invalid Link Removed .

First of all, the knobs are out of stock order, from low to high:
Stacked bass/treb EQ, Mid-EQ, Pickup, Pickup

Next, the pickup knobs aren't PUP-pan/master-vol like I expected, it's set up as bridge PUP volume and neck PUP volume. Kinda cool I guess, but I haven't seen this option in any reviews or on the Fender site. Could it have been set up as a factory/shop option like this? Or did the previous owner(s) customize it.

It came with a Fishman bridge too. Not sure if that was stock or added later, but I'm glad since people complain about the stock bridge.

Not sure if it's related, but with both PUP volumes all the way down it still has significant output, maybe half as loud. I dunno if this is normal for an active bass. I can still dial in tone for either PUP but can't turn either all the way off.

Any info would be appreciated. I'd be happy to post pics or break out a multi-meter if there's something I should try.

 

[walterw]

i don't remember fender selling a piezo-equipped mexi jazz deluxe, so i suspect that bass was heavily modified.

it's not normal for any bass to not turn off when you turn the volumes down.

are you sure that's not the fishman bridge you're hearing once the regular pickups are turned down? (it should have its own volume control, too.)

(edit: i don't remember, but google does; it;'s called the "power jazz" bass, and it might indeed be stock.)

 

[smittyxi]

Wow cool! The guy sold it to me as a Deluxe active, but I couldn't figure out the electronics and this bridge. There were some extra wires in the cavity that I couldn't figure out, now I know.

Thanks Walter, I'm going to read up on this.

Edit: So the volume issue was the piezio bridge pickups turned on, because I thought it was EQ. The actual knobs are:
Neck PUP volume, bridge PUP, neck/bridge master tone, and a stacked knob for the piezo pickup's volume and tone.
The neck and bridge J PUPs are both passive, and the bridge pickups are active.

 

[pyrohr]

Fender sold a bass called a "power jazz" a couple of years back. It was only made for a couple of years and I wish I had bought one! This bass came with the piezo bridge and the controls spoken of.
Looky here.http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/JBassPw2TS

 

[smittyxi]

Thanks guys. TalkBass expertise saves the day.

Once you guys mentioned the Power Jazz, the knobs all made sense. I've had a lot of fun blending the tone between the three pickup options.

It's essentially a passive jazz bass, with extra knobs for the fishman piezo bridge pickups volume and tone. I can get (what I assume are) normal passive single-coil jazz tones, but blending in the piezo or even soloing it adds a whole new range of sounds. I also read a review that said it can switch to stereo output if you use the right cable and amp. I'm going to try that out this weekend.

I'm planning on recording a short youtube clip with a demo. I'll post it here when I do.