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Fender Jazz Bass Special - Pick Ups... Advice!


lastanthem88
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Hi all

I was originally drawn to these basses watching Duff Mckagen as a youngster, and when one cam up for sale 5 years ago I took a punt and bought it - and it's been my main gigging bass ever since, I have played 99% of my weekly wedding gigs on it!

I love the look, and most of all the feel. The neck is incredible and just feels perfect for me. However, I'm struggling with the sound a little, and can ignore it no longer!

It sounds 'twangy' and 'clunky' all the time, like a really good Duff sound, very mid and treble. If I was in a Guns tribute it would literally be amazing, but for the stuff we play it's not ideal - but I don't want to play anything else.

I'm a major novice when it comes to equipment and pick ups especially. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice? Do I change them and go for a diffferent set, could it be a problem with the tone circuit... any advice appreciated.

Thanks!

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Hi thanks for replying - I'm using D'Dario strings, sometimes I use Ernie Balls.

Both pick ups work but the tone is just so 'clunky', not like s normal P bass at all.

Any suggestions? I don't know wether it's just the pick ups on these basses and how they are made to sound!

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There is a treble (TBX) boost switch on these, selecting that should definately "Duff it up" somewhat, so switching it off should remove the Duffness. Sounds to me like possibly that switch isn`t working, and the bass is currently with boosted treble all the time. I`d take it to a luthier and get that bit checked out.

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Hi Lozz, thanks for that! I'm starting to wonder if the previous owner has somehow 'Duffed it up' as you aptly named it, and played with the electronics to make it always sound that way!

Been messing this morning and the pot furthest right seems to do NOTHING at all when I'm turning it, no natter which was the three way selector is. Is that the tone control on these basses?

Thanks again,

Steve.

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Hey Steve

Yes that control is the TBX. I`ve just had a read up on Talkbass (am a confirmed Duff McKagan fan so this query has sparked my interest on how exactly his bass works) and the quotes below illustrate how it should be working:

[b][i]The TBX (Treble/Bass eXpander) acts as a standard tone control from zero to five, and then from five to 10 it bypasses the tone pot to brighten up the sound. The TBX works fine as long as your volume control is on ten. If you turn it down a bit if sort of works like a volume control.[/i][/b]

[b][i]I was looking at the wiring of the TBX online and it gave me an idea. Basically you have a 250k tone pot over half the range that acts like a standard tone control and then it switches to a 1 meg pot that basically unloads the pickups to make them brighter (except, of course that the volume control loads them back down unless the bass is active).[/i][/b]

So looking at that I`d say it`s either a dodgy pot and no longer works properly, or maybe the wiring has been totally bypassed so that it`s on full all the time. I had a Duff Sig Model for a while and it certainly didn`t sound the way you describe yours, so maybe source a new TBX pot from Fender and get someone to install it, put the bass back to how it should be? (Fender part number for this is 007-4335-000).

By the way, very envious that you have two of these beauties, both in the classic colours as well.

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Thanks for all your help Lozz, brilliant, you even got the part number - I thought you might have went one step further and bought it for me, and even installed it?! Haha!

I'm starting to think it's been by passed. That pot is totally dead, it has no effect on anything no matter what else I do with the other two pots or the three way selector.

Yeah I always wanted a black and a white one, for me the look of these things is brilliant, and then when I tried the neck I couldn't believe my luck - mine are both the clear necks with the stripe by the way, not the black necks Duff had. I bought them both blind, the black one which I suspect is older (it's certainly more used!!!) from an advert in BGM, the white one from a music shop in the Netherlands strangely, took a punt on them both really buying blind. The black one is the better of the two in my opinion, but the neck on them both is absolutely for me the most comfortable I've ever played.

Just had a thought. Why the HELL have I not just compared the white to the black sound wise, plugged them both in and tested side by side?!

If I had a brain I'd be dangerous... will let you know!

Thanks again for your help buddy.

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[quote name='lastanthem88' timestamp='1454846988' post='2973427']
Thanks for all your help Lozz, brilliant, you even got the part number - I thought you might have went one step further and bought it for me, and even installed it?! Haha!

Just had a thought. Why the HELL have I not just compared the white to the black sound wise, plugged them both in and tested side by side?!

If I had a brain I'd be dangerous... will let you know!

Thanks again for your help buddy.
[/quote]

Was almost on the train for the install til I read that and saw you have it handled :lol:

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Haha I make a much better brew than I play bass lines believe me!! So it seems you're hunch was right, the sound is totally different through the white jazz special, though the picks ups do look different - the poles are smaller.

I can get a classic P sound, a J sound, and a blend - probably like the black one should sound. That TBX is either bypassed or broken, or there's a problem with the wiring somewhere. There's a guy near me called Nigel Stockbridge who's an absolutely incredible luthier so I'll book it in I think and get him to take a look, and see what he can find. Me opening it up is a recipe for disaster!

Thanks for your help and advice, it's much appreciated.

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[quote name='lastanthem88' timestamp='1454961755' post='2974668']
Haha I make a much better brew than I play bass lines believe me!! So it seems you're hunch was right, the sound is totally different through the white jazz special, though the picks ups do look different - the poles are smaller.

I can get a classic P sound, a J sound, and a blend - probably like the black one should sound. That TBX is either bypassed or broken, or there's a problem with the wiring somewhere. There's a guy near me called Nigel Stockbridge who's an absolutely incredible luthier so I'll book it in I think and get him to take a look, and see what he can find. Me opening it up is a recipe for disaster!

Thanks for your help and advice, it's much appreciated.
[/quote]you think Lozz was joking about getting on the train don't you?

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Hi Lozz - sorted. I took it to a guy who I know who is great with electronics and it looks like the pot has been bypassed and the wiring all altered, esentially leaving the bass with a Duff 'tone'. It's either been used by a big fan or a guy in a GnR tribute I would suspect. Getting fixed anyway, so should be sounding as good as it looks before long!

MoonBassAlpha - I know, I can't believe I didn't just compare the two like for like. what an absolute idiot!

Thanks for your help guys.

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  • 4 years later...

Hi guys. I'm posting on this forum 4 years after the discussions on this topic has ceased. I have the exact situation described by

lastanthem88. My TBX pot doesn't alter the sound at all. In my opinion, it sounds great, but I can't stop wondering what the effect of the TBX would be.

I browsed for a wiring diagram so that I could fix it myself but no luck. Could anyone post a picture of what the wiring should look like?

Kind regards!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Go to Google Images,  and search Duff McKagan bass wiring , and you will find it via a link to the Fender website. Potentially the bad news is that the TBX control on the Duff Bass is not the same as the commonly available version, and appears to be available for warranty repair only. The correct part number is 007-4335-000, but I don’t think you can purchase it.

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