razze06 Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 So i've owned this fender aerodyne precision for a few years now, it's beatifully finished, nice action, good neck, well balanced and weigh just the right amount. However nice it is, I often leave it on the guitar rack and pick up something else for both practices and gigs. Moreover, when I do use for practices or gigs, I find myself disappointed with the tone. I am particularly annoyed by the fact that the signal from the soloed p pickup is much stronger than the signal from the soloed j pickup, effectively denying me the option of switching to a jazz-y sound whitout changing bass. Also, the tone of the p pickup is a little off to my ears, and tend to get lost in the lower notes. So, instead of selling it and buying another bass, I was wondering if you could suggest some simple mod I could do to it to improve the tone. I'm not into active basses at all, so I was thinking about a pickup replacement and/or a different circuitry arrangement. Suggestions? Recommendations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul h Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 I am pretty sure that the stock pickups are ceramic so my suggestion is to swap them out for a matched set of alnico pickups. Or in terms of output it might be as simple as lowering the p pickup and raising the j. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algmusic Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 [quote name='razze06' post='1013072' date='Nov 5 2010, 10:44 AM']So i've owned this fender aerodyne precision for a few years now, it's beatifully finished, nice action, good neck, well balanced and weigh just the right amount. However nice it is, I often leave it on the guitar rack and pick up something else for both practices and gigs. Moreover, when I do use for practices or gigs, I find myself disappointed with the tone. I am particularly annoyed by the fact that the signal from the soloed p pickup is much stronger than the signal from the soloed j pickup, effectively denying me the option of switching to a jazz-y sound whitout changing bass. Also, the tone of the p pickup is a little off to my ears, and tend to get lost in the lower notes. So, instead of selling it and buying another bass, I was wondering if you could suggest some simple mod I could do to it to improve the tone. I'm not into active basses at all, so I was thinking about a pickup replacement and/or a different circuitry arrangement. Suggestions? Recommendations?[/quote] I'd get the PUP's looked at, I find both of PUPS at about the same level.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 I had one of these, and wanted a bit more out of it too. Duff McKagan also uses one, and liking his tone, I replaced the J pickup with the Seymour Duncan he uses - think it was the STK-J2 the Hot Stack. Made a great deal of difference with both pickups on together. Obviously if you want to use the P pickup soloed, that too may need changing, but bear in mind that the Aerodyne is made of basswood (well mine was), which whilst good on low mids, doesn`t seem to have quite the same depth on the bottom end as alder/ash. This may be why it doesn`t seem to have the same effect on the lower notes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razze06 Posted November 5, 2010 Author Share Posted November 5, 2010 [quote name='paul h' post='1013094' date='Nov 5 2010, 11:13 AM']I am pretty sure that the stock pickups are ceramic so my suggestion is to swap them out for a matched set of alnico pickups. Or in terms of output it might be as simple as lowering the p pickup and raising the j.[/quote] I have tried lowering the p and raising the j, to underwhelming results. You can clearly hear the difference in volume as you cut off the j pup. I seem to recall reading that this is so "by design". Maybe i was just badly informed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul h Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 [quote name='razze06' post='1013217' date='Nov 5 2010, 12:51 PM']I have tried lowering the p and raising the j, to underwhelming results. You can clearly hear the difference in volume as you cut off the j pup. I seem to recall reading that this is so "by design". Maybe i was just badly informed...[/quote] I had one and the pickups were balanced perfectly well. Maybe it is a fault? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razze06 Posted November 5, 2010 Author Share Posted November 5, 2010 [quote name='Lozz196' post='1013202' date='Nov 5 2010, 12:43 PM']I had one of these, and wanted a bit more out of it too. Duff McKagan also uses one, and liking his tone, I replaced the J pickup with the Seymour Duncan he uses - think it was the STK-J2 the Hot Stack. Made a great deal of difference with both pickups on together. Obviously if you want to use the P pickup soloed, that too may need changing, but bear in mind that the Aerodyne is made of basswood (well mine was), which whilst good on low mids, doesn`t seem to have quite the same depth on the bottom end as alder/ash. This may be why it doesn`t seem to have the same effect on the lower notes.[/quote] Good pointers, cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razze06 Posted November 5, 2010 Author Share Posted November 5, 2010 Looks like I need to have it seen before I dive in and buy expensive replacement pickups and whatnots. Thank you all for the advice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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