Rumble Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 (edited) I've recently got an Ashdown ABM500 and have noticed that when I plug in my Fender jazz I need to really crack up both the gain and volume to get a reasonable level of noise (I'm talking 3 O'Clock on both!). However, the output from my Lakland JO5 is absolutely massive by comparison despite it also being passive. Is it worth getting some different pickups in the jazz to get a hotter output? I'd wonder about some Wizard 64's or Dimarzio's. Opinions?? BTW - I'm pretty sure it's not the PUP height - I couldn't get them any higher! Edited October 22, 2011 by Rumble Quote
LawrenceH Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 Unless you're getting unacceptable noise from the amp with the gain cranked, it doesn't really matter - that's what input gain is for. If you like the sound of the bass then I'd look at shielding cavities to reduce noise before replacing pups. If the amp has a noisy crappy preamp circuit or the pickups are so quiet that you can't get the volume up even with full gain then hotter pickups will be useful. What type of jazz is it, US/MIM, year etc? I've not noticed US jazzes or recent MIMs having unusually low output. Could be worth checking the wiring too. Quote
OldG Posted October 23, 2011 Posted October 23, 2011 An easy test... take a litte screwdriver and hold it loosely above the polepieces on the pickups of both basses, I'm betting the Lakland will grab the driver and the Fender will a lot weaker. Same thing happened to my Tokai Jazz (pickups approx 25yo) - a newer set of pickups restored the volume, dynamics and tone in one go for £20 from the for sale forum. Quote
chris_b Posted October 23, 2011 Posted October 23, 2011 [quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1319325636' post='1412828'] ....Unless you're getting unacceptable noise from the amp with the gain cranked, it doesn't really matter - that's what input gain is for.... [/quote] +1. Why spend money on something that the volume controls deal with for free? Quote
Rumble Posted October 23, 2011 Author Posted October 23, 2011 I accept the point about just turning the amp up, but I'm still intrigued why one pickup generates such a low signal compared to another? My Jazz is a MIM - not sure of the exact year - late 90's I think. BTW - Are the white wires coming off the PUPs the 'hot' ones? Quote
OldG Posted October 24, 2011 Posted October 24, 2011 My Tokai pickups gradually faded over time - maybe yours have done the same ( magnets got weaker?)..... and yes.white is 'hot'. Quote
gabson Posted October 27, 2011 Posted October 27, 2011 Perhaps try getting your magnets recharged? Magnets can lose gauss strength if theyre put into another magnetic field (ie next to a large speaker cone!) cheers Jack Quote
gabson Posted October 27, 2011 Posted October 27, 2011 From the master Bill Lawrence: http://www.billlawrence.com/Pages/Pickupology/magnets.htm Quote
Rumble Posted October 28, 2011 Author Posted October 28, 2011 That's really useful, thanks. I strongly suspect that the magnets may well have de-magnetised to some degree given that they came to me in a box which they may well have been in for some time. It could be that they were sat in the box slowly sapping the strength from each other. How would I 'recharge' them? Quote
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