MIM Fender Jazz pickup volume issue

[rommi]

Hi All

I thought I'd put this out to you knowledgable folks as I'm pretty clueless when it comes to anything to with with the electronics on my bass.. I just play the thing

The neck pickup on my Jazz seems to be quite significantly louder than the bridge pickup..? I've only noticed this within the past few months as I never used to really solo either pickup, just used to blend the two..

The bridge pup is pretty high as it is and I play with a pretty low action - do you think it's simply a case of lowering my neck pickup to try and compensate? Or may there be issues with the pups?

Another thing I've noticed is that the E string is pretty 'boomy' and sometimes more muddy when playing the higher frets, like the string is a bit dud.. I've noticed this even when there is a fresh set of strings on.. Not sure if the two issues are related?

Any ideas??

Thanks

Matt

[gjones]

It's amazing what changing the height of the pickup can do for your sound. Recently I raised the height of my pickups on my Jazz and they really came to life. Experiment with heights until you find the sweet spot between the sound you want and the balance between the bridge and neck pickup. You can also make the pickups higher or lower on one side to balance the volume of your individual strings which should cure your boomy E string. Some pickups have springs for each screw to make vertical adjustments easier and some just have foam under the pickup for the same reason.

[rommi]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1342122726' post='1730104']
It's amazing what changing the height of the pickup can do for your sound. Recently I raised the height of my pickups on my Jazz and they really came to life. Experiment with heights until you find the sweet spot between the sound you want and the balance between the bridge and neck pickup. You can also make the pickups higher or lower on one side to balance the volume of your individual strings which should cure your boomy E string. Some pickups have springs for each screw to make vertical adjustments easier and some just have foam under the pickup for the same reason.
[/quote]

Thanks mate, I'll give it a try

[rommi]

Right, I tried lowering the neck pickup (don't think can go any lower) and raising the bridge pickup (don't really want to take it any higher) and although the volume difference is now less, there is still a distinct difference on volume..

Any ideas?? Should I change the pups?

Cheers
Matt

[Ou7shined]

Doesn't sound right.
Have you had a look in the control cavity? Maybe something is shorting out the bridge pup?

[rommi]

Any ideas what I should be looking for?? :-)

[rommi]

Ok I've had a look and things don't appear to be right.. But I could be very wrong..

There is a black wire and a white wire coming from each pickup, but both black wires go to the neck volume knob, and the bridge knob just has the white wire from the bridge pickup and the white 'bridging' type wire from the neck knob to the bridge knob.. Does anyone else have a MIM Jazz to compare the wiring??

Thanks guys
Matt

[rommi]

According to one of the Seymour Duncan wiring diagrams (link below), the black wire from the bridge pup should be going tithe bridge tone pot? Seems sensible..

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=std_jazz_bass

??

[Ou7shined]

It does sound like there may be a bit of tinkerage going on but if your blacks both go to some earthing point (ie the pot casing) then you should be fine. I presume your control plate is not painted or anything?

[rommi]

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1342296111' post='1733052']
It does sound like there may be a bit of tinkerage going on but if your blacks both go to some earthing point (ie the pot casing) then you should be fine. I presume your control plate is not painted or anything?
[/quote]

Hmm.. Yeh the blacks go to the same point on the casing of the neck pot.. The bass was bought brand new by myself so shouldn't have been any tinkering involved?.. And no, the control pate isn't painted..

Miffed as to what's up to be honest :-/

[rommi]

Found this on the fender website..

http://support.fender.com/service_diagrams/bass_guitars/013-6500B_SISD.pdf

This also suggests that there should be a wire from the bridge pup to the bridge pot too?.. Maybe the guy in the mex factory was a bit hungover the day my bass got wired??

[rommi]

Ok seen other diagrams that suggest that the black wire can go to the other pot so maybe my pickup is shot??

[Ou7shined]

Though rare, it sounds a likely explanation. Can you post a clear pic of your wiring loom? (try not to have wires obscured by others)

[Al Heeley]

[quote name='rommi' timestamp='1342298871' post='1733098']
Ok seen other diagrams that suggest that the black wire can go to the other pot so maybe my pickup is shot??
[/quote]black wires are earths, they can go anywhere to the back of either pot, separate or together, makes no odds. The whites are the hots, one each to the 2 vol knobs.
I think you are getting the normal vol difference due to strings vibrating thru more travel towards the neck than at the bridge.
Recheck the heights of the poles to the strings at bridge pup and neck pup when fretted at the last fret. fender says bass side should be a touch under 3mm and treble side should be about 2mm