marlborored Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 (edited) Don't know how familiar anyone on here is with the American Deluxe Precisions, (2010 onwards model) but it has a switch to change between active/passive mode, the master volume and pickup pan are standard precision knobs but the bass/treble and mid/passive tone knobs are both stacked with the treble and mid knobs on top of the bass and passive tone knobs respectively. My problem is that when in active mode the mid and bass pots make huge difference to the sound when turned from fully off to fully on whereas the treble pot makes almost no change whatsoever to the sound whether it is rolled fully on or fully off. The bass is only 2 months or old and although it has the same batteries in as when I bought it, the bass had been directly ordered in by the shop (GAK) for me from Fender so it hadn't been hanging up in the shop at all being played so I would be surprised if it was a flat battery issue making this happen and surely that would impact all the tone pots not just the treble? Any advice as to why this is happening would be greatly appreciated! Other than this though the bass has been superb, amazing playability and the sound in both active and passive is incredible, I would recommend the american deluxe precisions to anyone, such a wide range of tones with active and passive plus a P/J pickup setup. Thanks in advance Edited May 31, 2014 by marlborored Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 I've seen a fair bit of chat on Talkbass about this... maybe have a look on there. The quality of Fender actives tends to be a bit flaky. John East they ain't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 [quote name='marlborored' timestamp='1401565266' post='2464882'] Don't know how familiar anyone on here is with the American Deluxe Precisions, (2010 onwards model) but it has a switch to change between active/passive mode, the master volume and pickup pan are standard precision knobs but the bass/treble and mid/passive tone knobs are both stacked with the treble and mid knobs on top of the bass and passive tone knobs respectively. My problem is that when in active mode the mid and bass pots make huge difference to the sound when turned from fully off to fully on whereas the treble pot makes almost no change whatsoever to the sound whether it is rolled fully on or fully off. The bass is only 2 months or old and although it has the same batteries in as when I bought it, the bass had been directly ordered in by the shop (GAK) for me from Fender so it hadn't been hanging up in the shop at all being played so I would be surprised if it was a flat battery issue making this happen and surely that would impact all the tone pots not just the treble? Any advice as to why this is happening would be greatly appreciated! Other than this though the bass has been superb, amazing playability and the sound in both active and passive is incredible, I would recommend the american deluxe precisions to anyone, such a wide range of tones with active and passive plus a P/J pickup setup. Thanks in advance [/quote] Look under the PG to see if there's any wires adrift. If not, contact GAK and get them to put it right. It must still be under warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Sounds like a dodgy connection or a dodgy pot. Agree, contact GAK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Out of interest have you tried playing the bass through a different amp? I'm wondering whether you'd hear more of a difference with a combo/cab that has a tweeter... looking at the Rumble 100 specs it's got a full-range 12" speaker but that might not handle the highs as well as a dedicated tweeter (does the Eminence 12" get up to about 5kHz?). I've a Squier Active Jazz and playing that through my Genz Benz Contour CTR500-210T combo I hear a definite change with the treble cut/boost through the active circuit... however I find the frequency chosen by Fender for the treble to be quite high, it's at 10kHz which many consider to be in the 'brilliance' range (note that vocal 'S' sounds are at about 7kHz) and compared to the change in tone from my passive Precision, the active treble tone control is voiced higher than where treble cut occurs with my P bass. Just a thought anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 I had this on a Rockinbetter, and it was caused by a loose wire that should have been connected to the housing of a pot (I'm assuming this means Earth) but had come off before I bought the thing new from a shop. Went back with it. Shop fixed it in five minutes, tested it, and it worked. Came home: same thing. So now I've desoldered the whole thing and will have the welders at my premises tomorrow. Expect my Rockinbetter to become perfect! Seriously though, I can imagine that different things can cause this. I've not investigated my own setup (bass, leads, amp, kettle lead, earthing) more thoroughly yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panamonte Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 I've got a 2010 Am Dlx P and, as HowieBass suggests, because of where the frequency centre of the treble pot is set, full cut and full boost have a significantly less dramatic effect on the overall sound than the mid and bass pots. Try rolling off the bass and mid pots fully counterclockwise, play a note and sweep the treble pot through its whole range while the note's still sounding. I just tried that on my bass and you can hear a discernible difference. If that has no effect on the sound then there's obviously some kind of fault. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afterimage Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 [left]Take it back and get it checked. Had a similar problem with jazz bass deluxe. [/left] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 My Am P deluxe is older (about 2003) so all active. Although the bass and treble boosts make no real difference to the overall volume (but obvioulsy change the tone) there is a noticeable change in volume when altering the mid boost knob. To my knowledge this is not a fault, they were designed that way as there is an online demo of one showing exactly this. Probably doesn't really answer the OP but if part of his issue is with a change in vol when greatly increasing the mid boost (the knob closest to the jack input) it isn't faulty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grenadilla Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 I have the similar Precision Special and the treble won't cut as much as a two-knob passive Precision. It boosts some; about like going to the amp and moving the amp E.Q. from "5" to "8". If you hear no change it needs fixing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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