Fender Precision Bass American Deluxe - output level

[mikeydee]

Hi there  folks,

I wonder if  anyone has the same bass guitar as me and can comment on the pickup output level.

It the P Bass American Deluxe with a N3 (noiseless?) bridge pickup and 3 band active circuit.  The pick ups are set to about 6-7mm below the string and have a limited range of adjustment that does not help much.

For me the passive next pick up is rounded, fat and loud (as I would expect) but the jazz bass output is a bit weedy.  If you switch the guitar  to the active setting then the jazz bass output is about as loud as the precision pickup in passive mode and of course the neck pickup goes up in proportion too.  It's not a massive deal but it means messing with my amp in between songs. Just wondering if this was normal behaviour. 

I don't have another Jazz bass to compare which is a pity.

[Cato]

It's not unusual.

The split P pickup is essentially a humbucker and as a rule they have higher output than the Jazz single coils.

Also the jazz pickup's placement nearer the bridge means the string doesn't vibrate as much above that pickup.

The natural imbalance between the two pickups is one reason (amongst many) why people use active circuits as you can then boost the volume of the J.

It should be possible to boost the passive ouput of the J by replacing it with a higher output pickup or even a single coil sized humbucker.

[Mudpup]

Wind the P pickup down and get the J pickup a bit higher - that'll help a bit

[HowieBass]

It's usual to measure string to pickup gap when you fret the strings at the last fret and you'd normally aim for around 1/8" - that would usually mean the neck pickup is lower than the bridge pickup. The Fender specs can be found here: https://support.fender.com/hc/en-us/articles/214343843-How-do-I-set-up-my-bass-guitar-properly-

HTH

 

[handman]

,I had some of those pick ups in a fender jazz Bass, found them to be quite noisy and had very low output, changed them in the end after trying everything , after reading up on the N3 jazz pick up it seems to be a common complaint, replaced mine with some entwistle, massive improvement

[12stringbassist]

I have the Mex P deluxe and just leave it active all the time.

[discreet]

I don't like dual-coil Jazz pickups (humbuckers) as a rule, but it may be worth looking at one for this situation, just so it can compete with the Split-P.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/pickup/hot-stack-jazz-bass-bridge