Pots upgrade on a VM Jazz

My last gig was a week ago and I thought I sounded a little distorted compared to before.

I had changed the pedals ony board, so I assumed it was down to the Locobox Compressor, which only has Level and Sensitivity controls compared to the Level, Attack and Sustain on my Belcat, pushing V1 harder in my Sound City.

My next home practise without the pedalboard proved me wrong. I reduced pickup heights a bit and ordered a CTS pots and Jack socket kit from eBay.

The CTS gear arrived today and the pots are bigger than the previous Alphas (I had to widen the holes in the control plate too) and feel a little more robust to turn, but they sound much the same.

And the mild overdriven sound is still there, so it may have always been there. Perhaps a pickup upgrade is next on the agenda, but that will be a long way off unless that are about to fail
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Comments

  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    Do you have the Duncan Designed JB101 pickups or the Squier own brand?

    https://i.imgur.com/wbodhbh.jpg?2

    The JB101B pickup is fairly overwound compared to either the JB101N or the own brand versions.
    Be seeing you.
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  • The Squier ones. It's moreso with the neck too. I always imagined they were copies of the SD ones anyway
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    The Squier ones.
    Those are usually described as "Fender designed" but could easily be off-the-shelf G&B or Powersound items.

    I always imagined they were copies of the SD ones anyway
    The DuncDes JB101N is supposedly based on the American-made Seymour Duncan/Basslines SJB1N. The JB101B is a halfway house between the SJB1B and SJB-2B.

    the mild overdriven sound is still there
    Erm, how old are the valves in your amplifier?
    Be seeing you.
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  • Thanks for your help so far.

    The issue is definitely not my amp, leads or pedals as I have plugged via a Beringer BDI into my interface and PC for personal practise since I noticed the issue at the last gig.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    A passive instrument can’t sound ‘overdriven’, that’s something which needs amplifying components of some sort. Are you sure it’s not just a level issue with what you’re going into? The neck pickup will often bring that out more since the signal from it is usually a bit stronger because the string movement is greater there.

    If the problem is in the bass it can only be something like a crackle caused by a bad connection (which could be in a pickup, but won’t be both of them so if turning off the neck pickup doesn’t stop it, it’s not that) or something like a whisker of wire wool on a polepiece - that can sound like distortion. Sometimes they’re quite hard to see.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    the mild overdriven sound is still there, so it may have always been there. Perhaps a pickup upgrade is next on the agenda
    That could take the instrument in various directions - either closer to traditional Fender tones or away, towards something far more modern, in a convenient J pickup housing. 
    Be seeing you.
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  • Something traditional I'd say. I usually has treble on the guitar at 8, and wind it up or down for my modern sound or stand-up sound
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    I forgot to ask - did you re-use the same tone cap when you swapped the pots? Very occasionally they can break down internally and cause a fuzzy sound that you might think is like overdrive.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • New tone cap. 
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    Might be worth checking the bass over for mechanical issues. e.g. Fret rattles, a cracked or poorly fastened nut. In some circumstances, the truss rod can resonate. 
    Be seeing you.
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