Active Electronics in a Fender Precision Deluxe?
Tim Kramer
Hi,
I bought a used Natural 4 string Fender Precision bass that has a
silver lace sensor j-pickup and a silver lace sensor p-pickup. I was
under the impression that they were active. I went to replace the
battery and I could find one. In my 5 string Fender Jazz, the battery
click in under a back cover. Does anyone know if these pickups are
really active or not? There is a white button that extendes the range
that led my to beleive it is.
Any help would be appeciated.
Please reply via email if possible.
Thanks
Tim Kramer
Bill Bolton
On Tue, 02 Jun 1998 01:57:58 GMT, Tim Kramer <tkr...@ibm.net> wrote:
> I bought a used Natural 4 string Fender Precision bass that has a
>silver lace sensor j-pickup and a silver lace sensor p-pickup. I was
>under the impression that they were active. I went to replace the
>battery and I could find one. In my 5 string Fender Jazz, the battery
>click in under a back cover. Does anyone know if these pickups are
>really active or not?
The bass is totally passive. Lace Sensor pickups are dispersed field,
shielded, low noise pickups. They should be set up as close to the
strings as possible (without getting rattle) for best results... this
is different from standard pickups which can "capture" (damp) string
motion if set too close to the strings.
>There is a white button that extendes the range that led my to beleive it is.
The button configures the Lace Sensor P pickup in series or parallel
mode, which give somewhat different sounds.
Cheers,
Bill
Bill Bolton billb...@computer.org
Sydney, Australia
Gary E. MacIndoe
I live quite a ways away from a Fender dealer with more than a few
Am. Std or Mex P-basses, so I'd like some opinions before I make
the trek.
How do you compare the Deluxe with a standard P-bass?:
- does the slightly downsized body make a difference?
- does the ash veneer over alder seem to effect the tone?
- how is the humbucker bridge pickup? quiet? tone?
- can you still get a typical P-bass sound with just the
split pickup?
- how are the active electronics?, and is it easy to change
the battery?
- overall, how do you like the Deluxe??
Thanks for any replies!!
Gary
Grandma Lee
I have the P-Bass Lyte Deluxe.
It is has the "deluxe" features that differentiate from a regular P, but the
"lyte" part will have a bearing on the comparison.
It's a really nice axe. It has active pickups in the P and J positions. I
find the J position one doesn't contribute much to the sound. It's the split
center one that is doing most of the work, and gives a nice warm sound. It's
reminiscent of the regular P-Bass sound, but I think it sounds better. The
active controls give you a much larger range of control compared to passive,
which just cut. The coolest thing is it has three bands (top, mid, bottom)
of +/- 20dB. I set my amp flat and control everything from the axe.
The battery is under a plate with many screws. You have to remember to bring
a philips screwdriver to gigs. Can't use a dime to open this baby!
The other "deluxe" bits on the bass are the gold fixtures, which look
really, really good. I don't know if functionally they are any better.
On the negative side there is a nasty buzz when you lift your hands off
which is accentuated by the active controls. I checked it out and it doesn't
seem to have a fault, it's just the way it is. (The wiring inside is
excellent, btw) I haven't experienced quite this much buzz from other axes,
active or passive. I use an speaker with a high frequency driver - I think
that's why it's more pronounced. I've taken to wearing a grounding strap at
gigs.