Annoying pickup popping on jazz bass

  • Thread starter Thread starter ZoSo58LP
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ZoSo58LP

ZoSo58LP

rock guy
i have the '75 reissue jazz, has the pickups with non adjustable pole pieces, and they protrude from the pickup case. now, they're set as low as they can go, and i'm STILL getting that annoying POP sound when the string makes contact with the pole piece, and it's just not going away. is there anything i can physically do to the pickup or something to eliminate this noise? i tried everything lol even putting hockey tape over the pole pieces. still pickedup up that annoying pop from it. this is bad, i didn't notice it as bad before i setup my bass yesterday...kinda wishing i never set this thing up :|
 
via the saddle, right? i've been doing that but it's still popping, now the saddles are super high! the pickups are pretty damn low too; i'm wondering if i shuold just take the padding out and flatten them to the damn body. this is getting bad
 
How far are the strings from the pup? Is this a technique issue? Some of my basses are set up with the strings pretty close to the pups and I've never had problem. If you aint getting lots of fret buzz I wouldn't expect the string to be striking the pup.
 
eh this bass has ALWAYS done this. since day 1. i'm wishing the case itself was taller, so that the magnet pieces would be inside of the case, rather than protrude from it. i don't get this popping issue on my G&L or anything. i do play pretty hard, though, i like that growl
 
For growl get your mitts on a Warwick, tone monsters, be warned they are addictive. As for the Jazz, sorry to say, it is a Fender. Somewhat tongue in cheek there, not completely. Got one recently, it is Mexican, but it was 600 dollars man, with shipping, double the price of a Warwick Rockbass. It's a POS. Seriously, I'd avoided Fender for 31 years, started playing when I was only 700 years old, but decided to try a P bass with a maple board. It was more than my MM SUB, put them side by side and it's a friggin' joke.

Are you sure the string is hitting the pup?
 
i like warwicks; never spent the money on it. i LOVE that jazz bass growl though, and i love the growl of PJs (which i have in my schecter). i always liked fender, despite only owning 1 bass lol (love my '89 USA strat though) but 600 for a mex? damn, don't they retail for 399? apparently, the japan made ones were higher quality than mex, but they shut down that plant i believe, or something like that.

let's say you take the string, and push it down so it makes contact with the magnetic pole piece in the pickup. hear that pop? that's exactly what i get from playing aggressively. is there anything i can put on top of this pole piece to stop it? i tried hockey tape, some sort of reflective aluminum tape, and nothings working.
 
What's the business with that jacked up thumb rest? Those strings should not be hitting the pup. Is that rest hitting the pup? Or is the string hitting the rest?

Oh, and the Fender P and J Standard (Mex) are 550 plus shipping, I wish they were 399.
 
STOP!!!!
Standard Fender setup is about 3mm from top of pickup to bottom of string (string depressed at last fret)
There is no way with the pickups set up like that you should / could be hitting them, it's far more likely the pop is coming from the neck... whats the relief like? did you change the strings? chances are the truss rod needs a tweek but if you havn't done this before take care!

Just take a step back and start the setup again - it is easy and rewarding to do, use the Fender setup guide. ( you need a few basic tools ) but just take your time with it.
Fender® Support
Good Luck!
 
haha the jacked thumbrest's deal is one day when i was like 16 i decided to put one on there cuz someone gave me one...so i literally just drilled into the pickguard/body hahaha it used to be straighter, with different sized screws to compensate the pickguard, but those screws stripped. no, it's nowhere near the string, its actually further back than the pickups. i installed one on my schecter, but it's between the P/J pickups and its perfectly flat, so i wanted one on the jazz....i only put it back on since thepickup is so damn low now, i have nowhere to rest my fat thumb!

bruiser, could you explain what you mean by the popping being from the neck? i'm going to measure the height when i press on the last fret and see what i'm at. other than that, i did tweak the truss and saddles, and they're higher than they've ever been..i don't understand why i'm getting this. i guess i just have an agressive playing style :\
 
Dude even if you were really digging in you should not be touching the pickups when they are so low and the action is so high.... often that sound can come from the strings hitting the neck.

Look at your playing style particularly on rest notes (sometimes players "rest" their fingers flat on the strings and it comes over as a click) kinda hard to explain but I used to do this and only noticed it when I was recording... its a hard habit to break - but my action was WAAAY lower than yours.

I would go back and start again... use the Fender setup guide and take your time - just work through it it's common that if you have changed the string type it may affect the neck - but do take great care with this it can destroy a guitar.
If you feel out of your depth...A pro setup from a music shop should cost about 50 bucks and is well worth it - If the tech is cool he will let you watch so you can do it yourself next time.
Good Luck
 
cool, good advice, i'll give it a go with the setup guide. i've always adjusted my basses myself, never brought them anywhere..however, i'm bringing my G&L L2000 to be professionally setup before our gig in feb just to see how much more playable it really becomes...and if its a huge difference, i'll get the jazz setup as well
 
I put a shim inside the pickup cover to bring the pole pieces just below the top of the cover.
 
I think the popping sound you are describing is the sound of your finger touching the pickup pole
If that is what is causing it....put a drop of clear nail polish on the pole piece or take a piece of black electrical tape and cover the pickup
Also check out better grounding
I think if you search through some of the bass or guitar sites you can find references to (star) grounding ??????

Thanks

Robert VanLane
 
bassbrad said:
I put a shim inside the pickup cover to bring the pole pieces just below the top of the cover.
Click to expand...

so what you did was basically make it so that the poles are UNDERNEATH the plastic case, correct? whereas, mine and most jazz basses stick out OVER the case, yours are under? (much like seymour duncan basslines, whos poll pieces lay below the case).

did you put the shim on top of the actual pickup itself, like in the corners?
 
i just gave this a shot. now i realize the popping noise is the string in fact hitting the case of the pickup..its a mixture between the pop of the magnet, and the hitting of the case. how does one suggest setting up a jazz with some nice growling low action so that i get the string rattle when i play hard, but so that i don't get the pop? i don't believe the strings on my schecter hit the pickups (but they're the ceramic EMG's that don't have pole pieces) and that things got very low action, as does my G&L. hmm
 
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