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Have you ever had an equipment failure in the middle of a song?
Poll ended at Sun May 24, 2009 1:05 pm
No 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Yes - I fixed it and finished the song 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Yes - I tried, but I couldn't fix it before the song ended 100%  100%  [ 1 ]
Yes - But my band stopped the song because without bass, they're like lost children with no one to follow. 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Total votes : 1
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Post subject: Jaguar Bass made me show my coin-slot
Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 1:05 pm
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I've had my Jaguar for about a year, and it's always worked beautifully. Last night, I was about halfway through a 3-hour gig, when suddenly this horrible pulsing, screechy noise started coming out of my SWR Basic Black amp. It was very loud, and I was worried it would damage the speakers.

I ran over and turned the amp off, and frantically tried to fix it while the rest of the band kept playing "hard to handle" bass-less.

Since I was using a wireless, that was the first thing I suspected so I disconnected it and plugged directly into the amp with a cord I knew to be good. When I turned the amp back on, the hellish noise started right away.

I tried various things--changing electrical outlets, cords (power, speaker, and instrument), and even unplugging the XLR cable that went to the mixing board (should have done that first, because the noise was going to the PA also).

Incidentally, while I was bending over my amp trying out various things, I apparently was displaying a rather impressive plumber's crack to the audience. Our singer noticed and moved his body to block this unpleasant sighte from the audience. This man truly loves his fans.

Anyway, I remembered that I was using active mode, and I'd never changed the battery, so I set the switch to passive mode. That did it--when I turned on the amp the only horrible noise coming out of the was my own bass playing :)

My Jaguar worked fine the rest of the night in passive mode, so I assumed that the battery had died and caused the noise. Given my limited experience with active electronics, I wondered how I was supposed to make sure that didn't happen again, short of testing or changing the battery before every gig.

BUT...I discovered today that the battery had plenty of juice. The problem turned out to be a bad switch, and now it's causing noise no matter what position it's in. I guess I got lucky last night, and moving the switch somehow fixed it for the rest of the gig.

Now that I know what happens when the switch goes bad, I'd like to find out what DOES happen when the dies or gets weak. I assume you just lose the preamp features, and it more or less sounds like passive mode. But I once went to a store and tried out an active-pickup bass that didn't have a switch, and until the salesman changed the battery I got no output at all.

Of course, I could test this myself by just taking out the battery, but I thought I'd share this interesting and embarrassing story, and encourage all my bass-playing brethren to remember that even when performing emergency equipment repair on stage, you should avoid exposing the audience to a clear view of your coin-slot.

Bash


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Post subject:
Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 2:31 pm
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Make sure you try cleaning the switch before replacing it. I am not saying that its not bad, just check it before unsoldering it. It may just be dirty.

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Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 7:41 pm
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BCbassman wrote:
Make sure you try cleaning the switch before replacing it. I am not saying that its not bad, just check it before unsoldering it. It may just be dirty.


+1 on that.

Remember, the more complicated something is...the more things there are to go wrong. The Jaguar is one of the most complicated bass wiring schemes ever.

I would routinely give all the switches a spray of electronics cleaner at every battery change or every string change and exercise them a bit by sliding them on and off. Just make it part of your routine.

I would change the battery judging by use. Count 3 hours as a gig. 10 gigs equals 30 hours. Some preamp batteries are good for 3 gigs, others for 30. Active EQ basses (like the Jaguar) have much longer battery life than Active Pickup basses. To find your gig capacity count every gig on a battery. After 10 gigs, change the battery and leave it in for 15 more gigs, then replace it with one you use for 20 gigs and just keep repeating the process of gradually extending use of a single battery. Eventually you'll find out the gig capacity limit per battery for your bass. Counting hours is too hard. Count gigs is hard enough. I do about 30 gigs before changing the battery on my active EQ bass. I count a 2 hour rehearsal as a gig, but I usually use a passive bass at rehearsals as I rarely ever take a backup to rehearsal. There is no real way to know the capacity until you test it.

I've heard of people getting 90 gigs out of an active EQ system...but I just couldn't stand to wait that long. Eventually you'll find the limit and then change batteries before the limit.

General rule of thumb is anytime something goes wrong with a bass with a battery in it, CHANGE the battery first thing.

Also should point out Bill Lawrence's first rule of basses, "Batteries belong in flashlights."


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 10:39 am
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I was going to post a new topic on this, but I suppose this question could be posted under this topic...

I'm a lefty and I've noticed there isn't much choice amongst Fender basses when it comes to being a southpaw.
I've looked for Mark Hoppus' bass and had no luck and I'm really interested in a Jaguar bass but, yet again, no luck!

So I was wondering if the Jaguar bass is available in left handed? I know the Mark Hoppus one isn't, but I'm not certain about the Jaguar?

Any help is greatly appreciated!


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Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 9:44 am
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Yes the Jaguar is produced in left hand models. However, I am not sure they are imported into the USA but they may be. Check with an authorized dealer.

If no luck ordering one I do know there is an eBay seller in Tokyo called Jo's Music Shop selling them. Search eBay for "Fender Jaguar Bass left" and you'll find him.

I agree that most of the major online retailers don't list many left hand models. Basically the MIM Standard, American Standard and American Deluxe models are about it. Fender does produce other southpaw basses though.

However when you search eBay for "Fender Bass left" there isn't much there either!

You could do the Jimi Hendrix thing I guess.


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Post subject:
Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 1:56 pm
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I've always thought about the Hendrix approach, but wouldn't it involve swapping the bridge and nut to left handed versions? Seems like a lot to go through...


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Post subject:
Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 2:27 pm
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Actually Jimi Hendrix played a right handed Strat set up right handed with no flipping of the strings, bridge or nut. Just a stock right handed Strat setup.


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 6:07 pm
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No offense, but these sound like issues that anybody playing with active electronics might experience. What's so beautiful about the Jaguar is the ability to just switch into passive mode and still have some options.

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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 6:09 pm
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brotherdave wrote:
Yes the Jaguar is produced in left hand models. However, I am not sure they are imported into the USA but they may be. Check with an authorized dealer.

If no luck ordering one I do know there is an eBay seller in Tokyo called Jo's Music Shop selling them. Search eBay for "Fender Jaguar Bass left" and you'll find him.

I agree that most of the major online retailers don't list many left hand models. Basically the MIM Standard, American Standard and American Deluxe models are about it. Fender does produce other southpaw basses though.

However when you search eBay for "Fender Bass left" there isn't much there either!

You could do the Jimi Hendrix thing I guess.


I've never seen a left-handed Jaguar in America, but I have certainly seem them online for import from various Japanese sellers. Sorry, I don't remember any specific names right now.

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* 2007 Fender Jaguar Bass
* 2003 Fender Standard Jazz Bass
* 1997 Squier Strat


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