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Post subject: Prodigy Bass
Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:41 am
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My Folks got me one for x-mas 16 years ago.
I love this thing, it has actives (2 p-bass, and a jazz) but they are really noisey. I have tried to remedy the problem , changed the battery, turned down the treble. etc.
I love this bass but the noise is killing me I don't play it as often as I would like because it kills the idea of recording with it. Not that it doesn't completly rock, but i have to use my 84 Peavey Fury(which I love. 8) 8) )Any advice??


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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:46 am
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My first post here was a question regarding a prodigy bass. I thought I had one (it was a pbass special with a prodigy neck) but turns out it had the wrong neck. However, this was a mid 90s special which has the same electronics as the prodigy.

Now one of the advantages of the active circuitry is supposed to be noise reduction. my bass is quiet as a mouse. So apparently yours has a problem. although I am an EE I can't diagnose the problem without physically checking it. Most likely a grounding issue but can not be sure without looking at it and may even need equipment such as a meter or o-scope. If you don't have the know-how, bring it to a tech..that bass should sound incredible with no noise at all.

Your other option is to sell me the prodigy at a nice discount since it is defective...and since I happen to have a spare neck for it, that's a plus...lol

I will add that your prodigy (as well as my particular pbass special) were only produced for a couple of years and there is not much info on those available anywhere... and no one seems to know much about them.

Good luck with it.

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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 4:28 pm
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Welcome to the forum ! Like ebaysux said , the noise problem could be a grounding issue . Ther shouldbe a ground wire from the bridge to the electronics inside most common soldered to a potentiometer ,you can check that out! however if your not technically inclined better take it to qualified pro!

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Post subject:
Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 5:47 pm
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Hey guys, I usually post in the guitars section.
The bass is my root instrument. That is to say I am pretty confident on them , more so than a guitar.
I am a pretty decent luthier (see my custom guit posts).
I'm somewhat afraid to tinker w/ the Prodigy as it has a rather intimidating circuit board.... :shock: . It's like going from a pc to a mac, or vice versa...lol.
I will check the grounds. But the guts have never been mucked w/ even by me.
Anymore info on these basses would be appreciated. :wink:


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Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 6:21 pm
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BastardN wrote:
Hey guys, I usually post in the guitars section.
The bass is my root instrument. That is to say I am pretty confident on them , more so than a guitar.
I am a pretty decent luthier (see my custom guit posts).
I'm somewhat afraid to tinker w/ the Prodigy as it has a rather intimidating circuit board.... :shock: . It's like going from a pc to a mac, or vice versa...lol.
I will check the grounds. But the guts have never been mucked w/ even by me.
Anymore info on these basses would be appreciated. :wink:


I feel ya there bro. I have the same board in my Special. And even though you never tinkered with it..that doesn't mean a solder joint or wire couldn't have went bad (corrosion/cracked joint..wire split etc.)..it happens to the best of em.

If you are going to have a try at fixing it yourself start at the jack..make sure you read low resistance (almost 0 would be optimal but a very accurate ohm meter will read some milli ohms just from the R in the wires itself) from the center conductor to the board....and then from the outer shield (ground) to the bridge.

Also give a close inspection of the board itself under good lighting (you may need to remove it which requires taking those knobs off with a tiny allen key). Visually inspect it for and bad solder joints or breaks on any traces. Of course if you don't feel confident doing this..or don't own a good DMM...bring it in for service..or sell it..or just keep it stowed away, up to you.

If those check out there may be an issue with the board or a component on the board that is not visible to the eye...in which case that is beyond me. I would probably gut it all out and put in a high quality active replacment PJ setup...but that's just me. To me reliability and noise free operation is more important then originality if the instrument is a player..if it's a vintage collector I wouldn't touch it...lol

As far as finding out any more info on the particular bass..I wish you the best of luck..I sure haven't had much luck but if you read through this post I left a few days ago the spec sheet for the Prodigy is there which I got directly from the source...... Fender. http://www.fender.com/community/forums/ ... hp?t=12335
Good Luck with it.

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Post subject: Service Center
Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 8:12 pm
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I would ask what kind of noise? Hiss, hum, distortion? It should be quiet unless you are playing it.

If you don't see any loose wires or anything like that, you will have to do something more drastic.

If you want to keep it original I would suggest taking it to a Fender Certified Guitar Technician. That has the potential to run into more money than the next option. I really don't see the point in this when you can swap out everything involved for less yourself unless you are concerned about originality.

The second and least expensive option is to replace the preamp with a modern aftermarket preamp and rewire everything. While at it I'd replace the jack too. Significant advances have been made in preamps since this bass was born so you might be better off with a new preamp than the original. I might leave the original pickups in it and see if the new preamp does the trick before investing in new pickups, unless you just want to.


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:39 pm
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It is a hum.
I've been so frickin' busy latley with repairing everyone else's guitars.
Hardly any time for my own. I will post photos and check her out sometime tomorrow ,,,,,,hopefully.


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 12:15 pm
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Hi;

I agree check the grounds and the input jack


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