Fender PJ Mustang - why isn't the output jack grounded?

[Treadstone71]

Hi everyone, I recently bought one of those Fender PJ Mustang basses, and I liked it enough to buy it, but when I plugged it into a proper amp setup at rehearsal, I found the sound to be rather bland. Not bad mind you, just sort of...blah.

Long story short, I ordered replacement pups (Geezer PJ set, but that's a whole different story) and installed them. They're Geezers...of course they sound great, but when I looked at the stock electronics I pulled out, I noticed there was no ground wire on the output jack. The body ground was there (body to tone pot), but nothing on the jack except for the "hot" white wire.

My question, is did that matter? Have any of you seen this before? I haven't, and now I'm wondering if that was causing the sound quality to drop.

I'll admit, the Geezers sound nice, but they add a substantial bit of weight compared to the stock electronics. I'm starting to wonder if it's worth reinstalling the stock stuff, and adding the ground wire to the jack to see if it sounds any different.

I'd appreciate any advice, previous experience you folks have to offer. Cheers!

 

[Turnaround]

The plate the jack is mounted on is grounded. The ground connection of the jack is also connected to the jack body (the threaded part), so the jack is grounded too. Works fine unless the jack comes loose, then it gets all crackly.

 

[Gorn]

Did you change the strings and set it up before you changed the pickups?

 

[Treadstone71]

The plate the jack is mounted on is grounded. The ground connection of the jack is also connected to the jack body (the threaded part), so the jack is grounded too. Works fine unless the jack comes loose, then it gets all crackly.

Thanks Turnaround, that makes sense in retrospect.

Did you change the strings and set it up before you changed the pickups?

Howdy Gorn, I didn't change the strings, and although it was set up decently from the factory, I did check the pickup height just to be sure. I may change the strings just to put my mind at rest.

 

[walterw]

my preference is to run an actual soldered ground wire anyway since the jack is a "stressed" part and can come loose from the plate, at which point you have a loose jack and an intermittent sound.

 

[Christcr]

The first Mustang PJ I got sounded great to me (or I wouldn't have bought it). But, I was a bit annoyed in that although the soloed bridge pickup sounded better than most, I had a little trouble getting the level on par with the P-pickup. I cranked the P down and raised the J as close as I could get without causing other problems. That took care of it for the most part. But then, since the bridge is a single coil, some gigs caused a lot of annoying hum. And I love to mod basses...

So... I really went on a "pickup safari." Spent a lot of money experimenting. After several changes, I ended up with a SD Steve Harris P-pickup and a Delano J-pickup (the one with the huge magnet slugs). The bass sounds great. It does have more output. But then when I got a second Mustang PJ with stock pickups, I had a chance to compare them side by side. Now, yes, I know basses are a bit like snowflakes. The newer one was quite a bit lighter (and as a result, more resonant). They would sound a little different regardless. BUT, the stock bass honestly sounds just as good as the modded one. The modded one does sound different, but I wouldn't say better. Only real advantage is no single coil hum with the Delano pickup. But was it worth spending half the cost of the bass on new pickups (plus the other ones I didn't like, such as a stacked SD j-pickup)? No. Not really. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't bother. I've considered taking the first one back to stock, but there is no point. It sounds fine. But so does the stock bass--in fact there is something about the setting with both pickups that is rather special to my ears. And the next stock Mustang PJ I bought sounded great stock--didn't touch it. And the new capri orange one that is coming out in a couple of months, once I buy one, will have nothing on it changed except the strings and maybe a Hipshot detuner.

 

[Treadstone71]

But was it worth spending half the cost of the bass on new pickups (plus the other ones I didn't like, such as a stacked SD j-pickup)? No. Not really. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't bother.

Thanks Christcr, this is pretty much my feeling about it at this point. I researched several pup alternatives, with the key purposes of reducing the weight and making it sound better. The irony is, in the end, I bought the Geezer PJ set, and as I mentioned, it's notably heavier than stock.

I took it to practice on Monday night (before installing the Geezers), and it's still difficult to dial-in a sound I really like (closest was both pups on, with the volume at 75% and the tone at 50%), but it's soooo much fun to play. Sadly, I've been too busy all week to revert it to stock for my show tonight, but I wish I had it ready.

I will reinstall the stock electronics, and @walterw, I do intend to add a ground wire to the jack, just to alleviate my OCD about such things. I'm going to swap the strings, but otherwise my plan going forward is to just leave it alone.

 

[Marial]

This is great info folks. I've been looking at pickup replacements myself and haven't seen anything truly compelling yet. I think I'm going to try a set of flats or groundwounds first and see if they gets me where I want to be in terms of taming the high end in my Sonic Blue PJ. The red one is in the process of being defretted so I haven't had a chance to really play that one much yet.

 

[secondbestcody]

How did you wire up the toggle with the GZR’s? I couldn’t get the buss to fit well into mine so I put the stock emectronics back in it.

 

[Marial]

Thanks Christcr, this is pretty much my feeling about it at this point. I researched several pup alternatives, with the key purposes of reducing the weight and making it sound better. The irony is, in the end, I bought the Geezer PJ set, and as I mentioned, it's notably heavier than stock.

I took it to practice on Monday night (before installing the Geezers), and it's still difficult to dial-in a sound I really like (closest was both pups on, with the volume at 75% and the tone at 50%), but it's soooo much fun to play. Sadly, I've been too busy all week to revert it to stock for my show tonight, but I wish I had it ready.

I will reinstall the stock electronics, and @walterw, I do intend to add a ground wire to the jack, just to alleviate my OCD about such things. I'm going to swap the strings, but otherwise my plan going forward is to just leave it alone.

How is the Geezer PJ set?

 

[96tbird]

my preference is to run an actual soldered ground wire anyway since the jack is a "stressed" part and can come loose from the plate, at which point you have a loose jack and an intermittent sound.

This. A cool trick is to solder a piece of 12ga solid copper wire (from house wire) across the back of the pots and to the ground lug of the jack. The stiffness of the heavy copper prevents rotation of the components and therefore loosening of the retaining nuts.

 

[walterw]

This. A cool trick is to solder a piece of 12ga solid copper wire (from house wire) across the back of the pots and to the ground lug of the jack. The stiffness of the heavy copper prevents rotation of the components and therefore loosening of the retaining nuts.

like so (i stole this trick from terry mcinturff, he calls things like this making the guitar "tourworthy")

 

[fcappi]

This. A cool trick is to solder a piece of 12ga solid copper wire (from house wire) across the back of the pots and to the ground lug of the jack. The stiffness of the heavy copper prevents rotation of the components and therefore loosening of the retaining nuts.

I agree I soldered mine that way, if it rotates and hits no sound. I shielded my cavity so that would only happen in that situation as the long nd of the jack plus is the hot lead.