Fender Pro II Jazzmaster Owners -- series position hum?

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WilburBufferson
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Fender Pro II Jazzmaster Owners -- series position hum?

Post by WilburBufferson » Mon May 22, 2023 11:25 am

Just got this guitar used. Looked under the hood out of curiosity and to make sure it wasn't modded. I was gentle and careful removing and reinstalling the pickguard.

Now, in the series position (upper switch up) I've got noise. I haven't had the guitar long enough to remember if it was there before, but shouldn't it be dead quiet, even if the pickups are in series? In normal playing mode (upper switch down) it's dead silent. I opened her back up again and didn't see any broken connections, and the ground wires seemed to be intact.

Is this normal? Do you have the same noise with the "rhythm" circuit?

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Re: Fender Pro II Jazzmaster Owners -- series position hum?

Post by timtam » Mon May 22, 2023 8:38 pm

I haven't played this guitar so I don't know if your experience is usual or not. Hopefully another owner will chime in.

The Am Pro II schematic (drawn below from wiring diagram) and wiring (also shown below) are complex. Not only is there the series circuit in place of the rhythm circuit (usually just a single ON/OFF option with most series circuits) but that circuit here has upper roller controls for series volume and tone. It is controlled by a more complex 4PDT switch in place of the rhythm circuit's simpler DPDT switch. The bridge coil tap push/push switch output runs all the way back up to the 4PDT series switch. Of all Fender's circuits that you might expect to be neatly wired, the examples we've seen (see pic below) have been the opposite - a mess ... that would fail any basic electronics class.

The pickups are a RWRP pairing. So they should be quieter in the main (non series) circuit when selected together in the middle toggle position. And less quiet when not selected together. In series they should be like a big HB so also theoretically quiet.

Were things to go wrong with the wiring (shorts etc) I would expect more drastic symptoms that just a bit more noise (although you don't say how much noise you have) - something would likely stop working altogether. But if I were troubleshooting and had ruled out disconnected wires I would be looking around switch/pot terminals for any bare wires touching (since they have no heatshrink there to protect them).

Image

Image
Note there is an error on Fender's drawn wire colours to the push-push coil split switch (on main tone pot).
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=117604&p=1684226&hi ... e#p1684226

Image

Image
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Re: Fender Pro II Jazzmaster Owners -- series position hum?

Post by Futuron » Tue May 23, 2023 1:41 am

I have one, and I don't recall any noise. I can check on the weekend.

Never realised how complicated my guitar's wiring was before now!

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Re: Fender Pro II Jazzmaster Owners -- series position hum?

Post by WilburBufferson » Tue May 23, 2023 3:21 am

That's it! That's the mess under the hood. Thank you for going to the trouble of posting the schematics. Curious to hear if any other owners have this noise?

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Re: Fender Pro II Jazzmaster Owners -- series position hum?

Post by Play_at_Guitar » Tue May 23, 2023 10:37 am

I use the upper switch all time and I have never had a noise problem. I have had my JM ProAm II since last September.
I just hope I can play guitars in my next life! Maybe then there will be time to actually get good!

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Re: Fender Pro II Jazzmaster Owners -- series position hum?

Post by Skeet-1969 » Tue May 23, 2023 1:32 pm

I had one last week for a few days and it was dead quiet on all settings.
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Re: Fender Pro II Jazzmaster Owners -- series position hum?

Post by mauri » Wed May 24, 2023 10:55 am

I just checked this out of the interest and there is slightly more noise when entering the series mode, but I haven't paid it that much notice since you need to really listen to it to notice it. There is little more, but it's not much of a difference. However I currently have Curtis Novaks JM-HC pickups there, which are humbuckers, so that might change it a little. I can't remember what was the difference with the stock pickups or with the Antiquity II I also have. I can't recall anything drastic before so maybe there is just a slight difference.

The wiring in the AM Pro II is a total mess when you open it up. I don't know if they have corrected it, but there was an error in the schematics at one point (push-push wiring order). There was another thread about this if anyone is interested, I can try to find it.

I just ordered a new wiring harness for my Am Pro II, which would be more vintage correct settings with the pots and everything. And I'm planning to place the Antiquity II's back. Maybe if I can find a nice deal from some Squier JM, which I could turn as a Jazzblaster I'd throw the current setting there. The 40th Anniversary model is tempting, but I just missed the J Mascis ones when there was some stock left. That would be my choice. But maybe.

In retrospective I should have gone with the AVII route, but the options 2 years ago were really limited. I really like the neck and tremolo in Am Pro II though, so maybe it's a better fit for me. I just need to mod it a little bit more to make it more what I want.

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Re: Fender Pro II Jazzmaster Owners -- series position hum?

Post by timtam » Wed May 24, 2023 5:40 pm

mauri wrote:
Wed May 24, 2023 10:55 am
The wiring in the AM Pro II is a total mess when you open it up. I don't know if they have corrected it, but there was an error in the schematics at one point (push-push wiring order). There was another thread about this if anyone is interested, I can try to find it.
There is a link in my post above to the discussion of that wire colour error in Fender's wiring diagram.
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Re: Fender Pro II Jazzmaster Owners -- series position hum?

Post by WilburBufferson » Thu May 25, 2023 6:22 pm

Skeet-1969 wrote:
Tue May 23, 2023 1:32 pm
I had one last week for a few days and it was dead quiet on all settings.
(Returned for the '66 AVII)
Mike B
By "all" do you mean the N+B in parallel AND series? I wouldn't expect "dead quiet" on either pickup alone.

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Re: Fender Pro II Jazzmaster Owners -- series position hum?

Post by Skeet-1969 » Sat May 27, 2023 2:20 pm

WilburBufferson wrote:
Thu May 25, 2023 6:22 pm
Skeet-1969 wrote:
Tue May 23, 2023 1:32 pm
I had one last week for a few days and it was dead quiet on all settings.
(Returned for the '66 AVII)
Mike B
By "all" do you mean the N+B in parallel AND series? I wouldn't expect "dead quiet" on either pickup alone.
It was quiet, well, as quiet as single coils can be. Too much so, in fact. There was no appreciable noise difference in parallel and series.
Mike B
"We never play anything the same way once!" - Shelly Manne

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Re: Fender Pro II Jazzmaster Owners -- series position hum?

Post by WilburBufferson » Sat May 27, 2023 3:00 pm

Skeet-1969 wrote:
Sat May 27, 2023 2:20 pm
It was quiet, well, as quiet as single coils can be. Too much so, in fact. There was no appreciable noise difference in parallel and series.
Mike B
OK thanks. Not sure what is going on with mine then. Maybe that upper switch isn't grounded properly? Any ideas on what to do next? I could reflow all the solder joints, but could it be a bad pot/switch?

I did polish the frets with steel wool. I didn't get sloppy with it, but maybe a stray strand landed in the wrong spot? I thought of this and blew air and deoxit through the upper switch, but that didn't work...

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Re: Fender Pro II Jazzmaster Owners -- series position hum?

Post by Futuron » Sat May 27, 2023 11:50 pm

Just checking in to confirm the results on mine.

Under normal gain settings, all positions are effectively noise-free. (Gotta put my ear up to the amp to tell.) But with extra gain, the neck & bridge positions have a bit of noise, parallel position is effectively noise free, but series is a noticeable (but not excessive) amount more noisy when the bridge pickup is full. When it is tapped, it's as quiet as parallel. But honestly, these noise levels are nothing compared with vintage pickup noise.

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Re: Fender Pro II Jazzmaster Owners -- series position hum?

Post by WilburBufferson » Sun May 28, 2023 8:58 am

Futuron wrote:
Sat May 27, 2023 11:50 pm
Just checking in to confirm the results on mine.

Under normal gain settings, all positions are effectively noise-free. (Gotta put my ear up to the amp to tell.) But with extra gain, the neck & bridge positions have a bit of noise, parallel position is effectively noise free, but series is a noticeable (but not excessive) amount more noisy when the bridge pickup is full. When it is tapped, it's as quiet as parallel. But honestly, these noise levels are nothing compared with vintage pickup noise.
Appreciate that. Mine is essentially the same except my V-mod II's have "vintage pickup" noise. I sent an email to Fender support yesterday to see what they have to say.

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Re: Fender Pro II Jazzmaster Owners -- series position hum?

Post by WilburBufferson » Sun May 28, 2023 9:22 am

It's funny that I can't find this information online, but I did find a video where you can hear more noise with the series position.

https://youtu.be/4G5XJ-888F4?t=464

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Re: Fender Pro II Jazzmaster Owners -- series position hum?

Post by mauri » Wed May 31, 2023 11:03 am

timtam wrote:
Wed May 24, 2023 5:40 pm
mauri wrote:
Wed May 24, 2023 10:55 am
The wiring in the AM Pro II is a total mess when you open it up. I don't know if they have corrected it, but there was an error in the schematics at one point (push-push wiring order). There was another thread about this if anyone is interested, I can try to find it.
There is a link in my post above to the discussion of that wire colour error in Fender's wiring diagram.
I know. I was part of the the thread and noticed the error as well.

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