In this video, I get a little carried away and replace all the stock active electronics with a passive setup from 920D Customs and Seymour Duncan. Enjoy!
I bought a TMB100 a couple months ago for the same reason, to make a hot rod out of it. I haven't started on that project yet, but you've given me some good ideas here!
It is such an quality affordable platform to experiment with. (Of course I went a bit overboard.). Other than a little neck dive it’s a great bass stock with a proper set up.
The QP's sound really great. If you ever feel adventurous check out Epic Custom Shop for p'ups, Reech hand scatter winds them and they're bogglingly affordable. I have his pbass Black Gold which is fantastic and he did 2 custom jazz bass sets for me, one set is doubles/humbuckers which will knock a door off it's hinges.
I bought a Squire affinity Tele HH. Orange and black for $250.new. By the time I finished; fender machine heads, bone nut, white pearl pick gaurd, upgraded bridge saddles, new guitar madness humbucker in the neck and a G madness P 90 in the bridge, Cts posts and Grisby three way. Add work hours ????? Cost me somewhere around $600. Yes I could have just gone and bought a mim but then what would I have done over the winter? Just gave it to my 17yo son. He loves it, fhew !! And l learnt so much doing it. Just started playing bass !!!! and I can't seem to get enough.
It certainly got out of hand for me as well lol. Loads of fun learning along the way and it’s safe to say there’s not another one quite like it. Bass is my favorite if you couldn’t tell. I’m by no means great at it, but if gives me joy for sure!
Hi, nice project. You totally skipped the pickups installation part though. Question: I measured the bridge jazz pickup on mine and it looks like it has a jazz neck pu size with odd placement of screw holes. Did you have to route the cavity to install Seymour Duncans? Thanks 🙏
just ordered a black one not 30 mins ago. i plan on an 8 string conversion, i have the bridge and tuners already, just need to plug the old tuner holes and redrill for the new tuners (4 modern small sealed back tuners and 4 guitar sealed tuners2/2+2/2). I'll pop a carbon fibre vinyl on the head to hide the plugs until i get round to a refinish done, and it will be metallic/sherwood green :) I really didn't mind the tone of the stock pickups in this vid, so they will probably stay and the pre will do fine as I'll be using it for John Entwistle style overdriven 8 string stuff anyway
That should be sick when you are finished. The stock pickups and electronics weren’t bad to your point. I just was chasing some noise that ended up being a bad patch cable on my board. Oh well it gave me a chance to try some new pickups and passive electronics for a unique sound over the stock active stuff. I’d love to see your finished results of your conversion!
@@thebassment1845 yeah I've just been binging your project log in prep for doing my 8 string project. I'm not a video guy... But I'll try and get some vlog type stuff done as I go. Worst case I'll have a demo video at the end of the conversion.
$385? (gasping for air) I paid 180 for my 4 string and I've just ordered the 5 string version for 200. Two Talmans for the price of your one. I've gotta say though, you did a good job. It looks and sounds amazing. I love the colour of your fingerboard. It reminds me of a Rickenbacker without the glossy sheen. I prefer the stock pickups to the qp's, they have more of that vintage tone about them. I can't believe Ibanez discontinued the talman series, there seems to be a lot of interest in them, especially for modding.
10 months after buying... My tip? Leave the stock pickups in. I have a couple of Fender basses. A PJ and a jazz. I can barely tell the difference between the Talman and the PJ apart from the quirky effect that comes from playing a short scale bass.
Great Idea. I have TMB100 for few years now as a back up and it started having electronic problems. I am modifying mine exactly like you did yours, with the same electronics as you use 920D Customs and Seymour Duncan PJ pickups. Could you please post a pick of how and where you soldered the wires. Thanks
Honestly the diagrams on 920D’s website would be way way better than any pic I could send you. Check that out first and if not I’ll open her up and send you a pic.
I’m becoming more and more of a fan of passive circuits these days. Likely due to the fact that I have several pre-amp pedals on my board and a decent amp. I let the preamp pedals and the amp do all the eq and when I go back to either of my 2 active basses I really can tell a difference in the touch response while playing. It seems to breathe better and is less compressed. And a good compressor pedal can help manage dynamics with the flick of my foot when I need it. Plus with the series parallel switch I really have two totally different pickup voicings onboard the bass already.
Great Job! I just picked one of these up. Like everyone else, I also do not like the electronics, (hence me finding your video searching for mods)... but everything else is great, it plays very well after setting it up. Where can I get the harness, pots and selector switch? I looked at 920D Customs but nothing came up, can I just contact them and ask for the same as you have here?
Is the grounding to the shield necessary? I`m about to start my own mod on this same model, but going for a simple PJ wiring with two volume pots and single master tone. As far as I`ve seen, the digrams just point grounding to the bridge.
Not sure there is a noticeable difference honestly. It certainly is not necessary, but it doesn’t hurt either. I was taking cues from 60’s era pickups that have the foams on shielding plates that have ground wires attached. If you are going with jazz bass controls you will be fine either way.
@@thebassment1845 I had just begun working on it and another detail got me by surprise: There are two wires coming out from each pickup (not counting the black ground wire). The P pickup has red and white wires, and the J has red and yellow. I assume this has something to do with the possibility to add a series/parallel switch. How should I proceed with each pair of wires if I'm going for that simple VVT jazz-like configuration?
I bought one of these and messed up the knobs so it's a done for and then spent twice as much on a Sire and I wish I could swap it back for my TMB100. It just sounds better.
@@thebassment1845 It was further down beneath as well. So the pre-amp seemed totally messed up. It ended up with a weird sweeping sound that was louder than everything else.
@@thebassment1845 It's alright. I bought another one exactly the same (not easy cos it's left handed). I'm gonna tell people I fixed the original one. sshh!!
Can you do a video on how to solder the stock pickups and everything together? Its my first time soldering guitar stuff and i cant find a single thing about this bass anywhere and the wiring diagrams are all for different pickups
Yes.. I am in the same place as Buffet is ...I'm new to working on guitars.. I've got a few things right but alot of things wrong or backwards. Can't find much on how to turn this bass from active to passive at all (and to do it at minimal cost and minimal replacements) Can I just remove battery and replace pots with regular fender 500's that I have lying around? I don't know why but I have no sound at all with that .... So I'm wondering if I have something wrong or backwards... Please help.. this is driving me crazy..
Excellent video! Thanks for sharing 😁... Have a question... i bought a tmb100 as a backup bass for my fenders p and pj, on the precision i have a spb3 and in comparison the active tmb100 sounds really good. My problem is that the volume pot just died... i saw that you first tested the passive circuit with, does it loose much volume, and which pots does it came with? 250k... cuz here in argentina i can't find the replacement part for the original volume/blend pot, so i think ill go for the passive solution. Excuse my english, hope you can give me some tips. Saludos desde Buenos Aires =D
You still got the dual concentric pots for the talman bass?? I bought the mint green version for £40 ($35) at local in person auction and it works great but the volume and pickup select / mix pot the end stop has been forced so it just rotates past end stop cuts out then cuts back in, bugs me, I can't seem to find replacements in the uk anywhere, ibanez don't reply, nor can I find the actual pot bare component it's self as I could replace (bench repair tech) if you would sell it and help a brother out? 😁😁
920D Customs Jazz Bass pre-wired kit. Stacked volume tone / volume tone with a series / parallel switch. Here is the link: 920dcustom.com/collections/bass-wiring/products/920d-custom-concentric-control-plate-toggle-jazz-bass-control-plate-upgrade
I bought a TMB100 a couple months ago for the same reason, to make a hot rod out of it. I haven't started on that project yet, but you've given me some good ideas here!
It certainly is a great platform for sure! You are bound to have some fun with it.
Great video. I own a TMB600 which I love. Thanks for sharing your experience in modding the TMB100. Subscribed 👍
It is such an quality affordable platform to experiment with. (Of course I went a bit overboard.). Other than a little neck dive it’s a great bass stock with a proper set up.
I bought a talman a few years back and I've wanted a tone knob from day one. I think I might make the move to passive after seeing this.
Won’t take much. You can keep the stock pickups and just remove the stock preamp and add a passive circuit.
The QP's sound really great. If you ever feel adventurous check out Epic Custom Shop for p'ups, Reech hand scatter winds them and they're bogglingly affordable. I have his pbass Black Gold which is fantastic and he did 2 custom jazz bass sets for me, one set is doubles/humbuckers which will knock a door off it's hinges.
I’ll have to check them out.
Wow, your metal shirt includes nintendocore
Sick project btw
😉
I bought a Squire affinity Tele HH. Orange and black for $250.new.
By the time I finished; fender machine heads, bone nut, white pearl pick gaurd, upgraded bridge saddles, new guitar madness humbucker in the neck and a G madness P 90 in the bridge, Cts posts and Grisby three way. Add work hours ????? Cost me somewhere around $600. Yes I could have just gone and bought a mim but then what would I have done over the winter? Just gave it to my 17yo son. He loves it, fhew !!
And l learnt so much doing it.
Just started playing bass !!!! and I can't seem to get enough.
It certainly got out of hand for me as well lol. Loads of fun learning along the way and it’s safe to say there’s not another one quite like it. Bass is my favorite if you couldn’t tell. I’m by no means great at it, but if gives me joy for sure!
Hi, nice project. You totally skipped the pickups installation part though. Question: I measured the bridge jazz pickup on mine and it looks like it has a jazz neck pu size with odd placement of screw holes. Did you have to route the cavity to install Seymour Duncans? Thanks 🙏
just ordered a black one not 30 mins ago.
i plan on an 8 string conversion, i have the bridge and tuners already, just need to plug the old tuner holes and redrill for the new tuners (4 modern small sealed back tuners and 4 guitar sealed tuners2/2+2/2). I'll pop a carbon fibre vinyl on the head to hide the plugs until i get round to a refinish done, and it will be metallic/sherwood green :)
I really didn't mind the tone of the stock pickups in this vid, so they will probably stay and the pre will do fine as I'll be using it for John Entwistle style overdriven 8 string stuff anyway
That should be sick when you are finished. The stock pickups and electronics weren’t bad to your point. I just was chasing some noise that ended up being a bad patch cable on my board. Oh well it gave me a chance to try some new pickups and passive electronics for a unique sound over the stock active stuff. I’d love to see your finished results of your conversion!
@@thebassment1845 yeah I've just been binging your project log in prep for doing my 8 string project. I'm not a video guy... But I'll try and get some vlog type stuff done as I go. Worst case I'll have a demo video at the end of the conversion.
$385? (gasping for air) I paid 180 for my 4 string and I've just ordered the 5 string version for 200. Two Talmans for the price of your one. I've gotta say though, you did a good job. It looks and sounds amazing. I love the colour of your fingerboard. It reminds me of a Rickenbacker without the glossy sheen. I prefer the stock pickups to the qp's, they have more of that vintage tone about them. I can't believe Ibanez discontinued the talman series, there seems to be a lot of interest in them, especially for modding.
10 months after buying... My tip? Leave the stock pickups in. I have a couple of Fender basses. A PJ and a jazz. I can barely tell the difference between the Talman and the PJ apart from the quirky effect that comes from playing a short scale bass.
@@zibbezabba2491 but the Tmb100 is not short scale, that would be the Tmb30
@@StratoReinXeed Ahh right. I thought they were all short scale (the talman models)
Thanks for sharing, I have on and love the bass. Not a fan of the active electronic that comes with it.
Great Idea. I have TMB100 for few years now as a back up and it started having electronic problems. I am modifying mine exactly like you did yours, with the same electronics as you use 920D Customs and Seymour Duncan PJ pickups. Could you please post a pick of how and where you soldered the wires. Thanks
Honestly the diagrams on 920D’s website would be way way better than any pic I could send you. Check that out first and if not I’ll open her up and send you a pic.
Did the Seymour Duncan pickups require any modifications to the bass or did they drop right in the existing routes?? 😁👍🏽
They fit fine, no modifications necessary. I did make my own pickguard using the original as a template for whatever that’s worth.
Man I’m going to have to send you my Talman so you can do the same to it. I want to have a passive active PJ
I’m becoming more and more of a fan of passive circuits these days. Likely due to the fact that I have several pre-amp pedals on my board and a decent amp. I let the preamp pedals and the amp do all the eq and when I go back to either of my 2 active basses I really can tell a difference in the touch response while playing. It seems to breathe better and is less compressed. And a good compressor pedal can help manage dynamics with the flick of my foot when I need it. Plus with the series parallel switch I really have two totally different pickup voicings onboard the bass already.
Great Job! I just picked one of these up. Like everyone else, I also do not like the electronics, (hence me finding your video searching for mods)... but everything else is great, it plays very well after setting it up. Where can I get the harness, pots and selector switch? I looked at 920D Customs but nothing came up, can I just contact them and ask for the same as you have here?
920dcustom.com/collections/bass-wiring/products/920d-custom-concentric-control-plate-toggle-jazz-bass-control-plate-upgrade
Is the grounding to the shield necessary? I`m about to start my own mod on this same model, but going for a simple PJ wiring with two volume pots and single master tone. As far as I`ve seen, the digrams just point grounding to the bridge.
Not sure there is a noticeable difference honestly. It certainly is not necessary, but it doesn’t hurt either. I was taking cues from 60’s era pickups that have the foams on shielding plates that have ground wires attached. If you are going with jazz bass controls you will be fine either way.
@@thebassment1845 I had just begun working on it and another detail got me by surprise: There are two wires coming out from each pickup (not counting the black ground wire). The P pickup has red and white wires, and the J has red and yellow. I assume this has something to do with the possibility to add a series/parallel switch. How should I proceed with each pair of wires if I'm going for that simple VVT jazz-like configuration?
I bought one of these and messed up the knobs so it's a done for and then spent twice as much on a Sire and I wish I could swap it back for my TMB100. It just sounds better.
Pots are easy to replace. Didn’t you try to have it fixed?
@@thebassment1845 It was further down beneath as well. So the pre-amp seemed totally messed up. It ended up with a weird sweeping sound that was louder than everything else.
@@plopperator bummer. I still have the whole wiring harness and pre-amp out of mine.
@@thebassment1845 It's alright. I bought another one exactly the same (not easy cos it's left handed). I'm gonna tell people I fixed the original one. sshh!!
@@plopperator 😂
Can you do a video on how to solder the stock pickups and everything together? Its my first time soldering guitar stuff and i cant find a single thing about this bass anywhere and the wiring diagrams are all for different pickups
What kind of pickups and pot configuration are you wanting to see?
Yes.. I am in the same place as Buffet is ...I'm new to working on guitars.. I've got a few things right but alot of things wrong or backwards. Can't find much on how to turn this bass from active to passive at all (and to do it at minimal cost and minimal replacements) Can I just remove battery and replace pots with regular fender 500's that I have lying around? I don't know why but I have no sound at all with that .... So I'm wondering if I have something wrong or backwards... Please help.. this is driving me crazy..
Excellent video! Thanks for sharing 😁... Have a question... i bought a tmb100 as a backup bass for my fenders p and pj, on the precision i have a spb3 and in comparison the active tmb100 sounds really good. My problem is that the volume pot just died... i saw that you first tested the passive circuit with, does it loose much volume, and which pots does it came with? 250k... cuz here in argentina i can't find the replacement part for the original volume/blend pot, so i think ill go for the passive solution. Excuse my english, hope you can give me some tips. Saludos desde Buenos Aires =D
I’ve not noticed any volume drop. I thing it is more about the pickup output than the pots honestly.
@@thebassment1845 thnx for the answer!
You still got the dual concentric pots for the talman bass?? I bought the mint green version for £40 ($35) at local in person auction and it works great but the volume and pickup select / mix pot the end stop has been forced so it just rotates past end stop cuts out then cuts back in, bugs me, I can't seem to find replacements in the uk anywhere, ibanez don't reply, nor can I find the actual pot bare component it's self as I could replace (bench repair tech) if you would sell it and help a brother out? 😁😁
Sure. Happy to. Reach out to me on Facebook messenger (Brian Paige)
Hey there what was the exact model of those electronics. I’m doing a similar build with some Dimarzio pickups.
920D Customs Jazz Bass pre-wired kit. Stacked volume tone / volume tone with a series / parallel switch. Here is the link: 920dcustom.com/collections/bass-wiring/products/920d-custom-concentric-control-plate-toggle-jazz-bass-control-plate-upgrade
I got mine for $176.
Under $200 is a win…. I mean how many pedals do you have or want that cost more than that?!