Members Preacher Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 Howdy folks, I usually hang out over at HCEG but came upon a project for a friend that is beyond my expertise. The bass in question belongs to an older friend of mine who I jam with occasionally. He had a funk/ soul band in the 70's and is just an all around cool cat, nevermind a fantastic bass player. I've worked on a guitar of his (headstock break and electronic tuneup) but he recently asked me to work on his bass. It seems the output is really shaky. I also noted it looked like someone did a mega sketchy refinish job way back. I asked him if he wanted me to redo it and he immediately said yes. This P-bass appears to be a mid-70's part-caster. The neck plate seems 1970, the body 1972, and the neck (which I find to be pretty sweet) a 1974 fretless maple. First some pictures... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted August 11, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 As for the electronics (and my main concern)... I opened it up and quickly found the source of the inconsistent signal - the wire to the jack is barely connected and tenuously held in place be a screw through the lug (also - no ground path to the jack ). I also found a number of other interesting things inside. It looks to me like one dpdt switch is being used for phase reversal (?) on the p-bass pickup - also one for pickup selection - then a little guy as a kill-switch... Here is quick and dirty schematic of what I *think* is going on (EDITED)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted August 11, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 Sooo...As I said, I'm no bass player and I have no idea what effects and wiring schemes make sense. Which pots should be used - 250K alright or would 500K be better? How can I make the most of the humbucker in the neck? Should the inputs be on the center lug or should I move them off? Any advice or input would be awesome... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted August 12, 2012 Members Share Posted August 12, 2012 I believe for a bass used for funk the 500K pot would be better. Yeah, that body needs some sanding, but I wouldn't touch that neck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted August 12, 2012 Members Share Posted August 12, 2012 Recheck the wiring on P1 - I'm pretty sure you got that wrong as it appears to be the tone pot. The back-asswards wiring on P2 and P3 is the standard way of wiring a two pickup "VVT" (volume volume tone) setup - jazz basses are wired that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted August 12, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 12, 2012 I believe for a bass used for funk the 500K pot would be better. Yeah, that body needs some sanding, but I wouldn't touch that neck! Dumb question - 500k on the tone pot or all of them? Oh and the neck - I've stripped the poly off the back of the neck and headstock - but left the headstock face intact as well as the poly over the neck stamps and sides of pocket; I wanted to retain the fit it had. I've since put 3 coats of tru-oil on the stripped areas (after a very light medium brown transtint coat followed by a bit of honey amber) and it's feeling great. I lightly cleaned the fretboard but that is it. I've toyed with maybe throwing a very light coat of tru-oil on the fretboard just to give it a little protection...still up in the air... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted August 12, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 12, 2012 Recheck the wiring on P1 - I'm pretty sure you got that wrong as it appears to be the tone pot. The back-asswards wiring on P2 and P3 is the standard way of wiring a two pickup "VVT" (volume volume tone) setup - jazz basses are wired that way. You sir, are correct about my mistaken diagram; yes, I seem to recall the input on center lug and signal out to jack and kill switch on the left lug (see below). I don't have it in front of me but I'll recheck it when I do. Thanks for the info re: J Basses as well. Interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted August 13, 2012 Members Share Posted August 13, 2012 Dumb question - 500k on the tone pot or all of them? Oh and the neck - I've stripped the poly off the back of the neck and headstock - but left the headstock face intact as well as the poly over the neck stamps and sides of pocket; I wanted to retain the fit it had. I've since put 3 coats of tru-oil on the stripped areas (after a very light medium brown transtint coat followed by a bit of honey amber) and it's feeling great. I lightly cleaned the fretboard but that is it. I've toyed with maybe throwing a very light coat of tru-oil on the fretboard just to give it a little protection...still up in the air... 500K on the tone pot. I always oil my fretboards. I use 3-in-1 oil and a cotton swab. They stay oiled a long time with that.....years in fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bryan316 Posted August 13, 2012 Members Share Posted August 13, 2012 How does your friend want the body refinished? Stripped and tung-oil? Painted? Stained a new color? Does he want some creativity from you, or just getting it in good shape looking the way it was? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted August 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 13, 2012 Recheck the wiring on P1 - I'm pretty sure you got that wrong as it appears to be the tone pot. The back-asswards wiring on P2 and P3 is the standard way of wiring a two pickup "VVT" (volume volume tone) setup - jazz basses are wired that way. Ok, checked again, and no, kill switch also feeds off center lug - I've updated the gif above... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted August 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 13, 2012 How does your friend want the body refinished? Stripped and tung-oil? Painted? Stained a new color? Does he want some creativity from you, or just getting it in good shape looking the way it was? Good question. I asked him and he told me to do whatever I thought appropriate. I decided to do a satin/worn tru-oil finish with a subtle burst as a nod to it's sunburst past. I respect the age of this instrument and wanted to leave some of the dings and imperfections in it - I want it to be recognizable and feel and play like an old friend. We'll see how it turns out. So far... Back of the neck... Body after 3 coats of tru-oil... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted August 13, 2012 Members Share Posted August 13, 2012 Ok, checked again, and no, kill switch also feeds off center lug - I've updated the gif above...Close - but normally the center of the tone pot is tied to the lug that goes to the output jack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted August 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 13, 2012 Close - but normally the center of the tone pot is tied to the lug that goes to the output jack. I think I'm misunderstanding you (not your fault - I'm just a little slow sometimes. Ok, maybe not just a little). As it stands right now there is nothing on the left lug of the tone pot but the output to jack. I understand this also to be a feature of "standard" Jazz bass wiring. Should there be something else? Also - grounding and shielding is a pretty big deal in electric guitars - should I be concerned with that on this bass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted August 13, 2012 Members Share Posted August 13, 2012 I think I'm misunderstanding you (not your fault - I'm just a little slow sometimes. Ok, maybe not just a little). As it stands right now there is nothing on the left lug of the tone pot but the output to jack. I understand this also to be a feature of "standard" Jazz bass wiring. Should there be something else?Nope, not normal: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted August 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 13, 2012 Awesome, now we're getting somewhere - thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jonjohn Posted August 13, 2012 Members Share Posted August 13, 2012 I believe for a bass used for funk the 500K pot would be better. Maybe for slap funk. But this is a fretless and they guy was in an old school funk band? not sure the extra zing from the 500ks would be a good thingFor fretless I would go 250k pots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted August 14, 2012 Members Share Posted August 14, 2012 Now put that sucker together so we can have a look see! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted August 14, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2012 - still have a little ways to go... Do I need to shield the cavities? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted August 14, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2012 So...the plot thickens: Tested the neck humbucker and it is kaputt Are there any (kinda inexpensive) neck humbucker pickups around? Ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jonjohn Posted August 15, 2012 Members Share Posted August 15, 2012 Since both pups are humbucker I am not sure shielding is a 100% necessary, but it can't hurt seeings you have it all apart anyway.Not sure about the pups Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted August 15, 2012 Members Share Posted August 15, 2012 So...the plot thickens: Tested the neck humbucker and it is kaputt Are there any (kinda inexpensive) neck humbucker pickups around? Ideas? You'll have to measure it and just go shoppin'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted August 15, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 15, 2012 You'll have to measure it and just go shoppin'! We'll see - been doing alot of searches for guitar-sized bass humbuckers...Anybody have a recommendation for a guitar humbucker decent in a bass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted August 15, 2012 Members Share Posted August 15, 2012 Cool, thanks for the input. We'll see - been doing alot of searches for guitar-sized bass humbuckers...Anybody have a recommendation for a guitar humbucker decent in a bass? What are the measurements? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted August 15, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 15, 2012 The pickup I'm replacing is 2.875" x 1.5", the rout is 3.9375" x 1.625" (with truncated corners...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted August 20, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 20, 2012 Ok, took the pickup apart - one coil was fine, the other, not so much. Unwound about 1/3 of it before concluding a complete rewind would be necessary to fix it (the winding was soldered to the lead inside the bobbin ). So, I asked my buddy what sound he was looking for; when he replied "something kinda spanky - you know funky," I told him I didn't think the neck postion would quite be able to get us there. But still - what would get us closer to that - lipsticks? Rails? A split humbucker? Any input would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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