Testing Pickups - Newb Question

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whyseye

whyseye

Well-known member
So, I commited the cardinal sin of buying off the 'bay, and my lovely new (used) short-scale bass, which fits me like a glove, has no output! :mad:
I've visually checked the wiring, etc, but still no output. It seems that the pickup would be the next thing to check, but I haven't a clue about how or where to begin.....
....can anybody help me make my new toy work right? :o
 
put the old pups back in it without changing anything else and see if it works.
 
Or maybe I should have asked....
...what's the logical chain of things to check, and, if that's not fruitful- how much more will I have to pay to have a qualified person troubleshoot the problem, and in the worst-case scenario, replace the pup? :confused:
Will it cost me more to make it playable than it's worth?
 
active pickups probably
there's probably somewhere you need to throw a new 9v battery in...

a buddy of mine picked me up once to buy a new bass because his "broke".
i told him to bring it over so i can look at it first...new battery.
 
orksnork said:
active pickups probably
there's probably somewhere you need to throw a new 9v battery in...

a buddy of mine picked me up once to buy a new bass because his "broke".
i told him to bring it over so i can look at it first...new battery.
Click to expand...
I worked for years in a camera store - an amazing number of the repairs I did were simple changes of battery, and cleaning of contacts, so it was the first thing I looked for - no clips....
I suppose I could try just wiring one in....nothing to lose.... :rolleyes: :D
 
have you contacted the seller to see if he/she might have an idea of what the problem might be? i've never ran across a pickup that did'nt work at all.
 
TravisinFlorida said:
have you contacted the seller to see if he/she might have an idea of what the problem might be? i've never ran across a pickup that did'nt work at all.
Click to expand...
No I haven't - but I waited beyond a reasonable period of time to figure that out, so I'm not actually as disturbed by that aspect of it as the fact that I'm getting pretty into playing the damned thing, and I can't hear what I'm doing - which, may frankly, be a blessing in disguise.... :D
If there's a simple way to fix it with my severe lack of knowledge and experience, then I'd like to make it playable - if not, then I may just cut my losses, chalk it up to a lesson learned, and wait until there's one locally from a dealer I know and trust.....
 
bad instrument cable!
turn your amp on!
uhh!

clean the wax out of your ears...


ill think of more things to try
 
Try the output jack, the contacts may have bent outward too far tp make contact. If you want to check the pickup, unsolder the leads, and hold them against the tip and sleeve of a cable, plugged into an amp. Tap the pickup with something ferrous. It will make a thumping sound if it works.
 
ermghoti said:
Try the output jack, the contacts may have bent outward too far tp make contact. If you want to check the pickup, unsolder the leads, and hold them against the tip and sleeve of a cable, plugged into an amp. Tap the pickup with something ferrous. It will make a thumping sound if it works.
Click to expand...
Cool - that's sounds workable with what I have on hand - I assume that if I substitute DI for amp, it will work the same way?
 
TravisinFlorida said:
have you contacted the seller to see if he/she might have an idea of what the problem might be? i've never ran across a pickup that did'nt work at all.
Click to expand...

I got a great deal on my Gibson "Paul" because 1 coil of the bridge humbucker was dead. Crazy part was that within a few days I was talking to a friend who had just gotten 2 new pickups in his Les Paul, adding one to make it a 3 pickup guitar, and he asked-out of the blue-if I needed a bridge humbucker for any of my guitars. I snapped it up, a PAF gibson pickup, for $10!
Damn-fate is kind every million years or so! :D
 
whyseye said:
Or maybe I should have asked....
...what's the logical chain of things to check, and, if that's not fruitful- how much more will I have to pay to have a qualified person troubleshoot the problem, and in the worst-case scenario, replace the pup? :confused:
Will it cost me more to make it playable than it's worth?
Click to expand...



First thing to check is ALWAYS the cable And if it still doesn't work, try another cable.

You're going to want to check the pots as well, as they are frequently the problem. You'll need a multi-meter, and what you have to do is put the leads to the outside terminals on the pots and test the resistance. They should give you a reading of somewhere between 200k-600k. Then, do the same with the middle terminal and one of the outside terminals. Take a reading, and then (keeping the test leads in place - aligator clips help a lot here) rotate the pot. You want to see a fairly smooth change, with no drop outs. If something is wrong, give the pots a good cleaning and retest. If everything looks good, give them a good cleaning anyway, they probably need it. You can get TV tuner cleaner from Rat Shack (Radio Shack) that will work just fine. Do NOT use WD-40. Wrong stuff (though I see people do it all the time).

If it is not the pots, then you need to check the pickup. You will, I'm afraid, need to unsolder it. The pots will mess with your readings otherwise. Hook one lead to one end, the other lead to the other end. It should give you a resistance between about 6k and 18k, depending on the model (single coils are typically lower than humbuckers). Lipstick tubes might be as low as 4k. While your at it, take the pickup out and examine where the leads attach to the pickup.

If the pickup is fried, you probably can get a new pickup for a price which is perfectly reasonable, at least if it is a standard sized pickup. Bartolini's are only about $75-85 bucks for P and J sized pickups (at least, that's what I sell them for), and Dimarzio's are a little less. (I don't much like Seymour Duncan's bass pickups, personally.)

If it is a wierd sized pickup, then you might need to get it rewound, which is also pretty reasonable. Lindy Fralin does most pickups for like $50 a coil. Of course, I don't know what you payed for the thing, but considering what you would have to pay for a new instrument, it doesn't seem unreasonable to me.



Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Hey Light - thanks for the comprehensive reply!

I tried four cables before I moved on - I've found it's usually the cheapest component first....
I may be in a little bit over my head, but....I'd hate to give up on this little booger just yet - I think I'll try to give it a whirl next weekend - stop by the Shack for an item or two..... :cool:
I'll also look more closely at the contacts on the jack, etc. and make sure that I haven't missed one of the simple things....
...and while I embrace this new learning opportunity, I think I've certainly learned my lesson about where not to buy when you don't know WTF you're doing....
 
maybe a little rust or something...hit teh contacts with a wirebrush real quick
 
You know, if you really like how it plays, and considering that the whole garbanzo is suspect, due to the no signal, maybe just swap out the guts and be done with it. It will take less time than diagnosing it, and you will have upgraded significantly. A couple pots would be about $10-15 max, you'll need a tone cap (a few cents), and the Bartolini's recommended by Light are awesome. A word of caution, the Barts can cause erections lasting longer than four hours.
 
ermghoti said:
You know, if you really like how it plays, and considering that the whole garbanzo is suspect, due to the no signal, maybe just swap out the guts and be done with it. It will take less time than diagnosing it, and you will have upgraded significantly. A couple pots would be about $10-15 max, you'll need a tone cap (a few cents), and the Bartolini's recommended by Light are awesome. A word of caution, the Barts can cause erections lasting longer than four hours.
Click to expand...
LOL - You may well be right - although I think the caution should be unnecessary... :D
 
I would advise you to do as Light says, he knows more about guitars than the rest of us, including those who do repairs.
 
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