markbass555 Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Guys, I have a totally original 67 p bass which i absolutely adore but has started to develop a problem. The volume on the E and A string is fine all the way up the neck but on the D and G string after the 5th fret or so there is a notable decrease in volume, infact if you play them past the 7th fret or so forget it u cant hear them in the mix at all. Do you guys reckon I need the pick-ups rewound? I dont want to replace them to decrease the value of the bass and I have tried adjusting the height but after 42 years of playing they wont budge lol. Oh and for the record I have tried my lakland BG with lindys at exactly the same amp settings and didnt have any issues whatsoever! If it is the case of a rewind I was thinking of sending them to the guys at bare knuckle but will it affect the value of the bass and will this cure the problem? Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~tl Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 (edited) It may seem obvious, but how new are the strings? The fact that it's fine below the 5th fret, suggests to me that it might not be a problem with the pickup. If it was faulty, you would expect the volume reduction to be pretty much the same no matter the where you played. How's the action? Since it's just above the 5th fret, it sounds like something might be choking off the string when you're fretting above that. It could be a high fret, or not enough relief in the neck. Does the same thing happen when you play it unplugged? If the pickup does need a rewind, Andy at [url="http://www.wizardpickups.co.uk/"]Wizard Pickups[/url] is your man. A rewound pickup will certainly affect the value in the eyes of a collector, though I'd guess it's relative to how original/pristine the rest of the bass is. Edited December 11, 2009 by ~tl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markbass555 Posted December 11, 2009 Author Share Posted December 11, 2009 [quote name='~tl' post='681820' date='Dec 11 2009, 11:38 PM']It may seem obvious, but how new are the strings? The fact that it's fine below the 5th fret, suggests to me that it might not be a problem with the pickup. If it was faulty, you would expect the volume reduction to be pretty much the same no matter the where you played. How's the action? Since it's just above the 5th fret, it sounds like something might be choking off the string when you're fretting above that. It could be a high fret, or not enough relief in the neck. Does the same thing happen when you play it unplugged? If the pickup does need a rewind, Andy at [url="http://www.wizardpickups.co.uk/"]Wizard Pickups[/url] is your man. A rewound pickup will certainly affect the value in the eyes of a collector, though I'd guess it's relative to how original/pristine the rest of the bass is.[/quote] Hi , Strings are brand new and the bass sings like a bird when played unplugged the whole way up the neck Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS73 Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Don't get the pup's re wound, just pull them out and put them to one side, the value of these pup's are far more even if one side is going down. Plus if you do sell the bass pop them back in and no one will know they need a rewind, its an old Fender!. Buy a SPD1 and use this instead, they'll breath some new life into the bass with lots of smooth tones. Got mine off Ebay USA about £48 to my door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcrow Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 check string to pole piece distance ..ie pup heights just a guess you can swap the sides of the P over and see if it occurs on the E/A good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 OK, you say the PUPs won't budge due to age, but if you're gonna take them out to either rewind or replace you're gonna have to get the screws loose one way or another, so before you do anything else play around with the height, and I bet it does the trick. I've found that some strings pick up better than others on certain PUPs, for example on my old Fullerton '57 reissue I had to drop the D/G pup real low with TI Jazz Flats. No idea why. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tut Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Sorry to hijack the thread - but Beedster sold me an old Ibanez recently. It came with medium light rounds and the G string sounded light. I restrung with flats and now I have to compensate the E string height cos that sounds light. Basically just echoing what Chris says abot the PUP heights. Can't wait to get the truss rod cover to complete the Ibby nudge nudge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markbass555 Posted December 14, 2009 Author Share Posted December 14, 2009 cheers guys for all the advice. the screws are turning ok but pick-ups are not budging at all. Will have a play around with it and see what I can do to adjust the pick-up height. Might consider dropping a set of wizards or something into it and setting the original pick ups aside. I cant ever see me selling this bass as we will grow old together as I was born in 67 as well.... so have to give it some serious consideration. Thanks again guys Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~tl Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 [quote name='markbass555' post='683701' date='Dec 14 2009, 09:14 AM']cheers guys for all the advice. the screws are turning ok but pick-ups are not budging at all. Will have a play around with it and see what I can do to adjust the pick-up height.[/quote] The foam under the pickup has probably solidified/disintegrated with age. The foam is the only thing providing tension against the screws, so the pickups go any higher. Might be worth putting a new bit in underneath the pickup to provide a bit of extra springiness... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 [quote name='King Tut' post='683468' date='Dec 13 2009, 10:03 PM']Sorry to hijack the thread - but Beedster sold me an old Ibanez recently. It came with medium light rounds and the G string sounded light. I restrung with flats and now I have to compensate the E string height cos that sounds light. Basically just echoing what Chris says abot the PUP heights. Can't wait to get the truss rod cover to complete the Ibby nudge nudge! [/quote] Sorry mate, completely forgot, I'll dig it out today [quote name='markbass555' post='683701' date='Dec 14 2009, 09:14 AM']cheers guys for all the advice. the screws are turning ok but pick-ups are not budging at all. Will have a play around with it and see what I can do to adjust the pick-up height. Might consider dropping a set of wizards or something into it and setting the original pick ups aside. I cant ever see me selling this bass as we will grow old together as I was born in 67 as well.... so have to give it some serious consideration. Thanks again guys Dave[/quote] The PUP is an essential part of the tone, I'd sort out the height issues with the originals - or at least eliminate them as a possibility - before buying new ones. [quote name='~tl' post='683708' date='Dec 14 2009, 09:23 AM']The foam under the pickup has probably solidified/disintegrated with age. The foam is the only thing providing tension against the screws, so the pickups go any higher. Might be worth putting a new bit in underneath the pickup to provide a bit of extra springiness...[/quote] Agreed, or simply use those little tubular rubber thingys that wrap around the screws C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 [quote name='markbass555' post='681815' date='Dec 12 2009, 12:31 AM']Guys, I have a totally original 67 p bass which i absolutely adore but has started to develop a problem. The volume on the E and A string is fine all the way up the neck but on the D and G string after the 5th fret or so there is a notable decrease in volume, infact if you play them past the 7th fret or so forget it u cant hear them in the mix at all. Do you guys reckon I need the pick-ups rewound? I dont want to replace them to decrease the value of the bass and I have tried adjusting the height but after 42 years of playing they wont budge lol. Oh and for the record I have tried my lakland BG with lindys at exactly the same amp settings and didnt have any issues whatsoever! If it is the case of a rewind I was thinking of sending them to the guys at bare knuckle but will it affect the value of the bass and will this cure the problem? Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance[/quote] +1 on all the above, do not get your (valuable) pickup rewound. This sounds a pretty bizarre problem - a dead spot lasting all the way from the 5th fret onwards but only affecting the D&G strings when amplified does [i]sound[/i] like a pickup issue but nevertheless, have it checked out before you start looking at rewinds. If it works absolutely fine below the 5th fret why would it not above, unless it's some weird inductance/capacitance problem? Maybe your first hurdle will be to get the pickup out. Be really careful with this as you can quite easily slice through the windings if you use too much elbow grease. If you find another pickup does the same thing then you'll know it's the bass - you could even swap the coils around if you're careful and the wires are long enough - then you can see if the problem swaps over to the other two strings... I guess what I'm trying to say is try all other avenues first before you resort to surgery - I'd do the same on my hundred quid Epiphone so your so your multi-thousand pound vintage P demands at least that. Let us know what you find.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 [quote name='henry norton' post='684333' date='Dec 14 2009, 07:11 PM']I guess what I'm trying to say is try all other avenues first before you resort to surgery - I'd do the same on my hundred quid Epiphone so your so your multi-thousand pound vintage P demands at least that. [/quote] Perfectly put C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markbass555 Posted December 14, 2009 Author Share Posted December 14, 2009 [quote name='henry norton' post='684333' date='Dec 14 2009, 07:11 PM']+1 on all the above, do not get your (valuable) pickup rewound. This sounds a pretty bizarre problem - a dead spot lasting all the way from the 5th fret onwards but only affecting the D&G strings when amplified does [i]sound[/i] like a pickup issue but nevertheless, have it checked out before you start looking at rewinds. If it works absolutely fine below the 5th fret why would it not above, unless it's some weird inductance/capacitance problem? Maybe your first hurdle will be to get the pickup out. Be really careful with this as you can quite easily slice through the windings if you use too much elbow grease. If you find another pickup does the same thing then you'll know it's the bass - you could even swap the coils around if you're careful and the wires are long enough - then you can see if the problem swaps over to the other two strings... I guess what I'm trying to say is try all other avenues first before you resort to surgery - I'd do the same on my hundred quid Epiphone so your so your multi-thousand pound vintage P demands at least that. Let us know what you find....[/quote] I have decided to leave this with a trusted luthier bloke over here to look at , I am not to be trusted when it comes to things like this as I have two left hands (anybody thats heard me play will agree !) so I will let you know what the outcome is. I am in no rush so may well be after christmas. But will report back results.. Guys all the input is appreciated and invaluable.... the wealth of knowledge on these boards never fails to astound me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles'tone Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Sorry for the zombie thread revival but I'm really interested in how this tale unfolded after all the good advice given here. What was the solution markbass555? Do tell! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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