BOD2

They are available, they need special knobs though. You might find the choice of resistance values limited too. [url="http://www.axesrus.com/axeElectronicsPots.htm"]http://www.axesrus.com/axeElectronicsPots.htm[/url] (Artec sounds concentric shaft pot) [url="http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/category/Electronics/Pots"]http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/category/Electronics/Pots[/url]

Not sure how to answer this post ! There are simple answers to your specific questions but I'm just a little worried that it seems you don't know too much about electronics and yet seem to want to poke around inside an amplifier - no offense meant ! Firstly if you're going to attempt to fix this then you need to work safely. Amplifiers often contain large capacitors which can deliver electric shocks to the unwary even when the amp is no longer plugged in ! Your broken capacitor is specified as 100uF (read as "micro Farads" where "u" means "micro") and the power rating of the capactor is 250Volts (which is the voltage it can handle). You need to replace it with one of the same 100 uF value and a voltage rating of 250V or greater - but 250V should be common as this is the UK mains voltage (more or less). Without seeing it I can't be sure but capacitors are often polarised - they'll have a "+" or "-" on them somewhere, and if they are marked as such they'll need to be inserted the correct way. There will often be writing on the circuit board to indicate which connection is which. Have a look at the other one and see if there are markings on the board. The glue is to stop the capacitor vibrating and will probably be some kind of silicon compound. It doesn't hold the capacitor in place - the solder does that - it just stops it from vibrating and weakening the solder joins, which sounds like it is exactly what has happened. You can get suitable silicon from electronics suppliers but, if the worst comes to the worst, then a "bath sealant" type silicon will do the job. If the other capacitor is ok and the solder joins look ok (i.e. nice and shiny with no cracks as opposed to dull and grey) then there is no reason to replace it. Capacitors can be purchased through Maplin, or CPC Farnell (Google these names) or any electrical component supplier. If you have a tv repair shop nearby they might even have a suitable part in stock - take the old one on. It'll be easier if you can get one the same size as it will make fitting it easier. Now.... please BE CAREFUL if you are working inside an amplifier. Better still, enlist the help of someone who has done this type of thing before.

Just for anyone who's never done this before, the idea is to get the contact cleaner [i]inside[/i][u][/u] the pot. The contact cleaner spray will come with a "drinking straw" attachment to allow you to accurately spray the pot. There are two places that will allow you to get the spray inside the pot. You can spray under the little circuit board part where the three contacts are, or there is usually a little pressed notch in the casing - the latter is often easier to get to. Place the straw attachment at either of these two points and give it a couple of short sprays. Then operate the pot a few times by turning it from one extreme to the other to spread the cleaner. [attachment=30251:PotSpray.jpg]

[quote name='Lew-Bass' post='559876' date='Aug 4 2009, 06:22 AM']So, to sum up for me in my situation, would it: A) be possible for me to just get one of these and a power amp, plug this into the power amp and then straight into the PA (no need for a cab)? be possible to do this with either version (the 'live' version or the one that looks more like a typical head - is there any difference in their functionality?) C) act as a huge bundle of customisable effect pedals ASWELL? Thanks guys, seriously intrigued by this[/quote] A) If you are plugging direct into the PA you don't need a power amp at all - just plug the Pod into to the PA directly for the front of house sound. What you might need, though, is some type of "monitor" system so that you can hear yourself playing - either a feed back from the PA mixer to a monitor or a separate feed from the Pod into a small amp/cab or monitor. The "live" versions are built into pedal boards. The other versions would need separate pedal boards if you want to switch them while playing. C) Yes - programmable "patches" means you can select pedal combinations quickl.

The matches will work. Cocktail sticks are slightly better (the wood is harder) and they're easier to poke into the screw holes. But as long as the screw gets a good grip is doesn't matter what you use. If the problem turns out to be the action rather the the truss rod (due to adding the BadAss) then have a look at the sticky at the top of this forum regarding how to shim the neck - it's quick and easy and since you can already remove the neck confidently that's half the battle. Good luck !

Regarding your FX Send/Return question - Assuming your amp has separate Send and Return jacks, then you will only need a Y-lead if the FX unit you are connecting to has only a single combined Send/Return jack. If the FX unit also has separate Send and Return jacks then you just need two separate mono jack leads.

I'd be another one to go along with the "second hand iPod" route. Laptops aren't ideal for gigs - they're a bit big and bulky to find somewhere safe to leave them - and they can be temperamental at times. An iPod is a much simpler device and much easier to find space for. When connecting them up, bear in the mind that the jack output will be STEREO, and that you'll need both sides of the stereo image to get the full music track - so whatever adaptor you use should be able to handle a stereo signal. Lots of mixing desks have RCA phono "Tape in" sockets. Provided there's an independent level control for this then that often offers a convenient place to plug in a stereo mini-jack to phono lead. Alternatively you could use the two jack (line) inputs of a stereo channel on the mixer. One problem I've had with one laptop when connecting to a desk is a very bad hum (probably a ground loop). There's no easy way to fix this for a laptop, though, unless you run it on batteries (not ideal for a long gig).

There's not much you can do yourself with a faulty pickup. The only thing it is practical to repair is if the thin coil wire has come adrift from the points where the thicker coated wire joins the pickup. Have a close look at where the coated wires join the pickup (there's usually a couple of big solder blobs there). Can you see the thin coil wire joining the solder ? Are the coated wires damaged where they join the pickup ? Sometimes resoldering these points will help.

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='543771' date='Jul 18 2009, 08:35 AM']I don't understand. Why would 500k pots give 3db more gain than 250's...[/quote] This should help explain it. [url="http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/Electronics/Pots/w101-controlpots.html"]http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/Electronic...ontrolpots.html[/url]

It sounds to me like Spartacus has correctly sorted out the pickup wiring. The hum (and it only seems to be when very close to the amp) could just be poor shielding of the body cavity or some other minor earthing problem. Good job Spartacus.

I think you need to get a hold of a multimeter and try to take some coil resistance readings to determine how the pickup is wired. I've had a look at a few other 4-wire MM-style pickups and there are quite a few possibilities and none of them use an "obvious" colour coding system. Basically two of the wires need to be soldered together and then the other two are "hot" and "ground", but the question is which two need to be soldered together ? With a meter and a crocodile clip you could clip various two wires together and measure the resitance across the other two until it starts to make sense.

[quote name='Spartacus' post='539432' date='Jul 13 2009, 04:14 PM']Bod2, if blac & yellow are grounds then your instructions for series are incorrect as that would wire the pickup series but out of phase giving a weak scratchy sounding output. Red and white are rarely used as ground colours, their usually hot outputs so im assuming yellow and black are grounds.[/quote] Yes, I'd agree with that. It's just the fact that the black and yellow are already soldered together that had me wondering. That's why I suggested it would be useful to measure the resistance to see what's going on. If you think of two coils where the first coil is, say, red to black and the second coil is white to yellow, then soldering the black and yellow together would give a single continuous coil from red to white. Like I said - measure the resistance if possible otherwise it's trial and error.

This is a little tricky. There don't seem to by any Wilkinson pickup wiring diagrams around anywhere ! Some trial and error might be required, unless you have a multimeter that you can use to determine how the pickup is to be wired. Given that the pickup is a MM clone then have a look at these two diagrams to see if they make sense first (ignore the actual wire colours on the pickup as these seem to be different - it's more about what the pickup is capable of). [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=musicman_passive"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wirin...usicman_passive[/url] [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=musicman_passive_2v_1t"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wirin...n_passive_2v_1t[/url] From these you can see that a single MM pickup can actually be split into two separate coils, which probably explains the extra wires. What you could try is to take the first diagram and combine that with the standard Jazz bass one [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=std_jazz_bass"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wirin...c=std_jazz_bass[/url] If you have a multimeter measure the resistance between the black/yellow and red wire, then the black/yellow and white wire, then between the red and white wires. I would expect the resistance to be highest between the red and white wires (maybe twice as much as the other two combinations). If this is the case then there are two possible ways to wire the pickups with reference to the Standard Jazz Bass diagram 1. MM pickup coils in parallel The black/yellow combination on your pickup would be equivalent to the black (grounded) wire on the Jazz bass diagram and you would then join the red/white wires together to be equivalent to the white (hot) wire on the Jazz bass diagram. The rest of the wiring would be the same as on the Jazz bass diagram. 2. MM pickup coils in series Put insulation tape over the black/yellow join to cover any bare wires then leave this "floating". Wire up as the Standard Jazz bass diagram using the MM red wire as the Jazz bass white (hot) and the MM white as the Jazz bass black (ground). Make sure you wire both pickups the same way. The second combination should give a higher output.

DC Resistance is not actually a good measure of a pickup's output - it is just a measure of the resistance and other factors come into play for the actual output. But it's often used as a convenient way of predicting output, since it's probably the only factor that can be measured easily. As you've discovered, a high DC resistance does not guarantee a high output. The Fender "Noiseless" pickups may actually be humbuckers - that would explain the high DC resistance. They're called "noiseless" because the design is meant to minimise hum and noise.

[quote name='Metalmoore' post='531831' date='Jul 3 2009, 04:53 PM']... im confused about step 5. Do i measure an inch back on the 2 lines and make a mark and then connect them or do i measure an inch on one line then measure the distance between the last fret and that mark then mark that distance on the other line and connect the two?[/quote] The reason behind this is that the body might have a curved or sloped shape at the back edge, therefore you cannot measure accurately from the back edge of the body towards the neck. What you are ultimately trying to do is to get a line across the body, near the back edge of the body, that is exactly at right angles to the neck. Measure back along one of the lines approximately one inch from the back edge of the body and mark this point. To get a line at right angle to the neck you need to measure the same amount along the other line. Since the body might not be straight, you can't measure from the back edge of the body. So measure from the last fret to the mark you just made on the first line and note this measurement. Now transfer this measurement from the last fret onto the other line - mark this and you'll have two marks near the edge of the body exactly the same distance from the last fret. Sorry it seesm so complex - it's the potential for curved body shapes that makes it like this.

Yes, that's the way to change the phase of two pickups - swap the hot and ground wires arounc on ONE of the pickups (leaving the other on as is). In practical terms that means tracing the two wires from ONE of the pickups. If they are black and white then unsolder them then solder the white one where the black one was and the black one where the white one was. That's all there is to it, and it's just as easy to revert back if it doesn't fix the problem.

I wonder if there's a problem with the bridge earthing ? A Tele has that metal plate around the bridge pickup. The metal plate should be grounded, and that then grounds the strings. The John 5 Tele is different in that it has a humbucker at the bridge. I don't know if that guitar should have a separate ground wire that is routed through the body and comes up under the bridge plate to be sandwiched between body and bridge plate, or if there's a different ground connection. The wiring diagram is here [url="http://www.fender.com/support/diagrams/pdf_temp1/telecaster/0139000_306A/SD0139000_306APg2.pdf"]http://www.fender.com/support/diagrams/pdf...000_306APg2.pdf[/url] but it doesn't show the grounding method clearly. Beyond that I would suggest you join this forum and post a question there. [url="http://www.tdpri.com/forum/index.php"]http://www.tdpri.com/forum/index.php[/url] They're Telecaster experts over there and have a wealth of knowledge.

[quote name='Jono Bolton' post='526673' date='Jun 28 2009, 01:18 PM']Doesn't running an active bass through the passive input mean you run the risk of damaging the amp?[/quote] No - just use the input that sounds best. If it distorts at all, try the other one.

Yes - the computer is probably ok. There's lots of metal shielding in the casing and then also in the casing of the drive itself. I remember putting a 4x12 Marshall cab in the living room next to the TV for a week. When I turned the TV on all the colours were "dragged" towards the cabinet ! Fortunately there was no lasting effect. It was the older deep backed "cathode ray tube" type TV and I think the speaker magnets must have been deflecting the scanning eam !

It's customary for the black wire to be ground - therefore the white will be hot. BUT.... it doesn't actuallty matter as long as you wire both up the same way ! The wires are just the ends of a coil so there is no difference between one end and the other. The only problem you get is if one pickup is wired one way and the other pickup a different way - then they'll be "out of phase". Make sure you wire them both the same way and you'll be ok.

Just found exactly the same problem (from the same supplier, which was a shame because everything else from them was good). Anyway - CTS pots are standard Fender equipment so any genuine Fender knobs should fit. I would also guess that any genuine USA-made knobs should fit. I think the problem is with import (Far East) items. The pots are different - probably metric - and the knobs are sized to fit. Where to buy genuine US parts ? Well Allparts might do them [url="http://www.allparts.uk.com/"]http://www.allparts.uk.com/[/url] Other than that you could go to Bass Parts Resource. Shipping is $15 for orders under $100. [url="http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/middle_bass.htm"]http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/middle_bass.htm[/url] I think I'm going to be going the latter route now as Allparts are out of stock of the items I want.

Have a look at the jack socket and make sure nothing has come adrift there.

First question to ask... does it hum or buzz when the Humbucking bridge pickup only is selected ? If there is no hum when the bridge pickup only is selected, then there is problem no fault here. The single coil neck pickup will hum if there is electrical interference close by, but not the humbucking bridge pickup. Next question ... you say it bangs when you shake it about. Does it matter which pickup is selected ? Try each pickup selection and shake it to see if there is any noise - that should let you work out if the problem lies with a particular pickup or with the wiring that comes after the pickups.

After a "Stanley knife incident" which resulted in 5 stitches each in he thumb and forefinger of my left hand, I find that I always shudder a little whenever I pick one up now. The strange thing is, when I picked up the Stanley knife that day I thought to myself "I should really wear my thick gloves for this job" but could only find one so I didn't bother....

Well you can buy 19 inch rack shelves, so you could velcro the pedals onto a shelf. There are also "sliding drawer" shelves that slide out which would allow you to easily access the pedals whenever you want - gets a bit expensive though. [url="http://www.penn-elcom.com/Default.asp?MC=1303000&GC=Group"]http://www.penn-elcom.com/Default.asp?MC=1...00&GC=Group[/url] Actually I'd be inclined to put a large cable tie around each pedal (drill suitably spaced holes in the shelf to allow a large cable tie to pass right around the pedal) and that will stop the pedals becoming dislodged if the rack gets knocked.