doctord

While I am here, does anyone know what the “little white switch” is for? It’s not active/passive (as there’s no output without a battery in either position. I don’t think it would be parallel/serial (but I could be wrong). Any ideas?

SB405 - dead pickup update. I have had no luck with finding anyone that would look to fix the broken pickup - primarily because it’s sealed in epoxy, which also rules-out a rewind. So I got my dremel and carefully removed epoxy, following the cable in. To my joy, i found a couple of solder pads (along with a shield earth) just a couple of mm down 😎 I have measured 12.3 KOhm resistance there, which compares well to the 12.5 KOhm of the other pickup! It’s not back together again (I have decided to level & dress the frets whilst I’m at it) but I am optimistic I can reinstall the original pickups. Also, removing the neck has confirmed the model number (although I was pretty certain) as it has “405” written on the body under the neck. Let me know if you want any additional details or photos.

Thanks for this - I will investigate further if I get no joy with a re-wind as (Pea suggests). FYI - I have a "spare" 92mm EMG-X neck pickup (I'm sure there's a reason for that... 😉 - I have tried this in the neck position for "fitting" purposes only, but it doesn't fit due to the spacings around the "lugs" for the screws - so I'm probably going to need a pair of pickups in 94mm covers.

Thanks for this thought - I'm investigating this route as I'd like to keep the bass "as origianal as possible" (given it's not had any other modifications in the past 32 years). I'll report back.

OK, so I have a 1988 SB405 black gloss 5-string with active JJ pickups - I bought this in 1992 (yep - I'm that old) and I still have the receipt (hence I know the model precisely). You can imagine that it's a favourite of mine - it was my first "real" bass only 5-string. Sadly, I picked it up yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks and discovered one of the pickups has died 😞 - not bad for a 36 year old, but I'm gutted. And looking for new pickups. (FYI - I know the pick-up is dead rather then the electronics - I've removed both and the working pickup has ~12.5Kohm resistance, whereas there's no reading for the dead pickup). I've worked-out that (obviously) it's not going to be straight forward to replace - mainly for the following 2 reasons: both pickups are identical at ~94mm in length & 18mm wide with ~40mm hole spacing for the screws (most modern "J-sets" have a shorter neck pickup); and despite it being a 5-string, this is the standard pickup size for the bridge pickup on a 4-string, so I'm looking for pickups with "bar magnets" suitable for 4 or 5 string (not individual pole pieces). This is (obviously) the righ place for advice - so any would be gratefullty recieved. For example, I could get 2x EMG active bridge pickups (and add an EMG 4-pot active circuit) but EMG "reccommends" maximum string-width (across the 5 strings) of 69.2mm - and my SB405 is ~72mm. Has anyone tried this combination and had good results? Anyone know anywhere/anyone that might have spares? Any other recommendations for such a JJ configuration? (Preferably for less than the ~£430 I paid for it in 1992!)

There's one going for a song on ebay this week: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272674059246"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272674059246[/url]

Active/Passive is simple - if you have to take the back-plate off to change the battery, then it's active. If there's no battery-powered electronics in there then it's passive. Sorry - can't help with the questions re: pricing and best place to sell.

Hi, New member - posting solely having discovered this thread! I bought my Bass Collection new - way back in '92 (!). SGC Nanyo - made in Japan Model: SB405, 5 string, active, J-J, black (quite rare - I guess from this thread) S/N: 884919. I paid the princely sum of £420 in '92 which was a steal at the time (the store manager was a friend of a friend). The store had a honey display model, but I ordered the SB405 which took ~3 weeks to arrive "fresh off the boat from Japan". This now seems odd given it must have been 3-4 years "old" when I ordered it (given the S/N) but perhaps there wasn't the demand for this model. I can remember stripping off the SGC Nanyo packaging with what I assumed was original manufacturer's Japanese writing. I also remeber opting for the 400 series based on the upgraded hardware - specifically the bridge. Anyway (cut to the chase) a few years after I bought it, I was changing the battery for the active electronics and noticed (for the first time ) a small switch on the PCB behind the block with the S/N (see pics - small white toggle switch). To this day I haven't even tried to work-out what this switch is for. By this time the store i bought from had closed, and I couldn't track-down a "manual" anywhere (I don't recall ever having one one). So - can anyone here tell me what the switch does / what it's for or point me in the right direction? (Is it simply an "active/passive" switch - like SiBob's post). Apologies if this is a dumb question. [attachment=20988:Switch_1.JPG][attachment=20989:Switch_2.JPG] Over the years I've had a number of other basses, but the SB405 has been the only one that I've kept! I still consider it a real bargain!