Think My Jack On My Bass Might Be Broken?

[LethalLion]

The bass is a Schecter Stiletto Extreme.

[url="http://www.schecterguitars.com/Products/Bass/Stiletto-Extreme-4.aspx"]http://www.schecterguitars.com/Products/Ba...-Extreme-4.aspx[/url]

Basically, I've tried the basic stuff (changing leads, the amp, changing the battery for the pickups, etc), but nothing's working. I just get nothing out of the amp. When I turn the volume knob, it makes a scratching type sound.

What could the problem be and how much do you reckon it will cost to fix?

Cheers

Edited January 20, 2011 by LethalLion

[mart]

When you turn the volume knob you get a scratching sound - is that sound coming out of the amp, or just from the knob?

That sounds like a dodgy pot, which could be cleaned, or could simply be replaced.

And if you're getting no sound through the amp then there's probably a loose wire somewhere.

If it were me, I'd open the guitar up, have a look around, and spend 10 minutes with a soldering iron to sort it. If you're not up to that, then it should be an easy (and cheap) job for a local guitar tech.

Edited January 20, 2011 by mart

[Ou7shined]

There's not much can go wrong with a jack. Unscrew the housing and see if there are any wires that have become disconnected.
The fact that you get a response from the vol pot suggests that it is still connected.
Let's see if we can get you to fix it for free.

[LethalLion]

The sound's from the amp, yeah. I'm definitely not up to soldering anything.

I don't really want to poke around inside too much as I have literally no idea what I'm doing and I don't want to knock anything out that shouldn't be knocked out.

EDIT: I can take a few photos of the inside, but I'm not sure how much that's going to help.

Edited January 20, 2011 by LethalLion

[mart]

[quote name='LethalLion' post='1096444' date='Jan 20 2011, 03:16 PM']The sound's from the amp, yeah. I'm definitely not up to soldering anything.

I don't really want to poke around inside too much as I have literally no idea what I'm doing and I don't want to knock anything out that shouldn't be knocked out.

EDIT: I can take a few photos of the inside, but I'm not sure how much that's going to help.[/quote]

If the sound is coming from the amp, then I think your jack is working fine, and your volume control is not. It's an easy job but, equally, that means it should be a cheap job if you need to pay someone else to do it for you.

[icastle]

[quote name='LethalLion' post='1096419' date='Jan 20 2011, 02:59 PM']When I turn the volume knob, it makes a scratching type sound.[/quote]

If you turn the volume knob does it feel as though it is running smoothly or does it have a scratchy 'feel' to it?

[LethalLion]

It turns smoothly, yeah.

[icastle]

[quote name='LethalLion' post='1097000' date='Jan 21 2011, 12:00 AM']It turns smoothly, yeah.[/quote]

Ok.
The pot sounds as though it's not mechanically defective.

There are two things that spring to mind here:

1) First off, I'm certainly no Schecter expert, but looking at the Schecter website and translating the pickup description onto the EMG site, I'd guess that your bass is using a 35 series EMG setup (EMG Active 2 band EQ).

The 35 series EMG stuff can be supplied as a solderless kit with little push on connectors.
If you are REALLY lucky you might find that Schecter has used this type of kit and one of the connectors has become dislodged and just needs pushing back into place...

2) From your description (no output and an electronic scratching noise when turning the pot) I suspect that you may be getting DC on the volume pot (often where classic electrical 'scratching' sounds come from) - if that's the case then the pot will be pitted and will certainly need changing.
There's absolutely no point in doing that until you have tracked down the underlying fault though.

Looking at the EMG wiring diagrams, all of the electronics appear to be contained on a single board and unfortunately that means diagnosis and soldering or possibly even a replacement board.

Take a look at option 1) and if you have no joy with that I suspect you're going to need a guitar tech.