Bobby K Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Oh dear.... Whilst dismantling a bass and taking out the pickups, i've managed to snap off the red and black lead wires from the underside of one of the pickups It was no wonder, as the wires are extremely brittle. The pickup is a J type (2nd pup in a P/J configuration) I know these can be carefully (extremely carefully, I know) reattached to the solder blobs in the eyelets, but the trouble is, I don't know which lead goes in which eyelet I read somewhere that the pos lead goes in the eyelet containing the end of the pickup winding and the neg lead attaches to the eyelet where the winding begins, but I can't tell the difference with this pickup. Is there some way of deciphering which is which with a meter? Does it actually matter which goes to which? Aghhh...! (Help) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Good evening, Bobby... No, in this case it won't matter. Wire it all up, and if you don't like the sound, simply swap over the connection. One way round may be better than the other, but one will definitely work properly. Hope this helps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 No way of testing which end is which just using a DVM as far as I've ever come across. There is something I have noticed though. Lay the pickup down so that the top surface is facing you. Turn it round so that the solder end is on the RH side. The white (+) wire always seems to appear at the top and the black wire below it (have a Google image search for JB pickups and you'll see exactly what I mean - the two lead ones always seem to follow that convention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby K Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 Yeah, I did that very image search myself before posting here and generally found this to be the case. This is a yamaha though, but I don't suppose it matters. If I had to guess, I'd solder the wires back in as you describe. We'll see what happens... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBassChat Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I think you don't need a DVM for this. How about a 9V battery and an old fasioned magnetic compass? This is assuming that you have another pickup to compare with :-). Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby K Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 Not got another to compare with, other than the p pickup from the same bass. Not got a compass either, but I'm intrigued all the same... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBassChat Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 It can be anything that has two magnetic poles, even Smartphone [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby K Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 Ok got one of those. What would I do then...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 (edited) [quote name='Bobby K' timestamp='1327907203' post='1518453'] Yeah, I did that very image search myself before posting here and generally found this to be the case. This is a yamaha though, but I don't suppose it matters. If I had to guess, I'd solder the wires back in as you describe. We'll see what happens... [/quote] Well it's a pretty safe bet. Yamaha won't be making their own pickups, they'll just be buying them in from a parts manufacturer. From a logistics perspective it doesn't make sense for any manufacturer producing a 'basic' item to deviate too far from what their customers are used to or else confusion is pretty much inevitable. Edited January 30, 2012 by icastle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby K Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 It will be a while before I actually fix the pickup, as I'm attempting a refinish on the bass itself. May be some time, but will let you know how I get on when I put the wires back in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBassChat Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 [quote name='Bobby K' timestamp='1327921864' post='1518665'] Ok got one of those. What would I do then...?[/quote]If you connect a battery to the pickup, it will form a magnetic coil. Depending on the direction of the voltage applied you should get different directions of magnetic field. I think that comparing it with the other pickup (using a compass or any other magnetic device) you should be able to verify whether both pickups are wound in the same direction, or not. Let me know if it worked. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby K Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 All sorted now... A mate of mine has the same bass and has checked underneath his pickup. As suspected, the pos wire does indeed go in the eyelet closest to the neck. Cheers all for the input Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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