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Ibanez DWB3 Onboard preamp does not seem to be working


Delberthot
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I'm right at the end of my Ibanez Doug Wimbish rebuild and I've hit a snag.

None of the controls seem to do anything. The volume is on full but is very quiet and very fuzzy sounding. I've had the battery sitting for maybe a year but the best before date is 2015.

When wiring it back up, all had to do was firstly reconnect the red battery lead from the preamp to the battery clip. I'd clipped it to remove it and marked each end so I know I've got that right.

I then had three wires to connect to the jack. The first one was the black lead from the battery to the ring of the jack.

I was then left with two more, a black and a white. According to EMG the white is the signal and goes to the tip and the black is the ground and goes to the sleeve but this is an Ibanez preamp and when wired that way there is no sound. When I swap the two wires I get the fuzzy, does nothing output.

Even if it was a duff battery, surely the volume control would do something and cut the signal when completely off?

Any ideas what could be wrong?

Edited by Delberthot
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[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1334903646' post='1623117']
Well silly me didn't test it before I disconnected it so I assumed it was working :blush:
[/quote]

That's OK.
Was just trying to ascertain if it was likely to be a 'little' failure caused by the rebuild or if it was something more catastrophic. :)

As we don't have a known starting point then it could be a wiring issue, a PCB issue or both. :(

How about a photo of the guts to see if there's anything obviously wrong?

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[quote name='MarkBassChat' timestamp='1334947770' post='1624037']
A photo could help. Have you tried it with another battery? What about checking what it is the battery voltage - do you have any meter?

Mark
[/quote]

You can't test batteries easily with a multimeter.
A battery can maintain a reasonable voltage when there is not enough capacity left to run a circuit and different battery types have different discharge characteristics.

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You can easily test a battery with a multimeter. I usually make sure that there is some load - e.g. I connect a preamp that draws 2-5 mA, and I measure the voltage. If it it is above 8.5V, the battery is still good. If it is less, I buy a new one.
We are talking here about batteries for preamps, which usually draw current between 1 and 4 mA. If the battery is OK, the problem is with the preamp (or connections). We are not talking about laptop batteries, right?

Mark

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[quote name='MarkBassChat' timestamp='1334953507' post='1624118']
You can easily test a battery with a multimeter. I usually make sure that there is some load - e.g. I connect a preamp that draws 2-5 mA, and I measure the voltage. If it it is above 8.5V, the battery is still good. If it is less, I buy a new one.
We are talking here about batteries for preamps, which usually draw current between 1 and 4 mA. If the battery is OK, the problem is with the preamp (or connections). We are not talking about laptop batteries, right?
[/quote]


So you've measured a voltage, understood the discharge characteristics of the battery and measured it's ability to deliver current.
You've also measured the current draw of the circuit the battery is powering and know at what point it ceases tio function.. good luck with all that.

In the time it takes to faff about doing that lot, I can change the battery in 5 seconds and cut out the guesswork.

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