Fender Zone Deluxe P-Bass V problems....

[Josh]

Evening All,

Right, out of generosity I've opted to fix up my friends road-retired Zone P-Bass, it's been sitting around with wiring problems, missing knobs, a badly rusted bridge and nasty action for as long as I've been teaching him, but he's looking to sell it on and so really I've offered to fix it all up and help him sell it.

I can easily take care of everything else besides the wiring problem. Basically, it's the classic case of having to shake the lead around in the bass input to get the tone out, and a good amount of the controls work fine but the bass knob cuts out, as does the dynamic pan control, and crackles on the master volume.

Here's a few pics of the cavity:






There not the best I know, and it is a mess, but I'm really stuck on what to do.


Any help would be appreciated guys.


Thanks,


Josh.

[BigRedX]

That looks a mess - is that the original wiring?

What are the controls?

If it works some of the time, I'd look at replacing all the pots (and switches) and the jack socket and leave the rest alone. Hopefully that will sort it out.

[Josh]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='220218' date='Jun 16 2008, 09:18 PM']That looks a mess - is that the original wiring?

What are the controls?

If it works some of the time, I'd look at replacing all the pots (and switches) and the jack socket and leave the rest alone. Hopefully that will sort it out.[/quote]

It is, apparently it's one of the reasons they were discontinued.

I think it may be a loose connection, once you've wiggled it around for a bit you can usually play happily for a while.

[SJA]

try using some switch cleaner on the jack socket and pots.

I use Servisol that maplins stock.

[BigRedX]

It depends on how thorough you want to be. Switch cleaner if it works is only going to temporarily put off the inevitable.

It's probably worth trying first though.

[waynepunkdude]

Are the pots built into the circuit board or are they seperate?

[Josh]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='220340' date='Jun 17 2008, 06:54 AM']Are the pots built into the circuit board or are they seperate?[/quote]

They're seperate.

[BOD2]

I'd be inclined to pull everything gently out of the cavity (undo the nuts on the controls to allow them to move backwards) then examine all the solder joins.

It might be a dry joint or a half-broken wire connection to one of the pots or the circuit board. Look for dull grey joints (good solder joints should be shiny) and check for broken strands of wire at all joins. Redo any dull solder joints and cur off and remake any part-broken wires.

Also check the battery clip connections and the jack socket.

[Josh]

Ahhhh it seems like a job in which I have no experience, I think I'll opt to have a private luthier look at the wiring.