A little problem solving help please...(pickups and pots)

[NancyJohnson]

One of my basses has developed a problem...it's a two pickup model, volume/volume/tone pot configuration (like a Jazz).

The neck pickup appears fine in isolation, but when I increase the bridge pickup pot, when the pot hits 8/10 the output disappears and the whole bass goes quiet. There's output, but it's very, very quiet. If I tap the neck pickup the tapping is audible, the bridge pickup there's nothing.

The issue seems to have come on pretty quickly...the bass has been in the case for a little over a week.

Any idea?
Cheers
P

[neilp]

Does this still happen with the neck pickup turned right down? If so I'd say it's probably a bad pot, if not I'd suggest it's to do with the impedance of the bridge pickup being low (short-circuit somewhere in the windings).

[NancyJohnson]

Weird. I just wiggled the bridge pickup around and it's fully restored. Good you might think. No, not good. This harks back to an issue I had when I got the bass initially.

Hmmm.

[3below]

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1464898197' post='3063699']
Weird. I just wiggled the bridge pickup around and it's fully restored. Good you might think. No, not good. This harks back to an issue I had when I got the bass initially.

Hmmm.
[/quote]

This suggests a faulty solder joint at the pickup might be the cause. It is fixable if you are skilled with the soldering iron. It might be a failed winding as neilp suggests. This is not fixable without a rewind or replacement.