Hudson Project Bass Pickup Advice

[chrisd783]

Hi guys

I just bought the 5 string version of the above second-hand on eBay. Pleased overall - plays and feels lovely and the pre-amp is an absolute beast. Only issue I had was that it was a bit on the quiet side. I'd be practicing with me Squire jazz and then swap it for the Hudson and the volume was hardly there. Same amp settings, same lead, so it must be the guitar. Went to play it tonight and the volume is completely dead.

I know next to nothing about guitar maintenance and repair but I checked the obvious. I tried a new jack lead and even a different amp but still nothing. I replaced the 9 v battery, nothing again. I removed the back plate and checked the soldering, no loose connections. That's the extent of my knowledge! I'm guessing the pickup was on it's last legs when I had it (hence the initial volume problem) and then gave up the ghost altogether.

I was so pleased with the construction of the guitar I was considering upgrading the pickup anyway. So my question is, what do my fellow low-enders recommend? I've been playing for years but never had reason to alter anything like this before so I know absolutely nothing about it, so please be gentle

Cheers in advance guys!

[luckydog]

Well, you've done the sane thing by checking what you can. Worth a double check on the battery, perhaps ? Rapidly sweep the vol control back and forth to clean out the pot ?

Otherwise you know there is a fault, and it could be in the PU or in the electronics, can't guess. Any further tests would involve unsoldering the PU and wiring it temporarily as passive, maybe that's not something you are OK with ? If not, it's perhaps best to find a local tech or helpful local BC'er to help find the fault and fix.

Soz, not much help.....

LD

[kodiakblair]

I'd have a word with Cranes Music, pretty certain Hudson is their brand.

http://www.cranes.co.uk/guitars/bass-guitars/hudson-basses

Had the back off my Tanglewood Canyon to see if there was any info on the preamp,they appear very similar basses. Preamp on that uses connector blocks but I'll
have to drop the electrics out as it's a very neat job. Must have saved a packet on wiring they're that short

If I get time through the week I'll investigate further.

[chrisd783]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm not handy with the technicals so any help I can get would be much appreciated.

It's not my gigging bass so this is by no means urgent; having said that it would be nice to get it sorted!

Thanks again guys

Chris

[Grangur]

Check the space between the pups and the strings. If the space is too big this will make it quiet.

There is no such thing as the pups being worn out. Some windings of the coil could go short-circuit, but the chances of this is very slim. The higher chance is a setup issue.

[Grangur]

Have you tried wiring the pup straight to the jack as suggested?