Hick Jim Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 (edited) Hello folks, I have a 1979 Ibanez Roadster RS800 bass, somewhere along the line the original pickup was replaced with an EMG humbucker. I've just found a NOS original super 4 bass pickup that I want to install, does anyone have a wiring diagram they could show me please? I've been told pots etc on the bass are originals. Cheers! Jim Edited June 29, 2016 by Hick Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikay Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 If it's one of those lovely old RS800s with a single pickup, vol and tone control then any P bass wiring diagram should do the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hick Jim Posted June 30, 2016 Author Share Posted June 30, 2016 Thanks a lot ikay, didn't realise it was as straightforward as that! It sure is, a decent quality bass for the money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heavylifting Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 It is an 8-year-old thread, but I hope my question reaches you. I am trying to replace both potentiometers and the output jack. However, the existing wiring looks a bit more complicated than a typical P bass. Could you please check the attached sketch and photo and advise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mybass Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 3 hours ago, Heavylifting said: It is an 8-year-old thread, but I hope my question reaches you. I am trying to replace both potentiometers and the output jack. However, the existing wiring looks a bit more complicated than a typical P bass. Could you please check the attached sketch and photo and advise? This looks odd to me as the diagram shows the ‘hot’ and ‘ground’ from the pickup being soldered to the pot chassis which is/should be ‘ground’…in fact it looks like all three lugs on the first pot/volume eventually get ‘grounded’ . The tone pot ‘grounding’ also seems strange. This is either a very clever and different wiring harness that either works fantastically well or a simply doesn’t, I’m confused 😳 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heavylifting Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 Thank you so much for your swift response. I am not sure if the current odd and messy wiring is the original from Ibenez Fujigen back in 1979, but the circuit worked until I removed the potentiometers to install new ones. I am trying to ignore the original circuit and follow a typical P bass circuit. However, I can't figure out the 2 cables coming from the pick-up. I guess the thin black cable is pickup ground but the other thick cable has three inside. white, red and metallic colour wire? Could you please give me any advice or any idea to share? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooky_lowdown Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 The thin black would be ground. The 3 wires: the metallic colour wire you need to twist together with either the red or white for standard P bass wiring. One of them (red or white) will be the live wire, but impossible to know without a multimeter. The two wires you do twist together needs to be wrapped in electrical tape or similar so its shielded, and doesn't touch any other wiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heavylifting Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 (edited) Hi hooky_lowdown, Thanks very much for your advice. Slowly but steadily I am getting there. The photo I took before I removed the original wiring work shows that the metallic colour wire and red ride were connected to a terminal (although two wires were not twisted together and wrapped in electrical tape. I will make sure it is done ). As you said, the thin black wire is the ground. So I have figured out... 1. Connect the ground to the metal casing of the volume pot 2. Combined wire (metallic and red) is Pickup Hot in P bass diagram 3. White wire is Pickup Ground in P-bass diagram However, the original wiring looks still different to P-bass diagram. - The combined wire was connected to a terminal and this terminal was bent and connected to the metal casing - White wire was connected to the middle terminal of the volume pot, instead of being connected to the metal casing of the tone pot Should I ignore the original circuit and follow the P-bass diagram, or Should I copy the original circuit? Edited October 30 by Heavylifting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heavylifting Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted October 31 Share Posted October 31 On 30/10/2024 at 11:13, mybass said: This looks odd to me as the diagram shows the ‘hot’ and ‘ground’ from the pickup being soldered to the pot chassis which is/should be ‘ground’…in fact it looks like all three lugs on the first pot/volume eventually get ‘grounded’ . The tone pot ‘grounding’ also seems strange. This is either a very clever and different wiring harness that either works fantastically well or a simply doesn’t, I’m confused 😳 As well as that, both terminals of the jack socket are connected to the same point. I can't see a more guaranteed way of producing completely zero output from the pickup than connecting absolutely everything to ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted October 31 Share Posted October 31 16 hours ago, Heavylifting said: However, the original wiring looks still different to P-bass diagram. - The combined wire was connected to a terminal and this terminal was bent and connected to the metal casing - White wire was connected to the middle terminal of the volume pot, instead of being connected to the metal casing of the tone pot Sounds like the combined wire was the ground side and the white wire was the hot, which seems reasonable as I'd expect a naked wire to be ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mybass Posted November 1 Share Posted November 1 21 hours ago, tauzero said: Sounds like the combined wire was the ground side and the white wire was the hot, which seems reasonable as I'd expect a naked wire to be ground. Yes! I missed those connections…..methinks a complete rewire is in order, new pots using AWG.22 cloth cover wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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