donslow Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 So today, I decided I’d attempt to swap pickups from one precision bass to another All in place and looking ok-Ish, I plug it in and instead of a tone and volume I seem to have two volume pots now, I can’t seem to work out what’s wrong anyone have any help /advice at all please, need to get this sorted as I have a big gig coming up on Sunday and need this bass working many thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Try this: Ignore the yellow wire disappearing off the top of the diagram, that’s for the second pickup (that you haven’t got). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donslow Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 Will give that a go, cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 (edited) There's nothing 'wrong' with what you've got, I would use the other tag on the tone pot, (swap the white wire to the other side tag) and make sure nothing is touching earth or the shielding when you put it together - that's the problem - position the pot tags away from the edge and it should be OK. John Edited August 23, 2018 by KiOgon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donslow Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 Thank you for the advice so far, I think I may have damaged one of the pots whilst soldering to be honest, the knob on the shaft was hot when I picked it up, could that be the case or would the pot not work at all?! For now I’ve nabbed one of your very own solderless wiring looms, pots and all, from one of my other precisions and put it in this bass, all working grand again, will clean the pots above up and try again when the kids aren’t hanging off me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donslow Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 There was a wire that went from the wooden body to one of the pots also that I have left off, can anyone explain to me why that was there?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 1 hour ago, donslow said: There was a wire that went from the wooden body to one of the pots also that I have left off, can anyone explain to me why that was there?! Think that you're talking about the ground from the bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Just in case you decide to do further pickup swapping, remember to take a photo of the original wiring for reference. I always do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 2 hours ago, donslow said: Thank you for the advice so far, I think I may have damaged one of the pots whilst soldering to be honest, the knob on the shaft was hot when I picked it up, could that be the case or would the pot not work at all?! For now I’ve nabbed one of your very own solderless wiring looms, pots and all, from one of my other precisions and put it in this bass, all working grand again, will clean the pots above up and try again when the kids aren’t hanging off me Use the good loom wiring as a reference and copy that 😎 If you seriouslly overheat the pot when soldering it can go either way, short or open circuit or just erratic. Have you got a multimeter? 2 hours ago, donslow said: There was a wire that went from the wooden body to one of the pots also that I have left off, can anyone explain to me why that was there?! That'll be a wire to connect the shielding paint to a earth point, connect with the bridge earth and pick up -/common/earth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donslow Posted August 24, 2018 Author Share Posted August 24, 2018 (edited) thanks all for the advice, looks like its one of the pots that are shot, my meter says its gone all open circuit on me! Looks like Im going shopping for full size solid shaft pots, caps and cloth wiring (if I'm changing the pots, might as well renew the lot surely?!) quick question...... .047 orange drop cap and 250k pots? are these the "classic" combination for a precision bass?! any recommended suppliers for the above that wont break the bank?! Edited August 24, 2018 by donslow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 CTS pots are more expensive to buy, but will probably outlast your playing career. There’s a lot of cork-sniffing about ‘orange drop’ caps or ‘tropical fish’ caps etc... but any capacitor if 0.047uf will do. Small tantalum ones will have a code of 473 printed on it somewhere, a polyester box cap will have .047 printed on it. The bead ones have the advantage of being smaller (so they fit into the cavity much easier) and have longer legs, so they’re easier to bend into whatever shape you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 (edited) Hotrox.co.uk have them for about a fiver each, or you could give ki0gon on here a bell, he makes solderless wiring looms that’ll just drop straight in. Edited August 24, 2018 by paul_5 Oops spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Count Bassy Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 On 24/08/2018 at 20:08, paul_5 said: CTS pots are more expensive to buy, but will probably outlast your playing career. Other decent makes of pot are available. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 Something else to look out for : If you look at the terminal on your volume pot, where the white cable comes from the pickup; there appears to be a length of cable that could come in contact with the pot-body. If this touches, all you signal will disappear. It's good practice to cut these ends short. To save you burning out more pots and capacitors; practice soldering. It's a useful skill to have. When you start, always touch some solder on the tip of the iron to make sure it will melt it quickly. When working with wires to connect up a pot, always "tin" the ends of the wires. To do this, bare the wires, twist them together and then coat the strands in solder. It'll make them easier to solder to the component - reducing the time you need to keep heat on the component. When working, keep a pair of pliars handy to hold the shaft of the pot with, or even better, clamp the pot shaft in a pair of mole-grips. The added chunk of metal acts as a good heat-sink; taking the heat away, so the components don't get wrecked. Good luck next time round. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted August 29, 2018 Share Posted August 29, 2018 Just to add to Grangur's excellent advice, I've found electrical work so much easier since getting a decent soldering iron. I used to use a cheapy 30 or 40 watt stick type but bought a digital soldering station when Maplin had them half price. The extra power means the pots don't get overheated. With a low power iron the posts act like a heatsink and the solder took ages to flow nicely, with more power the solder flows almost instantly and the pots stay cool. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donslow Posted August 31, 2018 Author Share Posted August 31, 2018 @Grangur @Maude Thank you for the excellent soldering advice, although it’s never let me down before, I’m thinking my old 25w soldering iron isn’t really the right tool for THIS job, might have to get iron shopping too :-s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 A 25W iron may struggle to heat up a pot cover quick enough to solder onto it before the pot overheats. Certainly tinning the soldering iron tip just before soldering will help. Solder contains flux, which helps it flow, although this can boil off fairly quickly so should be done just before soldering the wires. A blob of fresh solder can also help to clean up a connection due to the flux content. Old solder will usually have no flux left in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 hmm... @Norris, I don't know about that. I'm still using a coil of solder I got about 35 years ago. It's still doing well for me today. That said, maybe my old lead tin/solder is different in this from the newer stuff you get today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Grangur said: hmm... @Norris, I don't know about that. I'm still using a coil of solder I got about 35 years ago. It's still doing well for me today. That said, maybe my old lead tin/solder is different in this from the newer stuff you get today. I meant old solder that has been melted. That gungy brown stuff you occasionally see bubbling away is the flux. If you make a clean cut across your solder wire you may be able to see the flux - usually 6 cores of it embedded in the solder wire Edit: If you ever do any heating pipe soldering, the solder is solid core and you have to buy a separate tin of flux to dip the end in. Electrical solder has the flux incorporated Edited August 31, 2018 by Norris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 (edited) In addition to all the great advice so far posted, my solution (as it has been on several occasions) would be to contact John (KiOgon) and get him to send me a new, complete wiring loom with CTS pots, Switchcraft Jack and a Sprague Orange Drop. Solderless, easy and complete with a little screwdriver and instructions. All for the price of about fifteen minutes in the pub. Can't go wrong! Edited August 31, 2018 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donslow Posted August 31, 2018 Author Share Posted August 31, 2018 6 hours ago, discreet said: In addition to all the great advice so far posted, my solution (as it has been on several occasions) would be to contact John (KiOgon) and get him to send me a new, complete wiring loom with CTS pots, Switchcraft Jack and a Sprague Orange Drop. Solderless, easy and complete with a little screwdriver and instructions. All for the price of about fifteen minutes in the pub. Can't go wrong! I found an old gas soldering iron of mine in a tool box, half hour of cleaning up and I got to work, lovely solder joints, everything solid and all working exactly as it should for what it’s worth, not to cause argument or friction but the solder I used today is about 15 years old, no flux leakage (if that’s the term?!) just lovely looking, shiny joints of the two precisions I own one of them is a solderless kiogan loom and I have to agree, genius idea and a quarter of the faff for not much money at all, after this little debacle I may well suck it up in future and just get one of those every time I need a loom thanks again for all the advice given, really invaluable stuff, really appreciated it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 You mention using old solder, I seem to recall newer solder having less lead, or something, in it making it harder to melt, elf 'n' safety an all that innit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Count Bassy Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 Thankfully you can still bu traditional Lead/Tin solder, and for occassional /manual/home soldering this is definitely the way to go - just don't eat it !! (and try to avoid breathing the fumes). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom1946 Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 FWIW I used to solder my joints but now I only use KiOgon's looms, they are so strongly made using excellent quality parts as mentioned above, it's not worth bothering yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooky_lowdown Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 What sort of music do you play donslow? If you decide to solder pots I highly recommend full size Alpha pots, similar to CTS only a lot cheaper. As for a cap, if you are into vintage/Motown stuff I suggest a paper in oil (PIO) 0.1 cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.