Basscabman Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Folks, both my volume pots on my PJ only work when they're full on, are they worn out and if so what pots do i buy to replace them? Cheers for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry_B Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 Get a wiring harness from KiOgon, a member of these forums. These are a set of replacement pots which you can just swap out with your old ones. No soldering is involved, and they're excellent! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevel Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 Try the quick & easy fix first - electrical contact cleaner spray - it chemically removes the kind of corrosion (oxidation) you get on electrical fittings. That solves a good many problems like this without ever having to replace anything. If it doesn't solve it though.... Take your pickguard off carefully, and have a look at the pots in question - there'll be some markings that will give away what you're looking for. Generally speaking, for most pickups they'll use a 250k pot. Then you've got the choice of audio taper or linear taper (audio=logarithmic scale, linear=ratiometric, go for audio if in doubt), then you need one with the right shaft - take the control knobs off your pots to find the answer here (split shaft, solid shaft) and the right length (short, medium, long). Then you need to find someone that sells what you're after. Lots of choice here, random selection in no particular order: https://www.wdmusic.co.uk/ https://www.axesrus.co.uk/ https://www.allparts.uk.com/ https://www.northwestguitars.co.uk/ (I have ordered stuff from all these places, never had a problem with any of them) And finally, you need to choose how much to spend. No matter what you spend, they'll all be incredibly close to each other in terms of quality. CTS are a common choice, as they're what would be found in a high end Fender (CTS = Chicago Telephony Supplies, who were taken over by Fender in the 60's), and they'll be about a fiver. You can get cheaper ones - Alpha are good, they'll come in around £2-3, or you can get some ridiculously expensive pots that claim to give you extra 'tone' (with free snake oil). Either way, they'll pretty much all do the same job. Soldering them in is simplicity itself if you have ever soldered anything before (just be careful not to heat up the body of the pot too much when soldering earths to it). If you haven't soldered anything before, get some practice at it first, and someone to help who knows how to solder - it's not a difficult skill! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basscabman Posted February 21, 2019 Author Share Posted February 21, 2019 Just cleaned the pots and found that If I turn the tone pot full up the volumes work normal on both pickups ! When I turn the tone full off there's no volume until the very last bit of the turn!! Anyone know what's going on here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basscabman Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 (edited) No one know what's whats wrong here? Edited February 25, 2019 by Basscabman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamg67 Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Did it all work fine in the past and now it doesn't? That would suggest it's all wired up right, but some component (probably in the tone circuit) is not working right, and there are some strange ways that things fail. The most reliable way to diagnose that kind of thing is just to have some good bits to swap in. Does the tone control still control the tone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basscabman Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 Yes the tone control works fine, as I said, Tone full up both volume pots work as they should, Tone off Both volume pots only work for the last 10% of their travel... Weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevel Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 (edited) I suspect a grounding issue - something should be earthed but isn’t, or more likely shouldn’t be earthed but is. Do you have a wiring diagram? And, what bass is this we’re discussing? Edited February 26, 2019 by stevel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basscabman Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 Squier PJ Special standard. I'll try to take a pic of the wiring later after work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Also, look for signs of where connections of the pots could be touching any screening in the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basscabman Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 Some pics of the wiring, I can't see anything wrong but I know sod all about electrics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 Do a new solder on the earth of the right lug on the J volume and it will certainly work. Did you buy it like that ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 If you can use a soldering iron, please renew all the solders. Never seen such a mess. Must have been made by a mad man. The amount and paths of groundings are seriously questionable... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basscabman Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 It's how I bought it mate. Looked a bit dodgy when I opened It up. Think someone may have fitted new pickups at some stage in it;s life. Unfortunately i'm crap at soldering! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 Don't you know someone who can just renew them ? It will fix the problem for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basscabman Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 Should It have all those earth wires? When I looked on google at diagrams there were only a single earth wire going to each pot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 Nope. You can do a much cleaner grounding than this by running a single wire from pot to pot and soldering the lug to earth to the pot (just fold it until it touches the pot and do the solder). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basscabman Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 Also the jack socket has one earth and a red and a white wire? Is that normal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 Could be, depending of the type of jack used and if it's an active bass... Go see someone with a bit of electronics knowledge in your area : it's an easy fix, but if you don't know what you're doing, it will be a dead end... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevel Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 OMFG... Basscabman - where do you live? There’s got to be someone close by that would be willing to help out in exchange for a pint. Maybe 2 pints... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cribbin Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 That's some scary wiring. Gut reaction, it originally came with three small pots and at some stage the two volume pots have been replaced with better quality full size ones. Soldering is not difficult if you start with some 60/40 cored solder and an iron that gets hot enough to melt the solder so it can flow. Most of that solder has not flowed. Personally, I'd remove all the wiring to the volume pots and do the job properly. In fact I'd go the whole hog and fit a full size tone pot and a good quality jack socket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basscabman Posted March 4, 2019 Author Share Posted March 4, 2019 I'm gonna have a crack at It tonight, If I balls It up I'll go for a Kiogon . Is this how It should be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 Yep. That's it ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 Yep. That's it ! Edit : I've analysed the wiring, never seen such a mess, there are 4 wires (including ground) going to the output jack !?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 19 hours ago, Basscabman said: Unfortunately i'm crap at soldering! I doubt you are as crap as the previous owner... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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