Beedster Posted November 27, 2022 Share Posted November 27, 2022 (edited) Hi folks, I've recently acquired an Enfield Fusion and I can't get the LEDs to work. Battery is fine (lights on the PUPs are all working well). I've tried the push/pull option on the front-PUP pot and nothing, and I can't see any switches in the cavity or on the body? Suggestions most welcomeĀ š Edited November 27, 2022 by Beedster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
three Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 (edited) Curious - do you have a pic of the interior of the cavity and can you see how the wiring is routed to the neck? Iāve only had leds in neck-through basses but maybe removing the neck would reveal any connectors. A quick mail to Sims might be helpful - Iāve always found the company very responsive. Incidentally, a gorgeous bass! Ā Also, are they definitely leds? Could simply be decorative markers set in a metal surround? Ā Edited November 28, 2022 by three 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 1 hour ago, three said: Curious - do you have a pic of the interior of the cavity and can you see how the wiring is routed to the neck? Iāve only had leds in neck-through basses but maybe removing the neck would reveal any connectors. A quick mail to Sims might be helpful - Iāve always found the company very responsive. Incidentally, a gorgeous bass! Ā Also, are they definitely leds? Could simply be decorative markers set in a metal surround? Ā Ā Hey mate, thanks for the reply, hope all's well. Well they look like LEDs and the shops did indicate LEDs also, so all the signs are there! I'll take a photo of the cavity when I get a chance although it's a pretty busy space. Re the neck, that was my neck port of call, I assume there are no physical wires joining neck to body, or anything equally easily damaged (I couldn't find the right info online although I may have been looking in the wrong places)? Ā ChrisĀ Ā 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 The only bass I've owned with neck LEDs had a separate battery for their operation.Ā 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acebassmusic Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 I had a bass with SIMs LED's in the neck which stopped working after a short while. After much digging about I found that there was a small plastic connector which linked the neck and body wiring and one of the wires had come loose. The connector was in the neck pocket and could only be seen when the neck was off. If you do remove the neck be VERY careful as the wires on mine were VERY thin. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
three Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 53 minutes ago, Acebassmusic said: I had a bass with SIMs LED's in the neck which stopped working after a short while. After much digging about I found that there was a small plastic connector which linked the neck and body wiring and one of the wires had come loose. The connector was in the neck pocket and could only be seen when the neck was off. If you do remove the neck be VERY careful as the wires on mine were VERY thin. This is helpful and I thought this might be the case - using connectors in the neck pocket and heel is the only way that I could conceive of powering LEDs (other than a battery/switch somewhere in the neck itself). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 Here's the cavity, most of which I assume is related to the PUPs? Ā Ā 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 And what I assume are LEDs Ā Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 Wires between body and neck seem OK Ā Ā The wires to which come from the pull front PUP volume pot Ā Ā Ā Was thinking perhaps there's a separate battery for the LEDs under the pickguard...... Ā Ā But sadly, no Ā So still a mystery, wires seem to be OK and as far as I can tell, going to and from the correct places, but I can't get them to work? I guess the pot could be broken, there could be a break in the wire, or worse still a fault with the LEDs themselves?Ā Ā Thoughts welcomeĀ š Ā Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan63 Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 where is the black wire for the leds coming from ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 (edited) 8 hours ago, Acebassmusic said: I had a bass with SIMs LED's in the neck which stopped working after a short while. After much digging about I found that there was a small plastic connector which linked the neck and body wiring and one of the wires had come loose. The connector was in the neck pocket and could only be seen when the neck was off. If you do remove the neck be VERY careful as the wires on mine were VERY thin. Ā Thanks @Acebassmusic, there was so little room for manoeuvre that I wasn't able to see whether the wired runs from neck to switch or whether there was a plug as you mentioned, no joke I could move the neck about 1cm before the wire came under tension. My gut feel is that SIMs are far to good at these things to have not engineered a cunning connector but I don't want to risk pulling or pushing too hard just yet. Can you remember what the plug looked like so I know what I'm looking for when I go back in?Ā Edited November 28, 2022 by Beedster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 5 minutes ago, Aidan63 said: where is the black wire for the leds coming from ? I think from the pull/push potĀ š Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 The P/P-pot has probably the series resistor limiting current to LEDs. I might try a fresh battery, just in case. Opamps may still be functional while LEDs are not. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 (edited) Is the red wire (without the resistor) from the push-pull pot going to a battery as this push-pull is simply cutting the power? Ā Follow this red wire and you'll find the Led's feeding battery. Ā The resistor is indeed a tension reducer and might be dead as @ituĀ mentioned. Ā You can check if this resistor still reads a resistance. Ā If the Led's are wired in series, and I hope not, than if one is dead the following ones won't work... Edited November 28, 2022 by Hellzero Precisions 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 Thanks guys, I'll try these in order, battery seems pretty strong but never does any harm to try a new one, if no luck I'll try to trace the circuit from source to destination and see what I findĀ š Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 Well, I'm embarrassed to say it was the battery, which despite being pretty fresh and powering the preamp and PUP lights just fine, wasn't powering the LEDs. We live and learn!Ā @ituĀ many thanks, and many thanks to everyone who pitched in! Ā Ā I've never used these before, they are extremely bright, it's going to be interesting to use them live I suspect, can't help thinking I'd love a set of these on my upright Ā Ā 7 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 Urm, urm, I think, it's about time to buy a multimeter Chris... so you can check batteries first...Ā š 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 Many, many years ago I commissioned a Sei J5. My bass to end all basses. One of a series, but that is another story. I had specced it up and considered side LEDs for 10 seconds before deciding they were vulgar and useless. When I was discussing it with Martin (1st name terms) he asked about LEDs and it took me 2 seconds to change my mind. They were superb. I should not have sold it, but you know how it goes. LEDs are the bomb. I have another bass on the way with LEDs and I am childishly excited about them. When the stage hits blackout and you hit that switch they make an awful lot of sense.Ā 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueMoon Posted November 29, 2022 Share Posted November 29, 2022 I have a GB Spitfire from Bernie Goodfellow. It has neck LEDās with a separate battery. I think these were installed by Martin Sims, or at least, his design. Ā I use them sparingly when I want to be flash. Since that need is very rare, I donāt use them much.Ā Ā Glad you got them working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted November 29, 2022 Author Share Posted November 29, 2022 8 hours ago, Owen said: Many, many years ago I commissioned a Sei J5. My bass to end all basses. One of a series, but that is another story. I had specced it up and considered side LEDs for 10 seconds before deciding they were vulgar and useless. When I was discussing it with Martin (1st name terms) he asked about LEDs and it took me 2 seconds to change my mind. They were superb. I should not have sold it, but you know how it goes. LEDs are the bomb. I have another bass on the way with LEDs and I am childishly excited about them. When the stage hits blackout and you hit that switch they make an awful lot of sense.Ā Ā Must admit I'd always seen them as vulgar and unnecessary, especially on a fretless, which is why I never bothered to use them on the SIMs, only realising that I needed to check them when I listed it for sale. I played it for around an hour last night in a dark room with the lights on and have to admit that my intonation and precision generally were improved significantly.Ā Ā Ā 26 minutes ago, BlueMoon said: I have a GB Spitfire from Bernie Goodfellow. It has neck LEDās with a separate battery. I think these were installed by Martin Sims, or at least, his design. Ā I use them sparingly when I want to be flash. Since that need is very rare, I donāt use them much.Ā Ā Glad you got them working. Ā Thanks, flash is generally beyond my skills, I might have to use them just to achieve mediocreĀ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
three Posted November 29, 2022 Share Posted November 29, 2022 Really good to see this fixed (and in all its glory!). Great to see all the new images too - what a beautiful bass - the quality of work here is fabulous. The neck pocket and cavity are works of art in their own right. Then thereās the finish. I was a bit sceptical re: leds too but they come into their own in darker environments. Now I really want this 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted November 29, 2022 Share Posted November 29, 2022 I think that the resistor in charge of the LED brightness could have a trimmer after it (in series). Then the current (i.e. the brightness) could be adjusted. Nearly all LEDs I have seen have tried to blind my old eyes. Even much less could be enough on a dark stage. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madein1962 Posted December 4, 2022 Share Posted December 4, 2022 I have an alembic with Sims LEDs fitted (front and side) which takes 2x 9V batteries for the LEDs, in addition to the 9V battery for the preamp. I bought it used on ebay, quite a few years ago.Ā According to Martin Sims, it was bought by him from the Bass Centre and used by SIMs to demonstrate the LEDs at various shows and as a review model for magazine articles etc. This would have been around '95 / '96 (the Sims company began in '94 I believe) I'm not sure how much use the LEDs have had but, they still work despite being over 25 Years old. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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