Repaired a old bass, kinda long post, Thanks

[Jeff F]

I had this old bass in the basement, I think it's about 15 years old. Don't know what brand it is. It did not work. You could turn the pots either direction without them stopping. I replaced the pots with the same 500k pots, one had the cap on it. I also replaced all the wires while at it, except the one that goes from the plug jack into the wood to the bridge. I wired it exactly as it was. It now works but has a buzz. If I touch any pole on the pickups the buzz gets worse. If I touch the metal on the cable plug at the bass or the amp the buzz goes mostly away. If I touch a string at the pickups some buzz goes away. If touch a string at pickup and fret the string the buzz goes almost completely away. When I grab any tune knob the buzz goes away. I am not sure if I got the 2 pickups back in the way they came out. If the wires leaving the pickups are next to the magnets will this cause this buzz? I guess it could be the pickups

Any ideas?

Thanks

[202dy]

Assuming that the knobs are metal, is sounds like it is correctly wired. Congratulations.

[Jeff F]

I'm confused. Are you saying that I have no more work I need to do to it. I guess I thought something is still wrong with it.

Thanks

[Pilgrim]

Regardless of brand, there are only so many ways to wire up a bass. If you have a P or J style bass, regardless of brand, you can probably search the wiring diagrams at Fender's Mr. Gearhead website and just wire it according to whatever diagram suits you.

This is to say - that bass may or may not have been wires correctly when you got it. People love to screw around with wiring, even when they have no clue what they're doing.

A buzz or hum generally means either a grounding problem OR using the bass in a high RF environment (under big fluorescent lights, near a big computer display, etc) that causes it to pick up hum. Your problem REALLY sounds like grounding to me.

My advice would be:

1) Find a wiring diagram that seems to correspond to the setup you have, and make sure you've followed it.
2) If you still have a buzz, then ask for help with grounding problems.

[DeanT]

Definitely sounds like a grounding issue.

The wire going to the socket is probably the problem. I would change that one and the socket too. Make sure it's wired to the correct "pole" on the socket and is seated under the bridge (if it's a metal bridge).

[Jeff F]

Thank you all,

I got a P Bass diagram online. Yes it was wired wrong. Well, there appears to be many different ways to wire these machines. Yes I had a definite ground problem as well. You guys are great! This forum is as good as the motorcycle forum that I belong to.

I am fixing this bass for one of the youth to see if he may stick with it. You never can tell where the next Paco might come from.

Thanks very much!

Jeff F

[BellBottomBlues]

Do you mean Jaco lol?

There should be a wire going to the bridge which is your grounding wire, make sure you gots that connected.

[enim]

I actually just did the exact same thing with a bass i bought.

Make sure each pot is connected to the grouning wire by the back housing. My had a terrible buzz becuase i missed one of the pots with the grounding wire.

[keyboardguy]

""You never can tell where the next Paco might come from""


Oh, NOW I understand.... Paco Jastorius....

[PilbaraBass]

Paco Jastorius ROCKED!

Eddie Jentwistle was pretty good, too.

Paul John Jones was great with Def Zeppelin, too.

But my favorite bassists of all time is Skee Lar!

[Pilgrim]

Not to mention the immortal Dunn Duck.

[Jeff F]

Yep Jaco. I had the ground from the pots and the ground from the bridge connected to the tip instead of the sleeve on the jack. OOPS, works great now.

Thanks