Can this be fixed? (Q-Tuner)

[Mental Octopus]

So I have this really awesome looking pickup lying around, and I wanted to see if it sounds as awesome as it looks in a short scale bass of mine. So I fitted it in and was screwing the pickup down into the bass, but it's a rather tall pickup... the bottom of the pickup was pressing the bottom of the rout, it would be too high to use on the bass unless I did some additional routing... So I went to remove the pickup, and one of the wires broke off completely, presumably because it was bent so badly when I was installing the pickup. The other wire is also in a fragile state.

Damn. It. So can this be fixed?

[Marco A. Mayer]

The pic isn't showing up.

[Mental Octopus]

thanks, i think i fixed it. the pictures, that is...

[THORRR]

You'll probably have to excavate the epoxy like a "moat" around the stub of the wire and as a jeweler, I would use a ball-shaped bur to do it. Dremel might have something you can use. Check your local jeweler of hobby shop.

Then, you're gonna have to get some solder into the stump and that's gonna require a sudden short blast of heat so as not to fry the insulation on the coil. You're gonna be taking a chance of ruining the pickup if you try this.

If you were successful with the solder it would be easy to remelt the solder while shoving a wire into it for the join-up.

If it were me, though, I'd own up to what I did and send it back to the manufacturer for them to remedy the situation. They've probably done it before and it would be worth the extra cost and time to get it done right. If you fry the pickup on your own, you're out the cost of the entire pickup.

[slowburnaz]

Yet another case for wax potting

[joeyl]

ouch, that's why I cringe when I see lead wires being part of the casing, they should have brought out the wiring to the outside as flat terminals, and then leads would be soldered on those terminals.

I would definitely contact them

[AltGrendel]

Originally Posted by THORRR

If it were me, though, I'd own up to what I did and send it back to the manufacturer for them to remedy the situation. They've probably done it before and it would be worth the extra cost and time to get it done right. If you fry the pickup on your own, you're out the cost of the entire pickup.

This is your best bet.

[BZadlo]

I'd probably just use the soldering iron to melt the epoxy around the wire. Then just solder the wire back on.
Kinda of a design flaw.

[slowburnaz]

Originally Posted by BZadlo

I'd probably just use the soldering iron to melt the epoxy around the wire. Then just solder the wire back on.
Kinda of a design flaw.

Which is really weird, actually... strangely enough, in Erno's book (the guy who makes the Q-tuners), he uses terminals that stick out of the epoxy potting, rather than simply running wires out like that.