Pickup volume decreasing

milhouse · #1 08-24-2007, 06:13 AM

I've got a Fender Tony Franklin Precision. I has a P and a J pickup. They are supposed to be buffered for equal volume. Mine has never been equal. With the J jacked as high as it'll go and the P's set low, it's close. Or it was close. My J has gotten quieter. Drastically. It happened once before where it cut out completely, but I unplugged everything and plugged it back in and it was back to normal. Now it's just extremely low and I've plugged and unplugged a couple times. The closest Authorized Fender tech is over an hour away. Any ideas or suggestions?

marzy · #2 08-24-2007, 06:32 AM

change the battery?

milhouse · #3 08-24-2007, 06:50 AM

Passive. No battery.

milhouse · #4 09-02-2007, 04:30 PM

I took the pickup out everything looked ok, and then it worked fine for a few days. Now it's worse again!!! Anyone know how these things are 'buffered'? Is there a wire or a switch that could have gone bad? I don't know what could cut the volume like this. I'd think a lose wire or something would kill the pickup completely.

iceshaft07 · #5 09-02-2007, 04:48 PM

I've broken 2 bass guitars so far and, repaired them both (one P, one J)-- on both, a knob got loose and when I turned it I ripped the wire at the soldering point (now I know better).

The effect of the loose wire was a buzzing sound, or it would work normally, or it just wouldn't work at all. Something I did find though was that turning a tone knob (the knob that wasn't the problem) fixed the buzz, and it worked properly (and I can't explain that).

I'd say give a close look at the connections at all the pickups, all the knobs, and the jack.

I mean, that is pretty much the extent of a bass guitar. The other think that it might be is a bad wire-- maybe it got burned inside or something and the wire needs to be replaced.

Once you have checked all of that, it may come down to that the pickup itself (or knob) is bad.

Let me know what you find! I'll learn something from it!

rodl2005 · #6 09-03-2007, 12:21 AM

let us know-after checking out above comments. We can learn 2gether- aaaaahhhhh!

RyreInc · #7 09-03-2007, 10:56 AM

If you're bass is passive then your pups cannot be buffered, as this requires an opamp (which requires a power source) for each pup.

If that's the case then the volume difference would be a result of the differing impedances of each pup. A single coil pup, like the J, usually has a lower impedance than a series-style pup, such as a P.

As for the further decrease in output from the J pup, I cannot be sure. Check the wiring, and keep an eye out for cold soldering joints (do a search for more info).
If you have a multimeter, check the J's volume pot's resistance. You will have to disconnect the pot from the rest of the circuit to do this accurately.

Paulitics · #8 09-03-2007, 01:55 PM

sounds like a cold solder joint to me, especially if you pull it out and its ok for a while and then cuts out again. You should look at all the solder point in the control panel and make sure good contact is being made everywhere. I had this problem on my jazz bass, one of the solder joints on the volume pot (where the ground lead is bent up and soldered to the shielding) was poorly soldered.