No sound from Jazz Bass

jonnyboy559 · #1 04-19-2008, 10:59 PM

I have a student with a fretless jazz bass. When I went to give him a lesson today, the bass put out no sound whatsoever. He said that he had played it 15 minutes before the lesson and it was fine. It did have a pot that was loose in the control plate. I wiggled the knob from the pot and tightened the pot. My only guess as to why the bass doesn't work because of a loose wire from the pot. If anybody else has an idea on what the problem could be that would be great!

robert43 · #2 04-19-2008, 11:51 PM

Turn on the amp

Sorry just joking take off the conyrol plate & have a look if the pot was loose you are right about a wire off if it turn all the way around .
Also look at the lead jack for loose wires.
I presume its a passive bass not a active bass = battery dead?

PilbaraBass · #3 04-20-2008, 12:26 AM

wire has fallen off, most likely, or a dead short...

do you know how to check this sort of thing?

varunkapahi · #4 04-20-2008, 12:40 AM

did any one say "check the battery"? yeah only if its an active

jonnyboy559 · #5 04-20-2008, 07:44 AM

The bass is passive so it's definitely not a dead battery. I know how to check for a wire that has fallen off, but I don't know how to check for a dead short. If anybody could help me out with this, that'd be great.

P.S.

I should add that I plugged his bass and my bass into an AB switch so we could play through the same amp. There were pops when I switched on my bass and his bass, but my bass worked fine, and his didn't make a sound. I don't know if this would have any effect on the problem.

GBGLJE · #6 04-20-2008, 05:23 PM

May be a stupid question but did you plug his cord into your bass to see if any sound would come out?

jonnyboy559 · #7 04-20-2008, 09:17 PM

I plugged my chord into his bass and it still did not work. The problem isn't a cable.

joeyl · #8 04-21-2008, 06:50 AM

make sure the wiring is like this

http://www.axesrus.com/images/BASS1.jpg