Something happened to my Road Worn Precision...

recreate.me · #1 12-02-2010, 04:07 PM

Well, i just got this thing from a TB member a little while back, and i used it a week or two and saw the bridge cover screws and thought "I think i have an extra cover and some screws!"

So i screwed in my cover, it looked great. I started playing and after about an hour i touched the cover and it was warm. Weird.

So i felt around and the screw closest to the input jack was HOT. Like hot, not warm.

So i took the cover off, and played it again and now its so noisy. If i am not touching the strings its humming. If i touch the screws holding on the pickups when i rest my thumbs it buzzes.

What did I do, and how do i FIX THIS?

derridiandrift · #2 12-02-2010, 04:11 PM

exorcism

GARGOIL · #3 12-02-2010, 04:13 PM

You put your screw through the ground wire going to the bridge and cut the wire badly or in half. Time to bring it to the shop

thisSNsucks · #4 12-02-2010, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GARGOIL

You put your screw through the ground wire going to the bridge and cut the wire badly or in half. Time to bring it to the shop

Thats what I was thinking. However if thats the case, either:
A. The OP really misjudged where to drill the holes for the cover
OR
B. Fender really misjudged where to drill the ground wire lead hole.

Rockman · #5 12-02-2010, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GARGOIL

You put your screw through the ground wire going to the bridge and cut the wire badly or in half. Time to bring it to the shop

That explains the noise, but it shouldn't cause heat. It is possible that you just put so much energy into the the bass that some of it turns into heat energy, but thats incredibly unlikely. But you probably did cut the ground wire from the bridge but I don't see why that would increase the temperature.

Alucard817 · #6 12-02-2010, 04:19 PM

Like Gargoil said you cut something, Im thinking ground wire as well, but I dont know if that would cause your screws to get hot.

Can some one confirm this?

Damnit beat to the punch

BigOldHarry · #7 12-02-2010, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GARGOIL

You put your screw through the ground wire going to the bridge and cut the wire badly or in half. Time to bring it to the shop

Yup. That must be quite a screw you used!

recreate.me · #8 12-02-2010, 04:22 PM

Damn, i thought it was that too. I Have had a cover on two other P basses and just kinda guessed as to where to drill the holes based on how i wanted the cover to sit.

This time FENDER drilled the holes. Its a Road Worn, i figured it would be fine so i screwed in, and it screwed up my bass...

Not sure how it got hot, what if i told you i may have been getting shocked too. Would that help explain the heat, cause it might have happened...

Also, how to do i fix the grounding? cant i just take the wire out and solder on a new one and run it to the bridge?

christw · #9 12-02-2010, 04:23 PM

You bass should not be getting hot unless:

A) You're on fire
B) It's on fire
C) A & B
D) It's made of fire

None of those are particularly good things to be. Seriously though, were you beside a heating vent or did you surface mount a hair dryer on it?

Sorry, serious time now.

If I had it in my hands, I could probably tell you what you did but we know that can't happen. Can you take some pictures of the bass, where the screw holes were, how the cover mounts on it, and perhaps a gut shot (pickguard and whatnot off of the bass)?

Your bass shouldn't be getting hot whether or not you ran a screw through a pickup or other wire in the bass. That's really a mystery to me. The wiring shouldn't be a big deal if that's the problem.

recreate.me · #10 12-02-2010, 04:23 PM

The screws i used where extra screws from a bridge i had switched out on another bass. I figured it they were good enough to hold in the bridge it would hold on a cover!

recreate.me · #11 12-02-2010, 04:25 PM

Its a road worn precision, the holes come pre drilled.

And i sold the cover on another Precision that it used to be on. So no, if i took a photo it would look just like every other RW P out there...

billiam5billion · #12 12-02-2010, 04:26 PM

Bridge screws are way longer than cover screws, think that's got something to do with it.

christw · #13 12-02-2010, 04:26 PM

Can you at least take a picture of the bass with the pickguard off and of the wiring? It shouldn't be hard to see if you nicked a wire. Bridge screws tend to be larger than your typical pickup or cover screws, so you might've just shot too deep.

audiomitch · #14 12-02-2010, 04:31 PM

Why would a ground wire heat up if touching the bridge cover? It doesn't make sense.

Is there any active circuitry in this bass? A shorting 9v could definitely heat something up.

SchizoBassist · #15 12-02-2010, 04:33 PM

You won't regret a warm cover with a long winter ahead.. I'd wait for spring before doing anything about it. Until then, just try not to play barefoot in the snow.

GARGOIL · #16 12-02-2010, 04:34 PM

Bridge cover screws are small compared to bridge screws. you put it right through the wire. If you take the bridge off you will see a bare wire that is making contact with the bridge. The wire comes out from the electronics side so pull it out and replace it. should take 20 minutes with a soldering iron.

christw · #17 12-02-2010, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiomitch

Why would a ground wire heat up if touching the bridge cover? It doesn't make sense.

Is there any active circuitry in this bass? A shorting 9v could definitely heat something up.

My thoughts as well, but if it's a dead stock RW, I'd hope there isn't a 9V in there.

GARGOIL · #18 12-02-2010, 04:40 PM

Still the hot screw has me baffled too.

Billy3000 · #19 12-02-2010, 04:41 PM

whenever the ground wire got cut it must have released the tiny fire breathing dragons that were hiding inside of it. It's the only explanation.

GARGOIL · #20 12-02-2010, 04:45 PM

It is getting close to Christmas so it has to be heatmiser taking up residence under the pick guard!