active P pickup in my Peavey Foundation S is fuzzy

[Pickngrin]

I've had this bass for years, bought it used in the early 90s. It has 2 active pickups, P and J style. I find that the P pickup always seem to have a fuzziness to the sound, whether plugged in directly and through headphones, or into a bass amp. It's not like a hum that goes away when I touch the strings, but a fuzziness to the sound (without any overdrive). The cavity barely has any shielding, just a thin strip of copper. Would shielding likely help this? Is it possible that the active pickup 'went bad'? Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[luknfur]

Old bass like that with active electronics involved is more likely than not to have issues. My guess is you don't still have one solid state item laying around your house you had when you bought that bass (used no less).

Still FAQ Dimento's Trouble Shooting Guide.

 

[Pickngrin]

Thanks, I'll check out that FAQ. When you say it's likely to have issues, are you referring to the pickups specifically, or the pots and capacitors?

 

[fenderhutz]

Not to be the "dumb" one. Have you changed the battery?

 

[Pickngrin]

Not to be the "dumb" one. Have you changed the battery?

Yeah, sorry, I should have mentioned that in my initial posting. Brand new battery.

 

[luknfur]

Thanks, I'll check out that FAQ. When you say it's likely to have issues, are you referring to the pickups specifically, or the pots and capacitors?

Not familiar with that bass and assumed PV had a pre in with the active pups - usually PV's are large circuit board setups that work in nothing else. I'm not aware of any PV with active pups and passive harness. In fact, I really can't name an active PV bass pup.

In as much, my bet is the pups aren't active. That TS thread will tell you what you need to figure it out and test - assuming you don't know for a fact. If you have any doubts, wire the pup straight to the jack without the battery cause you could smoke the pup if you run a battery to a passive pup.

Most PV stuff is built like a tank but any old SS stuff is prone to fritz - active pups however are more reliable than passive in terms of malfunction.

 

[Pickngrin]

Not familiar with that bass and assumed PV had a pre in with the active pups - usually PV's are large circuit board setups that work in nothing else. I'm not aware of any PV with active pups and passive harness. In fact, I really can't name an active PV bass pup.

In as much, my bet is the pups aren't active. That TS thread will tell you what you need to figure it out and test - assuming you don't know for a fact. If you have any doubts, wire the pup straight to the jack without the battery cause you could smoke the pup if you run a battery to a passive pup.

Most PV stuff is built like a tank but any old SS stuff is prone to fritz - active pups however are more reliable than passive in terms of malfunction.

Hm, the pickups say 'active' on the covers and there is a 9v battery in the circuit. I will follow the troubleshooting guide. I think that wiring the pickup directly to the jack will help me figure things out. Thanks.