If you only get crackling with the wireless and no sound with cable, it's likely the bass. Take it to a good tech, not GC.
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Bad pickups or bad output jack?
- Thread starter Sicel1304
- Start date
Here's where it gets confusing for me. From what I can remember, the issue started with a crackling sound coming from the amp, but after I turned the amp off and stopped playing for a while then turned the amp back on again, there was no sound.
Little bit too late for that, as I already dropped the bass off yesterday. But I'll take note if I have any further problems in the future.
Pickups can fail, leads or windings can disconnect or be cut. But it’s extremely unlikely once installed in a guitar. But a Jack is a mechanical connection with repeated engagement cycles and it’s under stress from the cable. Check there first.
That makes perfect sense to me: Crackling is often associated with a bad electrical connection, and once the connection fails completely you get no sound. My guess is that the guy who installed the pickups did a poor soldering job and there was barely a connection; then, when the bass got jostled around a bit it broke. Should be a simple fix.
In the meantime, here's a little entertainment for you:
D
Actually that's not confusing at all. Sounds like it's an intermittent connection that finally broke completely. Probably an easy fix. Most often it's the jack. Still, never let a guy who can't diagnose a faulty jack mess around inside your bass. Or outside for that matter! Hopefully he just had a bad day and can sort it out this time. Next time, bring it to a more experienced guitar tech/luthier.
It's really hard to offer help when over a few different posts we get different bits of the story.
If you're able to film a short video illustrating what works and what doesn't I'm sure we'll be able to help to some degree.
Ah, well, then I'll cross my fingers for you and hope you get it back soon and working as it should
Like others suggested, I'd also suspect the jack... but you need certainty not a suspicion
Hopefully you'll know soon!
Just to add one thing to all the good advice you’ve had so far:
Messy solder joints that are really close to one another can intermittently touch, especially if your digging in, slapping or dancing while you play. That would give you the same result. I had this on one bass where the output jack terminals were messy. It took a couple of looks and testing continuity before I noticed it. A quick clip of the offending excess solder sorted that for me.
Messy solder joints that are really close to one another can intermittently touch, especially if your digging in, slapping or dancing while you play. That would give you the same result. I had this on one bass where the output jack terminals were messy. It took a couple of looks and testing continuity before I noticed it. A quick clip of the offending excess solder sorted that for me.
Update: Just got off the phone with the tech from Guitar Center. He says the pre-amp is bad, and parts + labor to fix it would be somewhere north of $300.
He also said the alternative is just to rewire the bass as a passive instrument, and to do that would cost at least $150-$200 parts and labor.
I told him to just put the bass back together and I'd come and pick it up. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it now. Kinda bummed to be honest. I bought the bass as a "mint" condition item off of Reverb, had after-market mk5cbc Bartolini's in it, and now according to the tech, it would cost damn near the original price I paid for it to fix it.
So to reiterate, I'm not having GC fix it. Maybe I'll get a second opinion if I can find another shop around here. Until then, it's time to pick up the bass.
He also said the alternative is just to rewire the bass as a passive instrument, and to do that would cost at least $150-$200 parts and labor.
I told him to just put the bass back together and I'd come and pick it up. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it now. Kinda bummed to be honest. I bought the bass as a "mint" condition item off of Reverb, had after-market mk5cbc Bartolini's in it, and now according to the tech, it would cost damn near the original price I paid for it to fix it.
So to reiterate, I'm not having GC fix it. Maybe I'll get a second opinion if I can find another shop around here. Until then, it's time to pick up the bass.
The Guitar Center tech thinks it's a bad pre-amp. He quoted me a price of $352 to fix it, to which I said "Thanks but no thanks." I purchased a multi-meter that should be here sometime tonight and I'm going to see if I can confirm what he said, then I'm gonna go from there.Ah, well, then I'll cross my fingers for you and hope you get it back soon and working as it should
Like others suggested, I'd also suspect the jack... but you need certainty not a suspicion
What kind of preamp do you want? Even Bart preamps aren't always that expensive. In fact, there are lots of used preamps around here on TB.
IF you need a new preamp you can get some great sounding ones (with pots and all) for less than $200. Install it yourself and save $$.
You really have an opportunity here to explore some tones and learn a few things in the process.
That's the thing. I don't really know what I'm looking for in terms of a pre-amp, if anything.
I got a multimeter and soldering kit with the intention of trying to fix the issue myself, but I don't really know what I'm doing at all.
Well, enroll yourself in YouTube University- there is lots of good stuff out there about how to do what you're looking to do.
The biggest tip that I ever got was to solder everything up outside of the control cavity and then install it.
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