basic pickup info please

[brendank]

hi there new to forum and the bass. bought a "project" RBX 170 from ebay 301025001104 - no specific mention of problem with pickup. As far as I can tell Precision /neck pickup has no output... 3 knobs, middle one and one at the back of bass affects output level (middle for volume of j-type pup in bridge position, rear knob blends both pups). initially ran multimeter over pots, de soldered p-type , no continuity when I connect meter to red and black cables... I'm assuming there should be continuity? told you I was new to this lark.
Haven't taken out pup but wonder if I'm looking at replacing pickup?
Bearing in mind £50 / $75 purchase price of bass, what's an appropriate level of pickup? prices? Recommendations? Opinions?
Cheers!!

 

[JustForSport]

The meter should be set to read 'ohms', and read maybe 7k to 9k.
Should've seen continuity, tho.
Pickup replacement choice is quite subjective, no opinions there.

 

[line6man]

Pickups don't fail often. It's more likely that there is a cold solder joint, or a broken lead somewhere.

 

[brendank]

with no continuity at the cables - already disconnected from pot in body cavity, is this indicating duff solder on the actual pickup or windings?

 

[JustForSport]

Yeah, pickups don't often fail, but I've run across a few open circuits.
You can connect the meter leads to the pickup leads, then move the pickup leads around a bit (or, as a last try, cut the leads really short, but enough left to extend them) to see if there's a break in them.
If nothing registers then, it's an open circuit inside- need a replacement.