indeed, if they can't troubleshoot a passive P bass wiring, you definitely need someone who knows what they're doing, because they don't.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Fender P, low output making it unuseable........
- Thread starter Aussie Player
- Start date
indeed, if they can't troubleshoot a passive P bass wiring, you definitely need someone who knows what they're doing, because they don't.
I take it you have no experience with guitar wiring. The 3rd lug of the volume pot is soldered to the body of the pot the same as the earth wire to complete that part of the circuit.
Unfortunately, it's a stupid easy mistake to make. Since they both look the SAME!!
(I agree with the point, but semantics on Christmas?)
Post-Christmas semantics: the correct phrase would be ". . . since they look the same."
". . . they both look the same" implies that one could look the same but not the other.
Yes you are right. As I stated in my observations: I am no electrician. I simply pointed out what I observed and how they.differed from each other.
But thank you for educating me further on bass Wiring.
So has a solution been found or are we waiting for the thread to reach 10 pages like always? 
This MIGHT be the answer. I had similar issues. Turned out to be the output jack was lightly touching the conductive black paint inside he cavity. An ohm meter showed 200 ohms to ground! Its amazing any signal got out at all. P.s. I had installed a buffer amp, with active passive switch. With the buffer on, it would blast through that partial short (200 ohms load!) but in passive mode was barely audible.
See my other comment. That hot contact on output jack is possibly touching the black shielding paint. Variable with vibration and side presume on the cable. Put a piece of black electrical tape over the hot side of that hot contact.
Sounds like the only thing they didn't replace was the capacitor. :-( I agree will a couple of the more serious posts (as opposed to throw more new parts at the problem). 1) Given all the parts are either new or known to be working as they are intended it has to be a ground issue. 2) Get a new tech if at all possible because a) He/they didn't test it before calling you which caused you to waste 280 miles worth of gas and several hours of your life & b) Because they are not following a logical process to diagnose the problem. You could ship it to a verified tech (as opposed to driving) if the one you used is the only tech close enough. There has to be several quality techs in Australia. Good luck.
Did your tech meter the pickups? Pickups often have shorts resulting in low output. A nice PBass pickup should read roughly 10k ohms.
Sound Laboratories makes some amazing PBass pickups called Chubby’s. They guarantee you’ll love the pickup or your money back. www.soundlaboratories.us
Good luck.
Lots of replies, but so far I’m the only one suggesting the output jack is touching the conductive paint… it fits the symptoms, and easy to miss. I did on my own pB for quite some time… it intermittently had huge drop in volume…
Not at all true that you are the only one that mentioned this. Check posts #13 and #17, for example; and, there are others.
Last edited:
Give that man a cigar.......
And thank you to everyone who guessed this as the issue.
Got a call from the tech today to tell me the guitar is fixed and the mistake was theirs for the above being the problem. The solution was to reverse the output jack which creates more space around the jack and eliminates the chance of touching the Fender conductive paint.
Some additional questioning of the tech determined he had been there 2 years and never had this issue before and had also worked on a couple hundred guitars over that same period.
The issue showed the value of these forums as once you get past the experts that condemn everyone and everything without offering any suggestions, we had a large group of people who both identified the issue correctly and the response which turned out to be accurate.
It always pays to remember that John Lennon had a tech put in an extra pickup into his walnut Les Paul, Jack Bruce had a tech add a diode to his EB3 to make it distort through any amp and the "crunch of the month" posted here when Paul McCartney pulled out his Rickenbacker bass in the Get Back movie and claim he didn't know what all those knobs were for..........There are obviously a lot more car drivers, than people who know how to build or repair them.
Thanks again everyone who posted the right answer and those that tried to help.
PS: Yes, after 560 miles back and forward to the shop, I did try it before bringing it home.
Gald its fixed! But yes something to be said for starting with the obvious and only thing that changed prior to the problem.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,005
- 1
- 31,700
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Yay! Congrats on finding the issue!
Now that it’s fixed, TB will spend two more weeks and four more pages suggesting possible causes.
Have you checked to see whether the output jack might be shorting against the shield?
Now that it’s fixed, TB will spend two more weeks and four more pages suggesting possible causes.
Have you checked to see whether the output jack might be shorting against the shield?
