Fender P, low output making it unuseable........

[mcnach]

Try a different cable and/or amp.

 

[Aussie Player]

Try a different cable and/or amp.

Covered within the thread. Multiple cables and amps were tried up front.

 

[Black Out Jazz]

Classic TL ; DR, right?

 

[Aussie Player]

Did the shop throw some petrol money your way?

No Charge for the repair.

 

[dwizum]

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?

I agree it's good that the problem was solved.

That said, I'd like to make a suggestion that hasn't been made yet: it may be the case that the jack is shoring on the shielding paint.

 

[Aussie Player]

I agree it's good that the problem was solved.

That said, I'd like to make a suggestion that hasn't been made yet: it may be the case that the jack is shoring on the shielding paint.

That was already suggested and included within my response on this page and was the cause.

 

[Black Out Jazz]

I agree it's good that the problem was solved.

That said, I'd like to make a suggestion that hasn't been made yet: it may be the case that the jack is shoring on the shielding paint.

lol

 

[Kevin Colt]

View attachment 4516396 Is the jack connection touching the shielding paint when the pick guard is installed? Does it work with the pick guard off as in the photo?

that looks like it. also, on the volume knob, I'm not sure if that third lug should be grounded. I could be wrong about that but you're right. that jack looks iffy.

 

[straussenburger]

Hi guys! Sorry for reviving this thread but I thought it didn't make sense to make another one. I'm having the same trouble, low output from the PBass. It has worked fine for +15 years in my hands. Is there something wrong with the wiring?

 

[LoveThatBass]

You may have over heated the volume pot while soldering. Do you have an ohmmeter? If no volt ommeter then you can try temporarily jumpering the center lug of the volume pot directly to the output jack and with the bass (volume on 10) plugged into the amp do you get good sound? If so then replace the volume pot and do not overheat the pot.
If you have a meter need to turn the volume pot to 10 and measure between the ground lug and the center wiper lug (that the pickup is connected to) you should read about 10K-12K (resistance of the pickup). Note: if you read very higher than about 20K then the pot or pickup has a problem. Same if you read very low resistance. Then measure the non grounded outer lug to the center wiper. It should read near zero ohms (less than 1 or 2 ohms

 

[straussenburger]

I measured that using the jack input and it read 23,3K. That means it's probably the pickup that's faulty?

 

[Aussie Player]

Reverse the output jack.
Have seen that on 3 P basses recently. 2 in the past month. I reversed the jacks and the problem went away, immediately.
Best I can come up with is that the arm on the jack comes in contact with the bass body sometimes when the plug is inserted. Once it is reversed it cannot contact the body so the short is eliminated. 3.0 for me.

 

[Aussie Player]

Unfortunately you don’t have the bass in hand so you can’t do most of this. First, I’d start by visually inspecting all the solder connections and to see if any “hot”’connectors are touching ground, either on a potentiometer or the shielding, if any. Then, I’d reflow all the solder joints because even one that looks ok could be causing an issue. If that didn’t fix the problem I’d connect the pickups directly to a test jack I have with alligator clips. If the pickup tests good then add one component at a time back into

I’d bet though that lly touching

I’d bet though that it’s a bad solder joint or, if the controls are shielded, the output jack partially touching ground.

Matt was dead on with his post. That's exactly what it is.
I later found 6 soldering diagrams for a P bass, many varied, but all had the contact arm of the output jack on the outside point of the pickguard.
The jack needs to be turned about face and that problem will never reccur.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Matt was dead on with his post. That's exactly what it is.
I later found 6 soldering diagrams for a P bass, many varied, but all had the contact arm of the output jack on the outside point of the pickguard.
The jack needs to be turned about face and that problem will never reccur.

It’s nice when it’s something simple!

 

[Tim Schnautz]

Matt was dead on with his post. That's exactly what it is.
I later found 6 soldering diagrams for a P bass, many varied, but all had the contact arm of the output jack on the outside point of the pickguard.
The jack needs to be turned about face and that problem will never reccur.

Unless I’m missing something, it’s odd to me that after all this time it’s now started to act up.

 

[Aussie Player]

Unless I’m missing something, it’s odd to me that after all this time it’s now started to act up.

Yep, that's life.