For the love of god, can someone please help me? (Bass wiring)

[ReeseyC]

So for right now it seems like I have a few things to try:

1) Switch back to the original output jack with the plastic housing (in case the new jack is touching the sides of the cavity and causing a short);
2) Remove the 3-way switch from the circuit;
3) Check pots and connections with multimeter.

I'll give these a try and see what happens

 

[Rolling Thunder]

grounds the toggle

That stuck out to me too and is not wired how the diagram is laid out.

If I were the OP I would check for continuity in each connection. Sometimes it comes in unexpected places. On one build it was the grounding lug that gets bent to the back of the pot. Despite physically touching, I got spotty continuity.

Also, I would recommend making a diagram of how its wired. That way people aren't asked to visually diagnose a tumbleweed of wires. There is software for this as well as good 'ol pencil to paper.

 

[ReeseyC]

Who made the pickups? Most suppliers have wiring diagrams on their websites, but they're all pretty universal. An active pickup typically has a signal and ground which are treated the same way as the leads from a passive pickup, plus a positive lead which gets connected to the positive lead from the battery. Sometimes the signal and ground are just one shielded cable, where the signal is the inner wire and the braided shield is the ground.

I have no idea who made the pickups. There's no branding or anything, and Brice didn't have any specs or documentation for this bass, so it's a mystery. I know the Invalid Link Removed pickups would fit if I swapped them out, but I don't want to spend $200+ on new pickups if the current ones are fine. (Besides, unless I figure the wiring out, the pickups won't matter.)

 

[Rolling Thunder]

So for right now it seems like I have a few things to try:

1) Switch back to the original output jack with the plastic housing (in case the new jack is touching the sides of the cavity and causing a short);
2) Remove the 3-way switch from the circuit;
3) Check pots and connections with multimeter.

I'll give these a try and see what happens

I'll bet my next paycheck that #1 is a non-issue

 

[ReeseyC]

If I were the OP I would check for continuity in each connection.

Yeah, it looks like that's the next step from here.

Also, I would recommend making a diagram of how its wired. That way people aren't asked to visually diagnose a tumbleweed of wires.

I can do that (and probably will if the steps I try next don't work); I posted the tumbleweed just in case there were any experienced solder...ers out there who could quickly identify a bad joint.

 

[dwizum]

I believe all non-grounded components are isolated.

Don't believe, know! Your multimeter will make this black and white. IME the majority of "I get no sound at all" issues are due to an unintentional short, or a bad jack. The multimeter can tell you exactly what the problem is so you done have to guess or try fixes until you hit the right thing.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

Releases · bancika/diy-layout-creator

Here is a link for some great software. As with all new tech, there is a small learning curve but the pay-off is significantly increased organization/trouble-shooting. Its like having a road atlas in your car.

Here is an example that I did. Just imagine diagnosing my diagram vs. a phone pic of jumbled wires.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

Yeah, it looks like that's the next step from here.



I can do that (and probably will if the steps I try next don't work); I posted the tumbleweed just in case there were any experienced solder...ers out there who could quickly identify a bad joint.

Its all good. Your pics are pretty good compared to some others I've seen. A lot of people post one pic that is low resolution and most points are obscured. Just trying to help because I've been there too.

 

[Basslice]

Reesey: Take a look at this page. It is so closely relate to what you are dealing with.

How not to mess up a soldering job | stewmac.com

 

[Killed_by_Death]

After reading through this train-wreck, I'd suggest the OP take his instrument to the most reputable stringed-instrument repair-person.
The OP doesn't know how to troubleshoot using a multimeter. It's possible to learn, but I think it's beyond the scope of a thread like this.

 

[Basslice]

Reesey: And this...

Adafruit Guide To Excellent Soldering

The top picture on the site highlights this the best. Sometimes it looks obvious, but unfortunately many times NO ONE can tell for sure by just looking. This is why airplane turbine blades are X-Ray'd because you can't see the metal-to-metal joint or cracks under the surface or underneath a ball of solder.

Did you do any of the following:

• Did you use external flux on the surface of the wires and pot?
• Did you tin the wires and pots before bonding?

If not either one or two, consider it for the future.

 

[Matt Lake]

Ok, dumb question...The front of the lugs on the pots are not shorting to the foil, are they? I had to put electrical tape on front of my pot lugs to keep from grounding out. Hope this helps.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

Ok, dumb question...The front of the lugs on the pots are not shorting to the foil, are they? I had to put electrical tape on front of my pot lugs to keep from grounding out. Hope this helps.

How does the copper foil ground out to the pots? All the pots should be grounded to each other, the output jack, the bridge, and the pickups. Everything should be grounded to each other....copper foil or conductive paint as well.

I even go so far as to strip the cloth completely off a wire and run a jumper from cavity to cavity.

 

[Matt Lake]

When the nut pulls the pot up against the foil, the wire connection lugs can sometimes contact the foil. Know what I mean? Like if the foil doesn’t stay flat against the body, it could touch the positive wire connection from the pickup.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

When the nut pulls the pot up against the foil, the wire connection lugs can sometimes contact the foil. Know what I mean? Like if the foil doesn’t stay flat against the body, it could touch the positive wire connection from the pickup.

Ok. I'm saying that I ground the copper foil tape to the back of a pot. If its grounded to a pot it is therefore grounded to everything else. If that's the case, what difference does it make if a pot is in contact with the copper foil?

 

[Matt Lake]

Sorry, I’m not being clear. I mean the leads going to the pot.

 

[ReeseyC]

UPDATE:

Last night I took everything out and started the rewire from scratch. I took the advice of some of the folks in the thread and removed the 3-way switch from the circuit, and I went back to the old jack (just in case the new one was creating a short). I also worked off of a different wiring diagram this time (just a simple VVT active bass setup) — I'm not certain if the issue was the jack, the 3-way switch, or something with the wiring connections, but whatever the original cause, I plugged it in and wouldn't you know it: my bass works again for the first time in years, and it sounds great.

A huge thank-you to everyone in this thread for their advice and guidance. I have a few other basses, but none of them give me the same tone as my fretless, and from a sentimental-value standpoint I'm glad I could get my very first bass back up and running. Thanks again, everybody!

 

[Basslice]

Awesome!!!! Glad it worked out!

 

[dwizum]

Glad it worked out. Accomplishing things like this yourself can be frustrating but also very rewarding!

 

[ReeseyC]

Glad it worked out. Accomplishing things like this yourself can be frustrating but also very rewarding!

It's definitely been a bit of both, haha. But I'm glad it worked out — I'd much rather learn how to do these kinds of projects than have to take my basses to a repair shop every time a pot goes bad. Now if I can just learn how to properly use a multimeter, I'll be set