I’m new to the bass and know nothing about the wiring. My friend picked up my bass and the volume knob somehow became loose and when he turn it up the wiring was ripped off. I’ve searched relentlessly to find a wiring diagram or picture with no luck. Anyone have a picture or diagram for a Tobias IV Standard? The attached picture is the only one I could find but you can’t see very well and mine has an orange wire as well.
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Help! I’m new!
- Thread starter rodzilla74
- Start date
You've posted your plea for help in the double bass area, which is the wrong forum for electric bass problems. I've reported this, probably one of the administrators will move your request to the correct forum area so you'll get some help soon.
Don’t cut the orange one! BOOM!!
You can look on Seymour Duncan website for all kinds of wiring diagrams. If it is a passive bass it is probably very simple. You just need to figure out which lug is the ground lug and which is hot.
The grounds are usually connected all together on a passive bass.
There are probably stickies explaining all this.
You can look on Seymour Duncan website for all kinds of wiring diagrams. If it is a passive bass it is probably very simple. You just need to figure out which lug is the ground lug and which is hot.
The grounds are usually connected all together on a passive bass.
There are probably stickies explaining all this.
Thanks I tried Seymour Duncan with no luck. The orange one was already disconnected too. It is a passive bass. The ground is the only one I was sure of which leaves a red and white from each pickup (2) and the orange one. I’ve got 1 volume, 1 blend, 1 bass and 1 treble knobs.
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That was a super helpful response.
@rodzilla74 - When in doubt e-mail Gibson. They’re usually very good about sending schematics if you ask them politely.
P.S. - welcome to TalkBass! Always good to see a new member join the community.
P.S. - welcome to TalkBass! Always good to see a new member join the community.
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- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,013
- 1
- 31,725
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- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
This sounds like a relatively easy fix, but because you "know nothing about the wiring", you have two choices:
A quick Google search returned results for the "Epiphone Toby IV Standard" - is that what you have? If so, that model has a master volume, pickup blend pot, passive treble cut, and passive bass cut. Because you're going to be making some repairs anyway, this could be an opportunity to modify the wiring to a different layout if you want - IMHO, passive bass cut isn't terribly useful on a bass instrument. You could do Volume/Volume/Tone/Tone, or you could do Volume/Blend/ToneStyler/Tone, or you could drop in an active preamp if that appeals to you (there's plenty of room in that cavity for a battery). There are lots of ideas and schematics floating around on the InterWebz.
- Find a competent tech in your community and take it to them, or
- Do some studying on how passive guitar/bass electronics work, and learn how to fix it yourself
A quick Google search returned results for the "Epiphone Toby IV Standard" - is that what you have? If so, that model has a master volume, pickup blend pot, passive treble cut, and passive bass cut. Because you're going to be making some repairs anyway, this could be an opportunity to modify the wiring to a different layout if you want - IMHO, passive bass cut isn't terribly useful on a bass instrument. You could do Volume/Volume/Tone/Tone, or you could do Volume/Blend/ToneStyler/Tone, or you could drop in an active preamp if that appeals to you (there's plenty of room in that cavity for a battery). There are lots of ideas and schematics floating around on the InterWebz.
Yes, you described the exact bass I have to a “T”. I would rather repair myself and I have learned a lot over the past week researching this problem.
I like the idea of volume/volume/tone/tone as this is the most common I’ve come across in my searches and am confident I could do this myself just never dawned on me to do this (although I would still love to figure this one out). This is literally the first instrument I’ve attempted to play and having a blast so pretty bummed I can’t enjoy it at the moment. Would either of the setups you mentioned be best for rock/metal style music? Thanks for the response!
I like the idea of volume/volume/tone/tone as this is the most common I’ve come across in my searches and am confident I could do this myself just never dawned on me to do this (although I would still love to figure this one out). This is literally the first instrument I’ve attempted to play and having a blast so pretty bummed I can’t enjoy it at the moment. Would either of the setups you mentioned be best for rock/metal style music? Thanks for the response!
Thanks@rodzilla74 - When in doubt e-mail Gibson. They’re usually very good about sending scematics if you ask them politely.
P.S. - welcome to TalkBass! Always good to see a new member join the community.
Thanks I will give that a try! Thanks for the welcome as well@rodzilla74 - When in doubt e-mail Gibson. They’re usually very good about sending scematics if you ask them politely.
P.S. - welcome to TalkBass! Always good to see a new member join the community.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,013
- 1
- 31,725
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Love your enthusiasm! There is a wealth of information archived in older TalkBass threads, so spend some time using the search function (if you haven't already). I have learned tons here myself over the years.
Any wiring scheme will work for any style of music. It's really more of a personal preference thing. For instance, I usually like having a master volume (just one knob to silence the bass between songs), so I usually prefer either a Volume/Blend/Tone or a Volume/Switch/Tone setup. Others here swear by the dual volume layout. And, if you learn how to do your own wiring, you can try it one way, then change it up and try it a different way for a while, to see which you prefer.
One comment - In a typical Volume/Volume/Tone/Tone setup, either of the two tone controls will tend to act as a master tone control. In a fully passive V/V/T/T scheme, there is no practical way of isolating the two tone controls (at least not without losing some signal in the process), so many have found the second tone control redundant. But, since you already have four holes, it certainly won't hurt anything to go that route!
Any wiring scheme will work for any style of music. It's really more of a personal preference thing. For instance, I usually like having a master volume (just one knob to silence the bass between songs), so I usually prefer either a Volume/Blend/Tone or a Volume/Switch/Tone setup. Others here swear by the dual volume layout. And, if you learn how to do your own wiring, you can try it one way, then change it up and try it a different way for a while, to see which you prefer.
One comment - In a typical Volume/Volume/Tone/Tone setup, either of the two tone controls will tend to act as a master tone control. In a fully passive V/V/T/T scheme, there is no practical way of isolating the two tone controls (at least not without losing some signal in the process), so many have found the second tone control redundant. But, since you already have four holes, it certainly won't hurt anything to go that route!
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,013
- 1
- 31,725
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Found this post in an earlier thread with a great diagram - read the whole thread though.
250k/500k VTVT setup = 250k VVT setup in sound?
250k/500k VTVT setup = 250k VVT setup in sound?
Thanks for this extremely useful info! This seems to be the most logical route to get back to playing ASAP. Called guitar Center and they’re actually open today so goin to get some fresh knobs. Thanks again
madbass6
Inactive
- Jan 13, 2009
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- I do not give consent to use any of my photos ! please respect that. thank you.
Best advise I can give you
is take it to a pro tech!
as you yourself recognize you're new to this . not worth the risk of causing more damage .
Just curios what damage could come from miswiring a passive system? Melting wire's I understand.
The OP seems to be educated, and while not bass wiz, understands the value of a wiring diagram.
My guess... he'll eventually give a little more info and we'll find he's an electrical genius that helped to design the human waste system for the space shuttle. Btw welcome to TB Mr Walowitz.
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