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Ibanez soundgear Knob failure

terran236

terran236

Guest
Jan 7, 2013
9
0
#1
So i will try to be as concise as i can be while giving as much detail as possible!

I bought this bass.
Ibanez SRFF806 Fanned-Fret 6-string bass - Walnut Flat

It has 2 bartolini pickups. They sound great, it plays amazingly. but the eq knobs are failing.

Sometimes only the bass knob wont work, sometimes only the treble wont work. and now the treble boost function (treble knob when EQ is off) wont work at all.

The wiring in the cavity looks like a nightmare!!!! The treble pot looks different than the other 2. It seems to have a little green pcb on it.

Thank you for your time.
 
#3
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As justforsport mentions pots tight? Secure to the bass as well as not to sloppy internally?
Look for any obvious broken connections/shorts in the wiring cavity. A multimeter to check continuity of wire paths could help eliminate possibilitys and is simple to do. I'm not familiar with that bass but my cheapo ibanez had a bad solder joint from the get go. And the pots seemed sort of cheap in that they got crackly with dead spots in them within a month.
And if your not comfortable poking around, warranty?
 
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#4
thank you for your responses! Everything seems tight as can be. I notice when i wiggle the bass knob (as hard as one can wiggle a knob within a pot), there is sort of a pop in and out of the bass knob working. But even then the treble boost wont work. if it is a faulty pre amp, i wouldnt mind replacing the whole thing. Maybe the pots got beat up during transport. There is no repair center near me so i wouldnt mind rewiring it my self.
 
#5
sorry to bump this, but what kind of pots should i buy to replace the old? Is there such thing as mini pots made JUST for EQ of a bass? If necessary id be able to take pics of the bass's guts.

Also, would it be possible to replace all the electronics besides pickups with another brand? Just curious. Thanks for your time.
 
#6
Does that preamp have a module with all the wiring to/from it, or the PCB type preamp?
If it's the module type, pots are cheap, should be 50k linear, and an easy swap, if you're up to soldering them in.

Edit: Sorry,typed this up a while ago, between things, and didn't hit 'Post'.

Yes, mini 50k linear pots are avail, just check to see if the pots are separate from the preamp.

IMO, I'd go with a pot change first, rather than a preamp swap, as it's way cheaper, and I like the mid-sweep Ibanez better preamps have. With the right strings, setup, and EQ, it's very versatile. And strings that don't match the bass will sound like (whatever you prefer to call it) regardless of the preamp.
 
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#9
JustForSport said:
Re- read the OP, and it could just be an intermittant ground issue.
Click to expand...

thanks alot for response i really appreciate it, you put my mind at ease. Yea the problem is definitely minor. The bass eq knob is only responding half the time. One of the wires that goes to the bass pot-although shielded-was touching the volume knobs pcb.

These intricate wire schemes are just so messy, id say they should really make the cavities just a bit bigger.
 
#10
Nice you found that problem-
yeah, not much room in some of the cavities.
Bundling the wiring in sections with mini tie-wraps helps,
and there used to be a clear insulating film/sheet about .010" that radio and some other electronics had between components that could be used as a divider. Don't know what it was made of, tho.
 

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