My old bass don't work.

[Nia Koehn]

Interesting, I would have thought they used VVT. I’m personally a fan of having two volumes rather than a blend, but OP’s bass, whatever his preferences are.

Any benefit to using VVT instead of VBT?

Well all the prewired ones ive found so far is all VBT.

 

[JoeWPgh]

Those are not the pots you want. Those are linear. You want "logarithmic" or "audio" taper. 250k is the standard value in a Jazz bass, but 500K will work too. I would go to Guitarelectronics.com, or stewmac.com. They should both have the parts and wiring diagrams, or you could google for a diagram.

 

[Reedt2000]

It sounds like you've already taken it pretty far apart. If it were me I'd have changed the jack first. It looks like a barrel jack and those things fail under the best of conditions.

Here's a standard diagram if your gonna change everything

 

[Nia Koehn]

Yes i noticed the difference between b500k and a500k. but the prewired one have both. the only difference is volume pot tapers at the start and tonal is linear. but all in all switchable. did my research thanks to the people here

Well i can go with both linear at least.

 

[Nia Koehn]

It sounds like you've already taken it pretty far apart. If it were me I'd have changed the jack first. It looks like a barrel jack and those things fail under the best of conditions.

Here's a standard diagram if your gonna change everything

View attachment 3076394

Yeah the jack definitely unusable, but one of the knob fails too so might as well.

That diagram really helps. I wasnt sure where the pickup should be soldered but that shows clearly where it goes.

 

[Reedt2000]

Yeah the jack definitely unusable, but one of the knob fails too so might as well.

That diagram really helps. I wasnt sure where the pickup should be soldered but that shows clearly where it goes.

It's not that hard. If your not experienced at soldering there are sure to be tons of YouTube video tutorials. All the parts you need are standard and can often be picked up at local guitar shops as well as online distributors like Stewart MacDonald and allparts.



You've got a pretty basic configuration, it's a great project to learn on.

 

[Bourbongangster]

Any benefit to using VVT instead of VBT?

Well all the prewired ones ive found so far is all VBT.

It's just a preference. Vvt is a volume for each pickup and vbt is one volume and a blend knob to blend the pickups. Vbt is how this model came originally.

 

[mcnach]

Score you dump too much into this bass, they routinely sell below $100. If it’s not an easy fix, it may be a better idea to replace than to repair. If you have nostalgia for this bass, then go for it.

 

[Reedt2000]

More pretty pictures

 

[Nia Koehn]

Found this :
KAISH Bass Prewired Wiring Harness Alpha 500K Mini Pots 2V1T 1 Socket for JB Jazz Bass-in Guitar Parts & Accessories from Sports & Entertainment on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

Will it work?
It's a VVT!
I'll make the order as soon as you guys give me the green light.
I can solder, but you guys know better.

 

[JimmyM]

Found this :
KAISH Bass Prewired Wiring Harness Alpha 500K Mini Pots 2V1T 1 Socket for JB Jazz Bass-in Guitar Parts & Accessories from Sports & Entertainment on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

Will it work?
It's a VVT!
I'll make the order as soon as you guys give me the green light.
I can solder, but you guys know better.

It will probably work, but for how long is the question.

 

[MrLenny1]

My guess is the input jack.
Corrosion is high resistance.
Good Luck.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Just saying that at some point, replacement really is a more viable option. A friend had the same bass. I restrung and fixed a few things for him. Put ~$75 or so into it thinking I was helping him. He sold it for $50 a couple days later.

 

[foolforthecity]

Sitting in a bag in a garage for years is not good for a bass that's likely sitting in a moisture-rich environment as compared to in the house. If you get it fixed I'd avoid a non-climatized environment moving forward.

 

[tpaul]

You can definitely fix it. Replace the parts that are broken. If you determine that you need new pickups, you'll get plenty of good recommendations here.

For testing electronics parts it helps to have some equipment, but you don't need to invest in anything expensive or complicated. I made a few circuit testing gizmos out of wire and alligator clips. Basically about a foot of insulated wire with an alligator clip soldered to each end. You can bypass any or all the controls with these - for example, to bypass the pots and jack and just test the pickups, just clip one end of each wire to the pickup wires, and the other end to the guitar cable (the tip is hot, the shaft is ground). Then tap the pickups with something metal. You'll hear it coming through the speakers. Cheap to make and they are useful in all sorts of situations where you want to bypass a pot, switch or whatever.

 

[Bassbubble11]

Just spray this everywhere..... lol. Seriously, works great.

 

[Kukulkan61]

By the time you get parts and possibly a luthier to repair it your better off waiting for a set of EMG Geezer Butler P/J pickups, it comes with everything you need to replace all the electrics with no soldering, it’s easy and the bass would be 100% better sounding. Look on here they come up used all the time...

 

[JoeWPgh]

The Geezers are great, and come with all the pots and jack. And it's a solderless hookup. But I do recommend using solder at the jack.

 

[dab12ax7ef]

It’s not about value, if it’s sentimental fix it up and keep and play it and be happy with it. Good luck, with some reasearch and info here it’s shouldn’t be that tough to get it in shape.

 

[ColonelZulu]

BEEN THERE DONE THAT WARNING:

Sentimental basses require dedication to restore.

Before you sink money into the electronics, you should go over the bass completely.

Check the bridge functionality. How about the tuners? See if the truss rod works to adjust the neck. Can you restring it? Can you intonate it? Will it hold tuning? Was the nut cut too low/high?

You don’t want to find out all these other parts of the bass have issues after you get the electronics working.

It’s similar to getting the engine started on an old car, only to realize the suspension is shot, the brakes are faulty, and the transmission needs to be overhauled.

And clean that thing!!!