Older bass owners: How long before your electronics have given out?

I have a Vigier from 1992 and a MM from 1991 and both electronics and pickups are still working

 

well hey man, i know of some 50s Ps that still work great with original electros. so it might have been a problem that was always there and just decided to happen now.

 

Electronics shouldn't normally just "give out" as they get older. I believe there are components that can fail over time, like capacitors, but my impression is that even that is rare fairly rare.

What seems more likely to fail are components that move and are subject to wear and tear, like output jacks or battery connectors. That would be what I'd look at fairly closely. I've had many basses at least as old as your Pedulla--many with active Bart circuits--and I don't remember any preamps failing, but have had sveral output jacks go bad.

Mike

 

Hiya,

I have 3 active basses. so far, EMG (22), Peavey (20) and Status (19) years with only changing duracells.

I repaired pinball machines and juke boxes on the side when I was in college. It depends on what type of components are used as to the life span. Did you check to see if the battery voltage was getting to the preamp? The 9v battery adapter is normally the troublesome part in a 9v system, check it carefully.

Tom

Afterthought: Have you checked the output jack for tension on the contact clips, most active systems use one of the contacts on the jack to connect the battery into the circuit and if there isn't a solid connection, it won't provide the proper voltage.

 

The oldest bass I've owned was a '75 Alembic Series I, and the electronics worked just fine except for a couple tiny dead spots in one of the filter control pots.

 

I have 30 year old RD, which I ordered new.
No electronic problems ever!

 

My old Fenders have never had any problems of any kind, and the Precision has been played almost daily in its 46 years of existence (although only a small part of that by me).

Of course, the more electronics you have in a bass, the more can go wrong, and it doesn't get much simpler than a Precision

I'd try changing the battery on that Pedulla (which you have done) and then plug in the jack with the amp turned on and slowly twist it around a bit to see if you can catch some noise that way (which would mean a loose spring in the socket), and also twist all knobs in all directions. If none of that helped, I'd give it to a tech for examination.

I actually once played an 80's Rick which I at first thought was completely dead, as I had no signal - then I changed the cable to a Planetwaves (with the small springs on the plugs) and I suddenly had perfect sound coming from it. It was just a weak spring in the socket, and that happens when you use it a lot - and especially if you leave the cable in when the bass is in the stand (don't do that!).

 

Electronics are good, but as an older bass owner it seems my body is giving out!

Usual cleaning and maybe repairing a loose connection here and there seems to be infrequent maintenance.

 

I'm glad (but not surprised) that it was something so simple!

Mike

 

Man, he's the best. Really a great guy. I'm glad it was something simple and cheap.