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P bass straight to the jack (yes, this again)

southshoreconor

southshoreconor

Oct 30, 2007
802
11
39
The Road
www.myspace.com
Disclosures
Endorsing Artist: Fender Musical Instruments, SIT strings
#1
i just got my MIM p bass back from a friend (in pieces) and want to do some mods. i have a SD 1/4 pounder, i just want to wire it straight to the jack.

yes, i've searched for the topic.

no, it's not "that simple" because im not getting any sound. the cord and amp work perfectly fine.

IMG00260.jpg


the white wire is connected to the tip, the black is connected to the sleeve. is this correct? are the split coils even connected to one another correctly? where should the ground from the bridge go? i need this explained very literally. i've done work with a soldering iron before and have had no problems - i put the pickups in the bass in the first place following the SD diagram. but now that it is completely in pieces i'm lost. thanks in advance.
 
#3
You might have a dead pickup. Have you checked it with a meter?

Edit: You don't have to unsolder anything to check. Set the meter to the 20 K Ohm scale and carefully (don't mess up the skinny coil wire) put the probes on the solder blobs where the two long leads are soldered (one lead on each coil) and see if you get a reading on the meter. No reading = dead pickup.

Solder the bridge gound to the same lug as the black pickup lead (assuming you have it soldered to the correct lug).
 
#7
GlennW said:
You might have a dead pickup. Have you checked it with a meter?

Edit: You don't have to unsolder anything to check. Set the meter to the 20 K Ohm scale and carefully (don't mess up the skinny coil wire) put the probes on the solder blobs where the two long leads are soldered (one lead on each coil) and see if you get a reading on the meter. No reading = dead pickup.

Solder the bridge gound to the same lug as the black pickup lead (assuming you have it soldered to the correct lug).
Click to expand...

i dont have a meter but i' think this is the problem. i'm 99% sure everything's wired correctly now, and one pick up has very, VERY low output and the other does nothing.
 
#8
southshoreconor said:
i dont have a meter but i' think this is the problem. i'm 99% sure everything's wired correctly now, and one pick up has very, VERY low output and the other does nothing.
Click to expand...

Without a meter the way to test these is to solder the black and white wire from the jack to the terminals on just one pickup and test it. And then solder the wires the terminals on the second pickup and test it. Just tap on the pole pieces with a tiny screwdriver. If the pickup is working, you should get very loud clicks in the amp. Both pickups should have about the same output level if they are OK. Polarity won't matter for this test.

If they both test OK then wire them both as before. But now polarity will matter so if they aren't working right reverse the wires on one of the pickups. It sounds like one of the pickups is either shorted or open.
 
#9
southshoreconor said:
i dont have a meter
Click to expand...

A meter is so useful every bass player needs one (not only for pickup testing but also speaker testing and getting cabs Ohms right etc.) And the good news is that if there is a Harbor Freight import tool store near you (or go on line)

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So cheap you can't afford to be without one. And dig, periodically they have these things on sale for about three bucks! That's like they are giving them away!
 
#11
yep, dead pup. im kind of upset because i never REALLY got to use this bass with these pickups to their full potential. i had replaced them and had one band practice and went out and bought an MIA jazz which became my main bass for years.

anyway, can anyone recommend a replacement that'll sound good wired straight to the jack? (don't bother trying to talk me out of that) i was considering another set of 1/4 pounders, but i'm also thinking the dimarzio dp122's are right up my alley.
 
#12
If you like the QP I doubt if you can beat it for the same amount of money. You might like the Rio Grande Muy Grande. I got a used one off ebay and it was in the top three of my favs out of about 10 I tried.

You might be able to fix your QP, depending on where the damage is. If the wire is broken on the outside of one of the coils it's an easy, but delicate, repair. If you want, try your probes on both the solder blobs on each individual coil (one coil at a time). One will probably give a reading, and the other one won't. Look closely where the thin coil wire goes to the solder joints on the dead coil. Often the break is right there, in that little stretch between the coil and the eyelet. Sometimes the break is on the outside of the coil. If either is the case there's a good chance you can fix it.

Edit: Something else, if the dead coil shows no visible breaks in the wire, try re-flowing the solder in the eyelets. Just heat up the iron and heat the joints until the solder melts. That might be all it needs.
 
#15
By the way...P-bass straight to the jack sounds GREAT!

before you guys spend $$$ on new, beefier pickups try going straight to jack...

WARNING! Once you go straight-to-jack, it's hard to go back.


To the OP...get a multi-meter already...you should never do any electronics work without one...

by the way...shielding and bridge ground connect to the sleeve of the jack...that's your ground...your hot is the tip...as far as black vs. white...it doesn't matter on this particular installation.

almost forgot...no-sound could be external to the bass, too, ya know...check your amp & cord with a different bass & different cord...
 
#16
PilbaraBass said:
By the way...P-bass straight to the jack sounds GREAT!

before you guys spend $$$ on new, beefier pickups try going straight to jack...

almost forgot...no-sound could be external to the bass, too, ya know...check your amp & cord with a different bass & different cord...
Click to expand...

i don't have the original MIM pups anymore. those are long gone. so whatever i do, it's gonna be aftermarket, and its gonna be wired to the jack :D
also, like i said, the amp and cord are perfectly fine.

GlennW said:
If you like the QP I doubt if you can beat it for the same amount of money.
Click to expand...

the thing is i dont know if i like the 1/4 pounders. i never got a good trial with them, i threw them in as a very uninformed upgrade and switched to jazz basses shortly after. i like a hot aggressive tone. i know the mark hoppus P comes with these, the steve harris P comes with them and i like those basses a lot. but i also love jay bentley from bad religion's p bass tone. he uses the dimarzio dp122s and i believe he goes straight to the jack (live at least).
 
#17
PilbaraBass said:
By the way...P-bass straight to the jack sounds GREAT!

before you guys spend $$$ on new, beefier pickups try going straight to jack...

WARNING! Once you go straight-to-jack, it's hard to go back.


.
Click to expand...

What does going straight to the jack do for the tone? Is is that much of a difference from having the volume and tone knob maxed? I have never heard of this before, and am curious. I dig the minimalism idea, as I almost never touch the tone or volume knob anyway.
 
#18
engedi1 said:
What does going straight to the jack do for the tone? Is is that much of a difference from having the volume and tone knob maxed? I have never heard of this before, and am curious. I dig the minimalism idea, as I almost never touch the tone or volume knob anyway.
Click to expand...

if your volume and tone knobs go to "10" well....

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