P pickups not working

[Purps]

Was playing my bass and noticed my p pick ups weren’t working (Currently using a Squire P bass). Opened it up only to discover two wires had fallen off where they connect to the volume knob. What should I do? How should I reconnect them? Any help is welcome, Thank you.
May be hard to see but the black and white ones are not connected

 

[Purps]

 

[96tbird]

Get them soldered back on. Either learn soldering or have someone do it for you.

The black wire is ground and gets placed on the can of the pot with the othe black wire.

The white wire is signal and goes on the pot lug. I can’t see from the picture but it goes on the lug next to the other white wire. The third lug should be attached to ground (look close at the lugs and see if you can identify where the white came off and if one outer lug is attached to ground.

flip the pot over. The left lug and the middle lug will be white wires and the right lug will be ground. Flip
It and Take a good pic so we can guide you.

 

[Snaxster]

Was playing my bass and noticed my p pick ups weren’t working (Currently using a Squire P bass). Opened it up only to discover two wires had fallen off where they connect to the volume knob. What should I do? How should I reconnect them? Any help is welcome, Thank you.
May be hard to see but the black and white ones are not connected

Hello. Can you show us a "top down" view of the whole circuit, without your hands? Like this:

 

[Purps]

Hello. Can you show us a "top down" view of the whole circuit, without your hands? Like this:


View attachment 4430843

My bad, I would but I took it to a small shop to get it fixed... And it fixed nothing. Went in twice and don’t wanna deal with it again so saving for another bass and will retire this one for a bit, Thank you!

 

[BlueTalon]

My bad, I would but I took it to a small shop to get it fixed... And it fixed nothing. Went in twice and don’t wanna deal with it again so saving for another bass and will retire this one for a bit, Thank you!

Not arguing against saving for another bass, but you have an almost perfectly good one already in your possession.

Did the guy(s) at the shop see the disconnected wires? I don't blame you for not wanting to go back there, but if you don't feel like spending a little for a cheap soldering iron, you should take it back there and show them what you showed us. It should be a 1 or 2 minute fix.

 

[Purps]

Not arguing against saving for another bass, but you have an almost perfectly good one already in your possession.

Did the guy(s) at the shop see the disconnected wires? I don't blame you for not wanting to go back there, but if you don't feel like spending a little for a cheap soldering iron, you should take it back there and show them what you showed us. It should be a 1 or 2 minute fix.

In the span one one day i went there twice, the first time he said he fixed it i went back to put my pick guard back and and the volume knobs were too close and wouldn’t go into the holes. The second time he said it was all goo. I had work the next two days so didn’t get to test it at all. I get home and plugged in, didn’t move a single thing and left it as he tested it. Only my P pickups work, j one doesn’t work but buzzes. And the Tone(?) knob in makes a louder buzz

 

[BlueTalon]

In the span one one day i went there twice, the first time he said he fixed it i went back to put my pick guard back and and the volume knobs were too close and wouldn’t go into the holes. The second time he said it was all goo. I had work the next two days so didn’t get to test it at all. I get home and plugged in, didn’t move a single thing and left it as he tested it. Only my P pickups work, j one doesn’t work but buzzes. And the Tone(?) knob in makes a louder buzz

Sometimes, the valuable lesson you learn in life is who not to trust.

 

[Purps]

Not arguing against saving for another bass, but you have an almost perfectly good one already in your possession.

Did the guy(s) at the shop see the disconnected wires? I don't blame you for not wanting to go back there, but if you don't feel like spending a little for a cheap soldering iron, you should take it back there and show them what you showed us. It should be a 1 or 2 minute fix.

Have any links on how to fix? Well, I need to see what’s wrong now because my issue has a now reversed with

Hello. Can you show us a "top down" view of the whole circuit, without your hands? Like this:


View attachment 4430843

Took it in only for it to have another issue, saw that he did some stuff the the knobs (think he connected the directly to the pick guard?). But now I don’t know if he retired something wrong or if there’s more snapped wires

 

[BlueTalon]

Have any links on how to fix? Well, I need to see what’s wrong now because my issue has a now reversed with

Took it in only for it to have another issue, saw that he did some stuff the the knobs (think he connected the directly to the pick guard?). But now I don’t know if he retired something wrong or if there’s more snapped wires

We can help you the best if you can provide some good pictures of the inside of your bass with the pickguard resting upside down, preferably pictures from a few different angles.

 

[Slater]

This is how I prefer to wire a passive P/J bass…

 

[byacey]

Don't take your bass to a toaster repair person; they'll have no clue what they are doing. Get it to a proper electronics technician or someone who specializes in musical instrument electronics.

 

[Purps]

Don't take your bass to a toaster repair person; they'll have no clue what they are doing. Get it to a proper electronics technician or someone who specializes in musical instrument electronics.

I took it to a close one a friend recommended, saw it had good reviews so why not. Not going back, learned how good they are

 

[BaileyMan]

If you were in SF, I'd say come on by. It should be an easy fix and I've got the tools for it. I'd be happy to do it for you.

 

[byacey]

That's a kind offer you made. Perhaps it's a good time to remind people that posting their geographic location (more or less) on their profile, can help in cases like this.

 

[BaileyMan]

Thanks. Just trying to help a bass buddy out. It pains me that @Purps is having such a hard time and run around for such an easy fix that the consideration for replacing the bass is on the table. Like others said, if you want a new bass go for it, you'll rarely come across anyone here who will try to talk you out of buying a new bass, but your pickup problem is totally fixable, as long as there's nothing wrong with the pickups themselves.

I started doing my own repairs under similar circumstances. I've had guitar techs totally botch simple jobs, I've had a luthier who builds very finely crafted instruments totally ruin a fretless fingerboard (had to send the bass back to the manufacturer and have a new board installed). I figure I can do a poor job for a whole lot less money. Turns out it's not that hard to do a semi-decent job.

Good luck!

 

[Purps]

Thanks. Just trying to help a bass buddy out. It pains me that @Purps is having such a hard time and run around for such an easy fix that the consideration for replacing the bass is on the table. Like others said, if you want a new bass go for it, you'll rarely come across anyone here who will try to talk you out of buying a new bass, but your pickup problem is totally fixable, as long as there's nothing wrong with the pickups themselves.

I started doing my own repairs under similar circumstances. I've had guitar techs totally botch simple jobs, I've had a luthier who builds very finely crafted instruments totally ruin a fretless fingerboard (had to send the bass back to the manufacturer and have a new board installed). I figure I can do a poor job for a whole lot less money. Turns out it's not that hard to do a semi-decent job.

Good luck!

Thank you! Am planning on buying a new cheap one and using my old one as a means of exploring the bass and learning how take it apart and reassemble it. To explore the wiring harness and pickups. To learn how to fix an issue in case I run into one again or have a friend in need of help

 

[BaileyMan]

Thank you! Am planning on buying a new cheap one and using my old one as a means of exploring the bass and learning how take it apart and reassemble it. To explore the wiring harness and pickups. To learn how to fix an issue in case I run into one again or have a friend in need of help

That's awesome! I hope you will enjoy the tinkering and fixing as much as many of us here have! It's so rewarding to be able to fix your own stuff.

 

[Purps]

That's awesome! I hope you will enjoy the tinkering and fixing as much as many of us here have! It's so rewarding to be able to fix your own stuff.

I have taken the pick guard off and just seen that one of the wires for the p pick ups is not connected, would it be wise to take everything out and put in new wires all throughout? Or should I reuse the wires it has now?

 

[BaileyMan]

You can reuse the wires, if you have enough length.

I recommend getting a small gauge wire stripper, cutting off the tip of the wire that came off, and stripping just a bit of the shielding to get some fresh wire that you can solder. Check you tube for some tutorials if you're new to this. It's pretty easy, but there are some helpful things to know.

I'm assuming you've also got a soldering iron and solder...