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Pickup resistance off

Heisenbass

Heisenbass

Supporting Member
Jan 19, 2014
679
764
Out of Berlin, Germany
#1
I have an old 1985 Japanese-made Washburn double-humbucker bass (B-40 actually), which I bought used some time ago. It turned out that, while the bridge PU sounds ok, the neck pickup is barely audible. The active electronics works as it should, so I checked the resistance: bridge PU reads 13k, neck PU reads 43k, so something must be wrong here. The pickups are sealed and don’t look tampered with

Could anybody give me a clue, what might be wrong here?

Also, as I don’t think re-wiring would be a feasible option in terms of investment, could anybody point me at some cheap replacement soapbars (100mm x 45mm). Thanks in advance.
 
#6
It might also be a dry solder joint at the pickup wire. This is not uncommon with old fender style pickups. The solder at the eyelets gets grey and cracked looking, and needs reheating with some fresh solder. But I'm not familiar with your pickups. By sealed, you mean potted in epoxy or wax? Or maybe just glued in their cases?... Back when I used wind and repair pickups a lot, I was surprised at how many epoxy potted pickups would go open circuit with age...
 
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#7
RobbieK said:
It might also be a dry solder joint at the pickup wire. This is not uncommon with old fender style pickups. The solder at the eyelets gets grey and cracked looking, and needs reheating with some fresh solder. But I'm not familiar with your pickups. By sealed, you mean potted in epoxy or wax? Or maybe just glued in their cases?... Back when I used wind and repair pickups a lot, I was surprised at how many epoxy potted pickups would go open circuit with age...
Click to expand...

Thanks. I guess it is indeed epoxied. I will give it a try. Anything that sounds like a cheap solution. Have a great new year
 

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