• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

what's that wire on the left? a ground?

#25
macburner said:
thanks for the quick reply! one more question then (being lazy about reading up on it at the moment). Installing a Pure Vintage 63 pickup that only has one black and one white wire. The pickup that came with the bass (MIJ Traditional 60's Midnight Precision Bass) has two black and one white wire. Curious about the difference between the two pickup designs.

View attachment 4131008
Click to expand...
No idea on that one. Splits are wired together in series. You're then left with one hot and one ground. I have no idea what the other black is for. Unless maybe to run to shielding. Either way, I'd just run them both to ground.
 
#26
got one of these

wire 4.jpg

did my first round of so-so soldering like this

wire 5.jpg

= no sound :roflmao: tried my other bass with zoom u-24 unit I have and that works fine.


So it's either A) wired it wrong B) did a really bad job at soldering C) pickups bad?

WIRE 6.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: CatchaCuda
#27
macburner said:
got one of these

View attachment 4132208

did my first round of so-so soldering like this

View attachment 4132209

= no sound :roflmao: tried my other bass with zoom u-24 unit I have and that works fine.


So it's either A) wired it wrong B) did a really bad job at soldering C) pickups bad?

View attachment 4132226
Click to expand...
That black soldering looks sort of rough, no offense. Practice makes better.

Do you have a meter, maybe check for continuity between the back of the tone pot and the base under your pickup.
 
#29
That fender diagram seems to rely on shielding as the ground...

You could always test your pickup by putting the leads on the end of an instrument cable...alligator clips, hold them there, whatever works. But your meter likely has a function that will beep when there's continuity between the 2 probed points.

And because I talked smack on your soldering. Here's the first pot I ever tried to solder, on the right. A more recent on the left (green wire).
IMAG1931.jpg
:roflmao:
 
#33
macburner said:
soo I think my new pickups are dead. does that happen often?

I fully removed the new ones and tested

my old pickups read "8.93" ...not sure exactly what that means

the new pickups had no reading whatsoever

meter set to the following settings

View attachment 4132403
Click to expand...
The winding is likely broken somewhere. :thumbsdown: I've never had it happen, but it's surely possible.

Can you see the tiny leads coming off of the pickup and soldered to the bottom? You could measure resistance at the solder blobs for each half and determine which side (EA/DG) has the issue.

Where did you get those from? Any chance of returning them?
 
#34
macburner said:
soo I think my new pickups are dead. does that happen often?

I fully removed the new ones and tested

my old pickups read "8.93" ...not sure exactly what that means

the new pickups had no reading whatsoever

meter set to the following settings

View attachment 4132403
Click to expand...
8.93 is the resistance in kilo ohms, your old one is in other words 8930 ohms. The PV63 should be around 12kohms.

Solder the black wire from the pickup to the VOLUME pot, and it should be working.

I always wire mine like this (just can't get my head around wiring the cap like Fender suggests)
https://d2emr0qhzqfj88.cloudfront.net/s3fs-public/2020-09/WKRL2_1.PNG
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: CatchaCuda
#36
"You could measure resistance at the solder blobs for each half and determine which side (EA/DG) has the issue."
  • tried it.....no luck
"Solder the black wire from the pickup to the VOLUME pot, and it should be working."
  • tried it.....to practice soldering.....no luck
go it on amazon and will try for return tomorrow and buy another set
 
#37
macburner said:
"You could measure resistance at the solder blobs for each half and determine which side (EA/DG) has the issue."
  • tried it.....no luck
Click to expand...

Can you explain what you mean by "no luck" here?

Did you get zero on both halves?

If so, can you show us exactly where/how you had the probes set up?

A zero reading on both halves would be consistent with no sound, and would indicate you have a short between your signal path and ground somewhere. That's a pretty common type of fault. It could be the solder point for the signal (white) wire is touching the ground plate under the pickups. Or it could be that the white wire is touching ground somewhere else/ Might be worth a close look over before bothering to make a return.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Polardog and CatchaCuda
#39
Ok - based on that, it seems there's a break in the #2 coil on the right of the photo. Can you test the #1 coil on the left the same way as the #2? By touching probes directly to the solder points on the coil? The way you did it, the #1 position you tested is essentially testing the entire pickup, not just the left coil. If you try the left coil right at the solder points and you get a reading, then you know there's an internal break in the #2 coil on the right. 99% of the time, when there's a break in a coil, it's exposed, i.e. right at the eyelet or somewhere else visible. Those can be easily fixed, so if you want to try rescuing the pickup, it might be worth looking at more closely.

...or just return it at this point, since it seems obvious you got a DOA.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CatchaCuda and Polardog

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back