It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:26 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 11 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: What's Wrong With My Bass?
Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 10:10 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Mon May 17, 2010 9:43 am
Posts: 23
Location: Modesto CA
Last week the strap slipped of my ACTIVE Jazz Bass and it fell face first onto the carpet. There was no damage to the finish, but the treble knob stopped working. Every time I rotated the knob it make that too-familiar scratching sound like a loose connection. Loud and annoying.

Last night I was playing thru my GK combo amp and my hand bumped the knob. It stared making that loud sound again. Then it made a constant high pitched noise and stopped processing the guitar signal.

The amp checks out fine, no sound problems with my other guitars. I ran my Bass thru another amp with the same high-pitched sound and no guitar signal.

Any way to diagnose the problem? Where do I start? Thanks. Here's a photo.
Image


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 10:18 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 6:23 am
Posts: 833
Without being able to examine it, I'd say it's likely your pot was damaged in the fall, and will probably need replaced.

_________________
'08 Fender Am. Std. Jazz bass, maple fretboard, charcoal frost metallic finish
'10 Squier VM Jazz bass, maple fretboard, natural finish
Ampeg BA115
'09 MIM standard Strat, maple fretboard, sunburst finish
Fender Super Champ XD


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 10:24 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Mon May 17, 2010 9:43 am
Posts: 23
Location: Modesto CA
I was afraid of that. On my way to the guitar tech's shop today.

Thanks a bunch for the taking the time to respond. I really appreciate it.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 11:44 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 6:23 am
Posts: 833
You're quite welcome.

_________________
'08 Fender Am. Std. Jazz bass, maple fretboard, charcoal frost metallic finish
'10 Squier VM Jazz bass, maple fretboard, natural finish
Ampeg BA115
'09 MIM standard Strat, maple fretboard, sunburst finish
Fender Super Champ XD


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 7:46 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:10 am
Posts: 1086
it's the pot i guess esp if it stopped working..

_________________
If I Like It...
I Just Do It...


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 8:08 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 6:23 am
Posts: 833
Leadfoot: Let us know how it turns out. I'm curious to find out if I'm actually right for a change. :D

_________________
'08 Fender Am. Std. Jazz bass, maple fretboard, charcoal frost metallic finish
'10 Squier VM Jazz bass, maple fretboard, natural finish
Ampeg BA115
'09 MIM standard Strat, maple fretboard, sunburst finish
Fender Super Champ XD


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2010 5:30 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2010 8:46 pm
Posts: 10
Here's hoping you only have a loose connection.

Jeff


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2010 6:03 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Mon May 17, 2010 9:43 am
Posts: 23
Location: Modesto CA
The guitar tech also suspects it's a bad pot, because the knob shaft is loose and you can pull it up/down. He plans on replacing it, so I hope that's the end of it.

I'll keep everyone posted once I have more info.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 9:38 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2010 9:21 am
Posts: 2
hi guys! greatings from Cluj-Napoca, Romania!

i have a question about 'something wrong' with my bass too.. sorry if this is off-topic or there's a topic about this somewhere else.. pls redirect me to there..

i have a mexico fender j-bass, bought from the States some years ago, i am the second owner.

the problem is this: i have that a humm and a hiss [only when i turn the TONE knob on] on any amps/preamps/mixers/headphones..
if i change my position related to the amp, the humm becomes softer, but the hiss is always there. the cables ar good, the outlet is ok, i also have a ground lift switch that doesn't do any good..


so..

i read about that a little bit and found out that re-soldering all the connections would be the first call. did that, nothing changed. then i found some wiring schematics on fender.com and tried to verify the connections with a AMERICAN STANDARD JAZZ BASS. there's a certain *mounting screw* from the schematics that i don't find on my bass.. i mean.. why should i link the ground to a screw that goes into the wood? :D

and after all of this i saw that there are j-bass noisless pick-ups, but that is way off my limits, because i don`t have the money for that. i also don`t know any fender service shop around me.

i thought i'd ask you guys, on this forum, because i know that somebody would have already had this problem.

[i went in germany to a really big guitar shop and tried some new j-bass out and it had the same noise.. is that because of to sensitive pick-ups?]

please give me any idea. tnx in advance! :)


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 1:16 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 6:23 am
Posts: 833
mikeru wrote:

the problem is this: i have that a humm and a hiss [only when i turn the TONE knob on] on any amps/preamps/mixers/headphones..
if i change my position related to the amp, the humm becomes softer, but the hiss is always there. the cables ar good, the outlet is ok, i also have a ground lift switch that doesn't do any good..


Does the noise go away when you touch the strings? That usually indicates a ground problem. You may need to check and see if the ground wire to the bridge is intact. Also it could indicate the bass is not shielded properly.
Quote:
so..

i read about that a little bit and found out that re-soldering all the connections would be the first call. did that, nothing changed. then i found some wiring schematics on fender.com and tried to verify the connections with a AMERICAN STANDARD JAZZ BASS. there's a certain *mounting screw* from the schematics that i don't find on my bass.. i mean.. why should i link the ground to a screw that goes into the wood? :D


I believe that screw is to connect the shielding to the ground. If that screw wis dsiconnected, that may be part of tthe problem.

Quote:
and after all of this i saw that there are j-bass noisless pick-ups, but that is way off my limits, because i don`t have the money for that. i also don`t know any fender service shop around me.

i thought i'd ask you guys, on this forum, because i know that somebody would have already had this problem.

[i went in germany to a really big guitar shop and tried some new j-bass out and it had the same noise.. is that because of to sensitive pick-ups?]

That's common with standard Jazz bass pickups. Being single coil, they are subject to noise unless, because of the way they are wired together, both pickups are at the same exact volume.

_________________
'08 Fender Am. Std. Jazz bass, maple fretboard, charcoal frost metallic finish
'10 Squier VM Jazz bass, maple fretboard, natural finish
Ampeg BA115
'09 MIM standard Strat, maple fretboard, sunburst finish
Fender Super Champ XD


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 2:08 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2010 9:21 am
Posts: 2
wowow! thank you so much for taking the time to reply..


...let me see if i got it right.. the 'humm' is that sound mainly on mid frequencies and the 'hiss' is that on the treble, right?

when i touch the strings most of the hiss goes off. but not all. [tnx, i'll have to check the bridge wire, still it doesn't come out :D] The hum remains unless i find a very precise spot related to the amp when almost all the noise goes off. i can`t find my words to explain this better: i walk around with the bass and rotate it until i find a spot where most of the noise goes off

about that screw.. isn`t what the bridge wire does? i mean.. that screw, needed for what? do you need 2 wires connected to the ground?

http://fender.com/support/wiring_diagrams_parts_lists.php

this is the list, the schematics i downloaded are on American Standard Jazz Bass. and that is the way the pickups are wired.. [i don't know if i chose the correct one, mine is a Mexico MN7 - * bass, from 1997, as i found out today :)]
so... you say that these 'series' pick-ups won`t do better? have you tried any noisless pickups? what do you recomend? for .. the lowest budget, the best quality? :D

i found some fender noisless jazz set, for about $170, but this is about the best price around here.. and that's Germany :|

tnx again for your time and i hope i hear more of you. looking forward to, i can tell you that!


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 11 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: