Very low output from Jazz with both pups on.

[dave_bass5]

Ive just put a Wizard Jazz pup in the neck position in my HW-one. It works fine but when i have both pups on (stock pup at the bridge) the volume drops quite a bit.
I reversed the black and white wire from the Wizard and it seems ok now. Im guessing the pups were out of phase.
I wired white to white and black to black as the stock pup was wired.

Looking at both the Fenders and Wizards they do look like the black and white are reversed, not sure which is correct though.

Does it matter what colour goes to what lug, as long as both pups are wired the same?

I do plan on replacing the bridge one later this week but wanted to hear how different the 74 sounded in the neck position.

Edited September 5, 2010 by dave_bass5

[Ou7shined]

There doesn't seem to be a standard as to which is the black and which is the white. Basically you did it right, swap them about until it sounds right.

[ikay]

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='946831' date='Sep 6 2010, 01:05 AM']There doesn't seem to be a standard as to which is the black and which is the white. Basically you did it right, swap them about until it sounds right.[/quote]


Good advice - white is generally hot with black going to ground but unfortunately not always!

[dave_bass5]

Cheers guys.

So as long as both are wired in the same it doesn't matter what lead goes to earth and hot?

This is the first time ive changed just the one pup so i haven't noticed this before.

Good to know though.

[dave_bass5]

Another basic question.

I ran out of solder last night so need to pop to Maplins to get some more today. The stuff i had was the lead free variety. Is this a good one to use or should i be using something else?

This is what ive been using
[url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=43001&OrderCode=N34BJ#spec"]Solder[/url]

Cheers.

[Ou7shined]

Lead free has two benefits for us bassists -
1 the smoke from it won't make you go prematurely mental.
2 it conducts audio signals better than the standard lead laced stuff.

[dave_bass5]

Cheers.
Ive been using it for a while but its a tube i found at work, so i didn't actually buy it for this purpose. Its always seemed to work but thought i would check to see if there is anything better worth getting.

Edited September 6, 2010 by dave_bass5

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='946949' date='Sep 6 2010, 10:13 AM']Another basic question.

I ran out of solder last night so need to pop to Maplins to get some more today. The stuff i had was the lead free variety. Is this a good one to use or should i be using something else?

This is what ive been using
[url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=43001&OrderCode=N34BJ#spec"]Solder[/url]

Cheers.[/quote]

I used maplins lead free stuff for my pedal builds, I ran out and went to a old local store and he sold me a roll of old lead solder. Much better- it has a lower melting point so you can use less and get neater joints. With the maplin stuff i found i could only get it to melt onto the iron rather than heat the parts and melt it into that.

[dave_bass5]

Cheers Luke. Ill have a look around the local hardware shops on the way to Maplins tonight.

Funny you mention about not being able to heat up the parts. Ive been having that trouble. Not a big deal but it has been taking me longer than i hoped. I put it down to the iron only being 25watts so got a 40watt iron yesterday, ill see how that goes tonight.

[Ou7shined]

If your soldering iron starts to lose it's efficiency, scrape, sand or wire brush the tip until it's shiny (then re-tin it) and make sure that it is held securely in the shaft. 25w is fine for this kind of work. Be careful with that 40watter as you can melt the wire sleeves of the wires you are working on (and even melt sleeving in the vicinity) and kill heat sensitive components - they're ok for tacking stuff to pot casings etc. but again be careful not to over heat them.

Contrary to logical thought, too hot a soldering iron can set up a barrier between the thing you are soldering and the solder itself and it will just leak up the soldering iron.

Edited September 7, 2010 by Ou7shined

[dave_bass5]

Cheers for that.

While the 25watt is hot enough ive been finding the temp has been fluctuating quite a bit recently. Sometimes it takes 30secs just to melt the solder.
It seems it will only stay at its hottest for a few secs then cools down a bit. Probably broken as it used to be fine.
The tip is clean and shiny though.

To be honest i dont do a lot of this stuff but i can tell the last few basses have taken longer due to me having to wait for the iron to reach a high enough temp to do anything with it.