mikegatward Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 (edited) I've taken delivery of a 1993 MC924 which I bought blind. It needs a bit of tlc but plays lovely. Only issue is the active circuit. when I switch the toggle to active, I get no sound (and yes, I did check the battery wasn't dead. Does anyone know about these ?. I have heard they can be troublesome and noisy. I'd be interested to know if anyone has repaired one of these or indeed replaced it with a more modern pre-amp. Edited October 10, 2012 by mikegatward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBassChat Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Make a photo and I'll try to tell you whether it can be fixed. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete1967 Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 [quote name='mikegatward' timestamp='1349428009' post='1826103'] Would also appreciate recommendations for a good guitar tech in terms of electrics in the Yorkshire or North West [/quote] I haven't used him personally, but I've heard good things about Fraser Callum in Leeds... [color="#009933"]www.fcstrings.com/[/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 The pre-amp in my Douglas 6-string fretless went West; I got a complete pre-amp harness kit from these folks... [url="http://stores.ebay.fr/The-GAS-Gear-Store"]http://stores.ebay.fr/The-GAS-Gear-Store[/url] ...and swapped out the whole thing in about 15 minutes. A couple of solder joints; that was all. It's been fine since. Not 'high-end', perhaps, but excellent result, for me. Hope this helps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 First things first. Are any wires not attached, are there any broken, or snapped parts on the circuit board. Detailed photos would give us a helping hand to try to help you. Look forward to seeing some photos and reading more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 that should be fixable I would have thought. They are supposed to be reasonably well made- turn up your amp, turn it to active and play with the knobs (esp the treble) is there any difference in the amount of hiss you are getting? It's one of those things I want to open up and fix! I like fixing things! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Inspect as suggested above, then look for solder joints that have a grey matt appearance / rough rather than shiny smooth. Look for cracks in solder where it meets components. Any that look like above (or dodgy) resolder, may need to remove old solder (sucker or braid) and use new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikegatward Posted October 7, 2012 Author Share Posted October 7, 2012 [quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1349560603' post='1827839'] that should be fixable I would have thought. They are supposed to be reasonably well made- turn up your amp, turn it to active and play with the knobs (esp the treble) is there any difference in the amount of hiss you are getting? It's one of those things I want to open up and fix! I like fixing things! [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikegatward Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 Here's a link to the piccies of the interiors. I unplugged to pcb to get better shots There's nothing obviously loose in there. Interestingly, the foam around the pcb has completely disintegrated and left a stick residue when gently brushed away - i wonder if thats affected some of the connections on the pcb ? The Aguilar 3 band is looking like a good option if this is not repairable [url="http://s1126.photobucket.com/albums/l614/mikegatward/ibanez/"]http://s1126.photobucket.com/albums/l614/mikegatward/ibanez/[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HADGE Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 [i]hi iv got a musician and its a great bass when i want anything doing to it i take it to musicscene mansfield they got a great guy who fixes guitars and sets them up took mine up he set it up perfect and only charged me £30 if you want his number its 01623 631174 there is another guy who is also good who mends guitars amps ect called dave ball number is 0115 9113964 hope this helps good luck.[/i] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 [quote name='mikegatward' timestamp='1349779476' post='1830317'] Here's a link to the piccies of the interiors. I unplugged to pcb to get better shots There's nothing obviously loose in there. Interestingly, the foam around the pcb has completely disintegrated and left a stick residue when gently brushed away - i wonder if thats affected some of the connections on the pcb ? The Aguilar 3 band is looking like a good option if this is not repairable [url="http://s1126.photobucket.com/albums/l614/mikegatward/ibanez/"]http://s1126.photobucket.com/albums/l614/mikegatward/ibanez/[/url] [/quote] try it with it open like that, could the old foam have served to insulate the board from the metal walls of the cavity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBassChat Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I needed a photo of the preamp and not the pot cavity . The preamp on the third photo looks lite typical old Ibanez preamp build with 3 inductors. If the problem is not related to the issue mentioned by Luke (desintegreted foam isolation), then the problem is with the preamp. And it can be easily fixed because it is very simple. Tantal capacitors in this preamp (little blue bulbs - photo #3) are components that quite often fail in old equipment. But don't replace anything until you know it failed. Another posibility is a lost of contact in the connectors between the preamp and pots and pickups, or failure of any of the pots. The guy who is going to fix it should have no problem finding what's wrong with the preamp. This preamp (when fixed) sounds different (some poeple say: better) than modern preamps - due to inductors used in the equaliser circuit. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikegatward Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 Looks like it's a preamp issue rather than the foam insulation idea. Am taking it in at the weekend to get looked at by Jack Ellis over on Manchester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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