Flood Damaged bass

[Hilti1972]

Hello to all,

Not the nicest first time post but oh well, Some time ago one of my basses was damaged in flooding, it is a Hohner B bass. It may not be the best bass in the world, but it has sentimental value, the electrics are gone, but would it be possible to salvage the bridge and at a stretch the pick ups? to replace the whole innards and fixings would cost more than the guitars worth but i'm reluctant to get rid of these items if i can save them. not sure about the truss rod either. the water would have come up to the small horn.[attachment=134770:20130514_110735.jpg]

Hope someone can give me good news.

Thanks to anyone who reads.

[brensabre79]

Hey Hilti - welcome to basschat!

NOt sure what the damage would be to be honest. Yes the battery will have shorted the preamp so this is probably junk. As for the rest the pickups and bridge would potentially be fine once they've dried out. The real area to worry about is the wood. If water has gotten in to the wood it will most likely warp it. It probably has gotten in to the body, but the neck may have escaped if the water didn't get this high.

Put an old set of strings on it, you\ll probably have to set it up again, but see if its at least playable.

If it is, then you could either run it passive (Bypass the preamp) or fit a new preamp (you can get an Artec one from about £25).

[AngelLaHash]

I dont know what to think as most Electicals SHOULD have a Protective Coating from Water, (salt water im not that sure about and standing in Water for long time)

If i was cutting corners to make a cheap pickup i wouldn;t pot a protective coating on it, so that Might RUST up over time.
I guess the POTS will be rusting (the arms on them and mainly joints)
Goes for the switch too then (Basically a PCB board with a Arm that Runs over it, and for good connection i wouldn't put protection on it)

PreAmp PCB: that should be SEALED really, just joints might need to be re-done and parts re-placed
But on the Cheap, you cut back on Sealing PCBs

Body: ANY hole water can get in to wood it will, ie screw holes.. Can only dry it out the best you can without OVER DRYING

Metal Work: Ive not see that much RUST on Bridges, but the screws are the first point of Rust .

[icastle]

[quote name='AngelLaHash' timestamp='1368533260' post='2078049']
I dont know what to think as most Electicals SHOULD have a Protective Coating from Water, (salt water im not that sure about and standing in Water for long time)
[/quote]

The components have, but the circuit boards they sit on don't.
Water, particularly water from a flood, will have impurities in it which can, and generally will, provide a path to a short circuit as soon as they are powered up.

The answer is to remove the electronics completely from the bass and do NOT be tempted to power it up as this will definitely destroy something.

You'll need to remove all traces of water and the contaminants that were in it - I'd probably get a bottle of meths and just drop the whole lot into that.
It'll remove the contaminants and displace any remaining water with a fast evaporating alternative.

Meths can leave a 'film' and, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what it is.
It does come off with switch cleaner and a 1" paintbrush though.

Once everything's been washed down, dried out and reassembled then you stand a chance of fault finding.

[Hilti1972]

Thanks for the replies folks. Maybe i got lucky in that the bass was in a padded gig bag at the time, not much protection but better than nothing. The electrics, switch, jack, & volume/tone knobs are beat, thats not in question. The body & neck are one piece, and seem to be in pretty good shape considering. I left two strings on while cleaning & to be fair they play pretty well, no noticable wharping, neck seems pretty true. My main concern is the EMG pick ups & Steinberger bridge, a shame if I have to dump them. I can live with replacing screws and fixings.

[AngelLaHash]

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1368534931' post='2078078']
The components have, but the circuit boards they sit on don't.
Water, particularly water from a flood, will have impurities in it which can, and generally will, provide a path to a short circuit as soon as they are powered up.

The answer is to remove the electronics completely from the bass and do NOT be tempted to power it up as this will definitely destroy something.
[/quote]
I dont think so, if there is no Protection on the Copper Layers then its DEAD. The Battery is DEAD, as for short circuiting is Not any real Voltage ...
Ive not got time at the moment (doing Exams) I'll try and build a Stringray PreAmp LM4250 chip
Chuck it in Water for a DAY 24hr + and dry it out.. <never done this before, but ive also not stiched a Mans up together and put 400'000v volts in him>
I know the TRACKS will start to go, so can i put some protective layer on that.
If it dont work, then ill send all the parts to make the PreAmp, to Hilti.

Im Game,

[Hilti1972]

Thanks Angel, haha. I should state, all internals ahve gone onto becoming an art piece by my Niece's partner . The could not be saved. The pick-ups are still fixed and the bridge (see picture in original post). I [i]think[/i] the wood is ok.

[Hilti1972]

EMG select pick-ups £30 I thought they were more expensive.....

[MoonBassAlpha]

I'm pretty sure the pickups are potted in wax or resin. They should be ok, though the wires may need trimming back if the ends are corroded.
With the bridge, the grub screws will probably be rusted in. It might be worth removing and soaking in penetrating oil (WD40 type stuff) before trying to move them.

[Hilti1972]

Thanks MoonBass, that's the kind of thing I wanted to hear!

[AngelLaHash]

[quote name='Hilti1972' timestamp='1368561588' post='2078666']
Thanks Angel, haha. I should state, all internals ahve gone onto becoming an art piece by my Niece's partner . The could not be saved. The pick-ups are still fixed and the bridge (see picture in original post). I [i]think[/i] the wood is ok.
[/quote]
Fair enough, Im going to try and make a PreAmp from the Stingray Bass, I dont mind (one off) sending you the parts (Not including the POTS tho)
I got some LM4250 (but im not 100% sure if they are real you got to watch out with china)

Have a hunt around for Preamp that might suit you .. im going to be trying out some of the circuits myself, so do have a fair bit of parts

Edited May 15, 2013 by AngelLaHash

[Hilti1972]

Thanks Angel, I'm only learning about the electronics side of this, so, if you could tell me what I need to buy kit wise, I would be very grateful. I understand, pots, capacitors, with their values and how they influence the output sound, but do I need a pre-amp and an active circuit kit? If so I know all relevant parts come with, do I need a specific brand or type of kit?

[tonyquipment]

I would gut the electrics and start again if its not like a sponge already.

The body might be okay if you cook it a bit in an airing cupboard. How long was it submerged in water? You might get away if it was just dunked but if its been stewing for days on end then it's probably shagged.

[Hilti1972]

Tony, about 2-3 hours max, I was at work, living in Dublin. The day it happened I was to got straight from work to my home town of Derry & had to return home as I had forgotten something. I wouldn't have known about the flood for 3 days had I not returned! The body really does seem sound. I'm going to replace all the electrics but I am unsure of what is required. It was an active bass but I may just kit it out with passive.

[tonyquipment]

I'd gut the body and dry it out in the airing cupboard. Or if you have de humidifier use that.

The electrics are most certainly junked.

Other hardware, well I guess you can say its the relic look!

[AngelLaHash]

As far as i see things a POT is a POT some may turn better and click but they all do the same thing.

I was talking about PreAmp (ie needing a battiery I'm just trying to move on to PreAmp) but no you dont need one

I guess Talking 3 Pots (2 Volume for each Pickup and one for Tone)
Cap for the Tone (Normally I've been seeing 47nF same as a Strat uses but i did have one that had a 100nF) I can send a 47nF and 100nF [if you like]
Jack Socket (Mono) (I've been mainly working with P-Bass because there common and cheap, but i tend to put a Jack on the side) [Ive got a Jack Socket I dont know if you would need a plate around it, i got a '0' and i think i got a Square]
Pots mm normally every thing seems to be 500K or 250K, I normally see is B250K/B500K for the Volume and A500K/A250K for the Tone, i should have some around but they ain't CHUNKY (some people seem to have a FETISH for Chunky)

Well just tried to look up whats in the guitar, how about looking it this way.. YOU HAVE a BLANK Guitar, its yours and you can do what you want.
So saying that you HAVE to have Jazz Pickups Shape of the guitar, after that you got 3 Control knobs and 1 Switch and i think a LED (hay can change that to another switch if you like) also guessing it is ACTIVE GUITAR ie has a 9v Holder.
So knowing that any thing you LIKE .. or others can suggest to do

Ive got a few parts and willing to send to you as i Said (Caps, some Pots, Some Jack, 9v Clips) CABLE might look funky with Earth Live and Neautral (i can never spell that and im a Sparkie too)

----
Just waiting for 2M2
Tuesday I plan to chuck a PCB board in water for two days and see how it turns out,
I still plan to do a preamp, just want a coatin on the tracks like PCB boards have
No protection else were, see if I have to eat humble pie mmm

Edited May 19, 2013 by AngelLaHash