neepheid Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 I don't know why I bother sometimes. 3 of my "family" are having problems just now - and it's been my tinkering which has caused it or made it more noticeable. 1) Cherry red EB-3 - there's hiss and slight distortion of the sound on anything other than full volume/full treble. Pots are crackly too. Sounds like the caps are poorly and the pots need replaced. Basically it needs a complete electrical replacement between the jack and the pickups. 2) Fecker Imprecision - I broke the wire between the two parts of the pickup as I was transplanting its innards to a temporary body (the original is to be refinished). I soldered it back, but it doesn't seem right - getting more crackles than I'd like when I touch strings/bridge. I'm vague because basically I got all downhearted and put it down and haven't looked at it since. Basically it's an electrics dismantle and rebuild, and I might have screwed the pickup. 3) OLP MM3 - the Artec SE-2A is making horrible crackling/popping/rustling noises whenever the concentric pot is turned. I am tearing my hair out at this one - I've even tried a replacement SE-2A board/concentric pot in there to no avail. I cannot figure out where the noise is coming from - I can't get the noise to map to any wire that I wiggle, and if I hold the pot and turn it there's no noise, so I don't think it's the pot. Earlier today I considered breaking up the MM3 for parts and flogging it, that's how annoyed I was. I've calmed down a bit now, but sometimes it all stacks up against you and you really do wish you'd just left things alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Have you got a dodgy lead?!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 [quote name='bilbo230763' post='234852' date='Jul 8 2008, 11:37 AM']Have you got a dodgy lead?!![/quote] Nah, lead(s) work fine with the basses which are behaving themselves/I haven't messed about with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Pots may be dealt with by a squirt of WD4O? - can't help with the internals, tho', I know NOTHING! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnylager Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Servisol? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 On the OLP you may have to change the pot. I've just had the same problem on my Traben Phoenix 5. Started off with a slight crackle on one half and gradually got worse with cut outs etc. Dropped in a new pot last weekend and everything sounds great again. The balance pot definitely doesn't look as robust as the others in the circuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 [quote name='BigRedX' post='234923' date='Jul 8 2008, 01:09 PM']On the OLP you may have to change the pot. I've just had the same problem on my Traben Phoenix 5. Started off with a slight crackle on one half and gradually got worse with cut outs etc. Dropped in a new pot last weekend and everything sounds great again. The balance pot definitely doesn't look as robust as the others in the circuit.[/quote] Do you mean replace the balance pot? I've tried 2 concentric pots, I'd consider myself to be highly unlucky to have 2 defective ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galilee Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Oh mate cheer up, you're usually a paragon of patience with this stuff. It just sounds like niggly stuff to me. If a pot's crackly when you turn it, don't turn it. How's your sister getting on painting that Squier? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 [quote name='Galilee' post='235069' date='Jul 8 2008, 04:32 PM']Oh mate cheer up, you're usually a paragon of patience with this stuff. It just sounds like niggly stuff to me. If a pot's crackly when you turn it, don't turn it. How's your sister getting on painting that Squier?[/quote] Ahh well, I can't be expected to keep up the serenity all the time, despite occasional accusations to the contrary I am human Tonight I'm going to sort out one or two of these problems with one of my mates who's handy with a soldering iron so that'll cheer me up - two heads better and all that. I haven't heard anything about the painting yet but I suspect that she's busy with my other sister's wedding which takes place this month. Maybe after all the wedding madness is over she'll get some stuff down on the wooden canvas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galilee Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 That's the spirit. If you've got three knackered basses, a man of your talents must be able to construct at least one good bass from the bits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 the crackle is probably being caused by contact between two metal surfaces both on the signal path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted July 9, 2008 Author Share Posted July 9, 2008 Heh, tried everything we could think of, could not eliminate the nasty noises. Result: one OLP MM3 with the pickup directly wired to the jack socket. Oh well, at least it works. I now have a distrust of concentric pots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 [quote name='neepheid' post='234849' date='Jul 8 2008, 11:28 AM']3) OLP MM3 - the Artec SE-2A is making horrible crackling/popping/rustling noises whenever the concentric pot is turned. I am tearing my hair out at this one - I've even tried a replacement SE-2A board/concentric pot in there to no avail. I cannot figure out where the noise is coming from - I can't get the noise to map to any wire that I wiggle, and if I hold the pot and turn it there's no noise, so I don't think it's the pot.[/quote] Might be caused if a DC-blocking capacitor goes close-circuit - then moving the control would change the DC level to the following circuitry, which would be audible but would stop when the change in voltage stops. Exactly how likely that is I don't know but I remember reading about it (um, about 35 years ago...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted July 10, 2008 Author Share Posted July 10, 2008 [quote name='tauzero' post='236330' date='Jul 10 2008, 10:04 AM']Might be caused if a DC-blocking capacitor goes close-circuit - then moving the control would change the DC level to the following circuitry, which would be audible but would stop when the change in voltage stops. Exactly how likely that is I don't know but I remember reading about it (um, about 35 years ago...)[/quote] Cheers for the thought. If it is what you say it is then I don't suppose there's much I can do about it seeing as it's all little surface mount stuff on a PCB. The SE-2As are in storage now - I might hook them up to a junker P/J some time and see if they do the same in that. As for the OLP, I'm now thinking about putting in a series/parallel/single switch then feeding that into an Aguilar OBP-2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 [quote name='neepheid' post='236368' date='Jul 10 2008, 11:19 AM']Cheers for the thought. If it is what you say it is then I don't suppose there's much I can do about it seeing as it's all little surface mount stuff on a PCB. The SE-2As are in storage now - I might hook them up to a junker P/J some time and see if they do the same in that. As for the OLP, I'm now thinking about putting in a series/parallel/single switch then feeding that into an Aguilar OBP-2.[/quote] If you can get schematics I can rework surface-mount PCBs... PM me if you think I might be able to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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