Faulty Pickup question

[DynamicK]

Just bought a PJ bass and am having trouble with the bridge pickup. I tworks intermittently. I have resoldered a lot of the connections in the electrics... some of them were just a thread. Worst soldering I've ever seen.  The pickup only works if i hold  acrewdriver on one of the magnetic poles. Then it works for a bit.  Does this mean that pickup is faulty or is it a connection problem in the wiring circuit. ? That's why I checked all the soldered connections on the pots. Any help appreciated.

[Sean]

This is a process of elimination without being able to get hands-on. 

 

Run the soldering iron over the connections on the pickups. Just melt the solder and let it set again. Sometimes a dry joint develops. 

 

Are the pots OK? I fitted new CTS to a bass today and the "common" leg wasn't connected properly. This can happen with use too.

[DynamicK]

Thanks. I'll try that out. The pots seem to be Ok when the pickup decides to work.

[Sean]

When I have one of these mystery faults, I plug in and wiggle each little part or connection until I get closer to the fault. Methodical trial and error to find the bad connection is the way to go. 

Keep us up to date, it's probably simple to fix but difficult to isolate. 

[Sean]

Mods, please can we move this to Repairs & Technical?