Bass suddenly 'dead'.

[Dear Mr Echo]

Hi
A while ago my aging and delapidated Yamaha BB300 stopped making a noise and on internal inspection it turned out that the plastic block on the jack input has disintegrated and broken apart. Anyway a few days ago I got a replacement jack socket and fitted it (I think) correctly and it was working fine for a while.

The first time I noticed that it wasn't working was after I put it down for a moment 'near' my computer, still plugged in. I had to disconnect my printer from the computer and when I removed the printer's USB cable the guitar started to make a loudish hum through the amp - I put it back in again and it stopped. The only sound I get out of the guitar now is a dull hum that gets a little quieter when I touch the strings. I've taken out the new jack and soldered it back in making sure there are no stray wires shorting anything but still nothing.

Can anyone shed any light on what the problem could be (even if it is my stupidity).

cheers
Andrew

[Al Heeley]

My best bet with the evidence presented is that theres a short from the live to ground somewhere, probably most likely around where you soldered the new jack socket. Do you have a multimeter to trace the conductivity back from a guitar lead plugged in, through the jack socket and into the tone & vol pots? Do it for both live and earth, you should soon find if theres a wiring fault or short somewhere.

[Dear Mr Echo]

Thanks Al
I don't have a multimeter but I dare say there will be someone I know who has one - I'll check it out.

cheers