Hi, I'm Rafael from Spain ... I'm a guitarist and a lutheria aficionado. A friend of mine asked me to restore his Fender precision from 1972. I've connected everything well but the tone potentiometer works in volume. I have changed the potentiometers for new ones of 250k CTS and another capacitor of 0.047uf and the same ... it is very strange. Can it be the pickup? would you know if the pickup 204072 is the neck position and the 194272 is the bridge position or vice versa and how is the wiring? Any advice will be of great help to me. thank you very much and excuse my english
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Precision bass wiring
- Thread starter rafalynch
- Start date
Switch the cap leg to the middle terminal and the wire that is going to the middle terminal to the one you have the cap leg going to. Also, I would resolder that whole thing. The solder should be smooth and shiny and not thick and globby like that.
Petrus 61 Thank you. I have also put the lid on the middle terminal and it continues to make volume ... the solders are not bright since I have changed everything several times with the same result. Do you know if pickups have a neck or bridge position? or does it matter? Thank you very much for answering
It shouldn’t matter how the pickup halves are positioned. Just install them so the wiring has a simple direct path to the control cavity. As @petrus61 stated, that soldering should be redone.
Here’s a link to a diagram of how I usually wire a standard Precision bass:
PrecisionBass_Standard.pdf
The white cloth wire should be soldered to the terminal directly across (where the cap leg is in your picture):
Precision pickups don’t have a bridge or neck side (99% of the time), so however they are in there doesn’t matter.
Precision pickups don’t have a bridge or neck side (99% of the time), so however they are in there doesn’t matter.
the problem I think comes from the pills ... it sounds but very short and when I connect the multimeter it does not give me ohms signal neither separately nor together. It is very strange I have disassembled one and the threads and connections look good. I do not know what can happen. Any advice will be welcome. Thank you for reading
Yeah. Looks like the white wire is pulled out of the pickup base. That's consistent with the meter reading you're getting. If you're careful, you should be able to solder it back together. If your iron is adjustable, use the lowest setting and, ideally, to should be a "touch and go" operation.
Maybe check the continuity between the two tags where the wires go to make sure the coil isn't open.
Maybe check the continuity between the two tags where the wires go to make sure the coil isn't open.
Yep. Probably have a wire broken somewhere in the coil. If you are determined to save that pickup, you could try to get one wrap off and solde that wire to the eyelet. Also, most of those coil wires have clear enamel insulation so you will have to remove that before you solder. Sometimes it will be melted by the soldering iron.
From looking at your pictures and meter readings, I’d be pretty surprised if the problem isn’t the pickup, but I’ve been married long enough to figure I’m probably wrong.
Although I’d also agree that the solder joints could use a touch up.
Keep us informed.
Although I’d also agree that the solder joints could use a touch up.Keep us informed.