Replacement Electronics Advice for 80s Tune Bass Maniac

RodRy

RodRy

Jul 1, 2018
10,710
57,577
5,606
Kalamazoo, MI
#1
I've had my black beauty since about 1988, and the pickup selector knob has stopped selecting the Neck (P) pickup. I have tried cleaning the pot, no luck. The pots are all direct mounted to the circuit board.

I'd like to get that old 80s sound back: clear and focused, not a vintage tone. A bit of a bright scooped EQ sound, with nice bass and treble boost and cut.

Options I'm looking at:
1. Try to get a replacement circuit board from Tune (they have not answered my emails, and don't have a US distributer that I can find).
2. Replace existing circuit board with new components to replicate the Volume/Blend/Treble/Bass system I had. EMG BTS system looks like it'd work.

Passive is a third option, let's leave that out of the discussion for now.

Anyone know where I can get a replacement Tune circuit board?
Or, suggest a good set of components to replace my existing board (maybe you've tried the BTS)?

What say you, oh Bass Sages? Thanks in advance for your input!
Rod
 
#2
Firstly, I'd check that the neck pickup still works. If it's OK, then replace the pot. I wouldn't recommend trying to de solder it. Instead, cut it off, then remove the lugs from the board one by one. You'll probably need to mount your new pot on lengths of wire.

If you post some good clear photos of the pre, I might be able to give more specific advice on the repair.
 
#6
Please don't take this the wrong way, I don't mean to be a jerk, but if you are
an electronics noob.
Click to expand...
, perhaps you should take it to some one. Or maybe try a few soldering jobs on a cheap passive bass first to get some practice in.

But if you want to have a go, then that's cool. You need to remove the neck pickup's hot wire from the circuit board then test the resistance between this and earth with a multimeter. Set it to kiloohms. A typical single coil jazz pickup will be anything from 5K to 15K. If you get a reading that is much outside this range, then I'd suspect the pickup or that pickup lead. Or even the solder joints where the lead is attached to the pickup bobbin.

If it tests ok with the meter, then it's almost certainly the blend pot.
 
#8
RobbieK said:
Please don't take this the wrong way, I don't mean to be a jerk, but if you are , perhaps you should take it to some one. Or maybe try a few soldering jobs on a cheap passive bass first to get some practice in.

But if you want to have a go, then that's cool. You need to remove the neck pickup's hot wire from the circuit board then test the resistance between this and earth with a multimeter. Set it to kiloohms. A typical single coil jazz pickup will be anything from 5K to 15K. If you get a reading that is much outside this range, then I'd suspect the pickup or that pickup lead. Or even the solder joints where the lead is attached to the pickup bobbin.

If it tests ok with the meter, then it's almost certainly the blend pot.
Click to expand...

RobbieK,
No problem! I am someone who enjoys learning how to do something, then carefully and methodically working through it. I replaced the furnace fan in the dead of winter last year, and have done woodworking and automotive repairs, so I don't think this is really too far beyond my comfort zone. I appreciate you looking out for me!

If I understand what you're saying, the only soldering I'll need to worry about is the reconnection, right? I can use a multimeter, I just was not sure what I should be looking for.

What should the resistance be for a P-pup?

Thanks!
Rod
 
#9
I am someone who enjoys learning how to do something
Click to expand...

Nice one mate. That is exactly the attitude to have with this stuff for sure!

What should the resistance be for a P-pup?
Click to expand...

Typically between 8K and as high as 20K maybe. In that ball park. My '73 P is 11K, IIRC.

Oh and grab yourself a desoldering pump. They are only cheap and indispensible if you get in to electronic guitar mods. If you replace the pot, you'll need it to clear the excess solder from the holes in the board.

And FWIW, I recommend a good blob of blue-tack for jobs like this. You can hold wires or parts in place, leaving both hands free for soldering. I've been soldering since I was a boy, and I still use this trick!
 
#10
OK, tomorrow I'll bring home a multi-meter from work, and see if I have good pickups. I just bought a new bass this weekend, and it needs some work as well, so new bass may put old bass a bit on back-burner.

Thanks for the advice! I'll update this thread as I find out more.
 
#11
Thread updates: the new bass turned out to have a broken headstock (which I knew about from the pictures of it) and a misaligned bridge (which I didn't even think to look for, but now I see it was in the same pictures). So I've been fixing that bass, and other stuff, and only recently got out my old black Tune again. I'm starting to lean more toward a passive setup. But I'm going to try taking some good picks, and checking the resistance first (per RobbieK and iz4005). I'll try to get a few pictures loaded this weekend.
Thanks all!
 
#12
Update: my crush of work kept me away from fixing instruments for months, so I decided to have a local luthier check out my TUNE. After discussions, we agreed that going passive will probably be best for me. Plan is to use a V/B/T/T circuit, but I'm not sure about what capacitors to use? Any thoughts? RobbieK's tonestyler looks pretty interesting too.
 
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