tone control not working

leftside · 08-29-2007, 11:14 PM

I just put fender noiseless pickups in my 5string jbass. I followed the basic schematic but found that my tone control does not work. I have double checked my work and confident that I did it to specs. I am puzzled. Does anyone have any suggestions. Thankyou

Don Moose · 08-29-2007, 11:32 PM

Either the tone control is not connected to the signal or not connected to ground.

... or the cap and/or pot values are waaaay off.

Instructions sometimes assume expertise and leave stuff out, or are just plain wrong. If you can scan and post, or at least post the text, maybe the issue will become apparent.

Hope this helps!

ps - you did _solder_ the connections, right? twist-splices and wirenuts are not likely to be adequate.

leftside · 08-30-2007, 12:32 AM

Thanks for the quick reply.

For some reason I could not create an att on this computer (sorry), so I just wrote it out since it is pretty straight forward

---grounding

Since the pots on my bass is attacked to wood and not a metal plate I had to connect each pot to insure proper ground. first step terminal3 connected to each body of the npu and bpu. Terminal 3 of firts pot to terninal 3 of second pot and connected to body of third pot (tone) . thirdpot to bridge

---hotwiring

Hot wire (yellow) from neck-pu to terminal2 of first pot. Ground (black) to body of first pot. Hot from pot1 terminal1 to [pot 2 terminal1]

Hot wire (white) from bridge-pu to term2 of second pot. Ground (black) to body of second pot. Hot from pot2 terminal1 to [pot 3 (tone) terminal two]

---tone wiring

this part I tried several different ways.

one way was to...

Cap connected term1 to body. Term 3 empty

Anotherway way...

Hot connected to pot 3 terminal ONE. Cap connected term two to body. Term 3 empty

jack...

Hot terminal from pot three and then ground to pot three body.

Don Moose · 08-30-2007, 12:59 AM

OK - the usual way for these things is:

- PU1.hot to POT1.1 (terminal located at full clockwise (CW) rotation)
- PU2.hot to POT2.1 (terminal located at full clockwise (CW) rotation)

- POT1.2 (wiper) to POT2.2 (wiper) to to POT3.1 (terminal located at full clockwise (CW) rotation)

- CAP.1 to POT3.2 (wiper)
- CAP.2 to POT3.3 and POT3.body

- PU1.gnd to POT1.3 and POT1.body
- PU2.gnd to POT2.3 and POT2.body
- POT1.3/body to POT2.3/body to POT3.3/body to JACK.sleeve(gnd)

You GOTTA connect POT3.3 to _something_ grounded, or the pot's just floating and the tone control won't control anything.

Unless I misunderstood something you said - if so, please try again.

Hope this helps!

leftside · 09-04-2007, 03:37 PM

It turned out that it was the paint in the cavity against the pots creating an extra ground and dispersing the signal. Paint... who knew!? A little electrical tape between the body and the pots took care of the problem! It was one of those stupid problems that I was lucky someone had experience with. Anyway, Thanks for your help.

Mars Amp Repair · 09-05-2007, 12:45 AM

yeah,
that is conductive paint designed to sheild the pots & connections from external noise. glen

08-29-2007, 11:14 PM	#1
leftside Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 3	tone control not working I just put fender noiseless pickups in my 5string jbass. I followed the basic schematic but found that my tone control does not work. I have double checked my work and confident that I did it to specs. I am puzzled. Does anyone have any suggestions. Thankyou

09-04-2007, 03:37 PM	#5
leftside Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 3	broken tone pot fixed It turned out that it was the paint in the cavity against the pots creating an extra ground and dispersing the signal. Paint... who knew!? A little electrical tape between the body and the pots took care of the problem! It was one of those stupid problems that I was lucky someone had experience with. Anyway, Thanks for your help.

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08-29-2007, 11:32 PM	#2
Don Moose Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 676	Either the tone control is not connected to the signal or not connected to ground. ... or the cap and/or pot values are waaaay off. Instructions sometimes assume expertise and leave stuff out, or are just plain wrong. If you can scan and post, or at least post the text, maybe the issue will become apparent. Hope this helps! ps - you did _solder_ the connections, right? twist-splices and wirenuts are not likely to be adequate.

08-30-2007, 12:32 AM	#3
leftside Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 3	Thanks for the quick reply. For some reason I could not create an att on this computer (sorry), so I just wrote it out since it is pretty straight forward ---grounding Since the pots on my bass is attacked to wood and not a metal plate I had to connect each pot to insure proper ground. first step terminal3 connected to each body of the npu and bpu. Terminal 3 of firts pot to terninal 3 of second pot and connected to body of third pot (tone) . thirdpot to bridge ---hotwiring Hot wire (yellow) from neck-pu to terminal2 of first pot. Ground (black) to body of first pot. Hot from pot1 terminal1 to [pot 2 terminal1] Hot wire (white) from bridge-pu to term2 of second pot. Ground (black) to body of second pot. Hot from pot2 terminal1 to [pot 3 (tone) terminal two] ---tone wiring this part I tried several different ways. one way was to... Cap connected term1 to body. Term 3 empty Anotherway way... Hot connected to pot 3 terminal ONE. Cap connected term two to body. Term 3 empty jack... Hot terminal from pot three and then ground to pot three body.

08-30-2007, 12:59 AM	#4
Don Moose Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 676	OK - the usual way for these things is: - PU1.hot to POT1.1 (terminal located at full clockwise (CW) rotation) - PU2.hot to POT2.1 (terminal located at full clockwise (CW) rotation) - POT1.2 (wiper) to POT2.2 (wiper) to to POT3.1 (terminal located at full clockwise (CW) rotation) - CAP.1 to POT3.2 (wiper) - CAP.2 to POT3.3 and POT3.body - PU1.gnd to POT1.3 and POT1.body - PU2.gnd to POT2.3 and POT2.body - POT1.3/body to POT2.3/body to POT3.3/body to JACK.sleeve(gnd) You GOTTA connect POT3.3 to _something_ grounded, or the pot's just floating and the tone control won't control anything. Unless I misunderstood something you said - if so, please try again. Hope this helps!

09-05-2007, 12:45 AM	#6
Mars Amp Repair Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Englewood, CO Posts: 673	yeah, that is conductive paint designed to sheild the pots & connections from external noise. glen

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