Help me identify the function of each wire from my Humbucker URGENTLY!!

[Funkyman]

Hello People (Excuse my english i'm from Latn America) First of all Thank you very much for your support Well, I Have a bass that is loaded with Mec Pickups (Warwick) a MusicMan type Pickup at bridge and a Jazz type at neck, and i changed the preamp for a new Aguilar OBP-3 preamp, and at first everything was fine, except that now i have a new annoying noise like "JJJJJJJAAAAAAASSSSSSSHHHHHH" like the sound of the Sea you know? and even i started from scratch, did new tips for every single wire an rewired the preamp and everything again but the noise is still there.. so i will explain with details what is happen in my bass, so you can get your conclusions:

-Bass, Mid, and Treble pots are wired correctly. And every additional wires required to ground battery, and volume pots as diagram say.

-My bass comes originaly with Stacked Vol/Blend, Bass, Mid, Treble, but i took this opportunity to change the configuration, and decided to place a volume pot for each mic. Well, the diagram says that i must wire the pickups wires to center log on each pots, BUT there's another wires that come together with the main wire that aren't in the diagram and not specified what their function, so please see the attached picture for a moment:


-Did you see that? So i did tested connect the two white wires to ground jack, and the bass started to sound, but there's still that annoying noise "Jjjjjjjjjjjaaaaaaasssssshhhhhhh" like the sea.. and i tested solder that "mesh" ( i don't know its correct name) to a pot, but nothing changed..

So what you think about? someone told me that maybe i have a faulty IC in the circuit, what "IC" mean?? Again thankyou very much for your time, My bass looks like operating in the surgical therapy room : )

In general I am very impressed with the results, Gigantic low frequency, the mid freq selector gives that nice growly tone, but there's this annoying noise!

Regards

Dany

[David Schwab]

Here's a wiring diagram for the $$ bass with two Music Man style humbuckers. It shows which way to wire them up.

http://www.warwick.de/media/manuals/...60014%20$$.pdf

For the bridge pickup:
white is ground
red is hot
green and black connect together for series wiring.
The braided shield goes to ground.

For the neck pickup, both white and the braided shield go to ground.

[David King]

Dany

The Aguilar obp3 has been known to go bad before. IC means "integrated circuit" or "chip". I don't know if that's the problem but can you tell us if the bass, mid and treble boost knobs still do what they are supposed to do? Does the bass have an an active/ passive bypass switch? Sometimes the switch is a push /pull pot on the volume control. Try the passive bypass to make sure the pickups are wired correctly (or just connect the PU wires to the output jack to make sure they work)
That "grid" wire is called the shield drain and goes to the back of the pot and eventually to the ground connection at the jack.

Contact Aguilar directly via their website and see if they will exchange the preamp.

[David Schwab]

Also the Aguilar has a bunch of wires, so check over everything well to make sure it's wired up right, and check all your grounds. Make sure none of them are missing.

[Funkyman]

Dany

The Aguilar obp3 has been known to go bad before. IC means "integrated circuit" or "chip". I don't know if that's the problem but can you tell us if the bass, mid and treble boost knobs still do what they are supposed to do? Does the bass have an an active/ passive bypass switch? Sometimes the switch is a push /pull pot on the volume control. Try the passive bypass to make sure the pickups are wired correctly (or just connect the PU wires to the output jack to make sure they work)
That "grid" wire is called the shield drain and goes to the back of the pot and eventually to the ground connection at the jack.

Contact Aguilar directly via their website and see if they will exchange the preamp.

Yes, Bass, Mid , and Treble pots work perfectly, and certainly My bass comes with a Volume/Blend/ and push pull active-passive switch pot all in one piece, but that switch is not working rigth now, no wires are attached to it, I try to make it work, but strangely does not work anymore... i leave the bass in active mode only... I've already contacted with Aguilar, and they told me that according to my statements, they see everything hooked up well, and that they don't know How MEC designates the wires of those especific Pickups and that i must contact MEC, which i did, and i'm still waiting for response..

So there's a way to test the pickups without the preamp, and without disconnect all wires? this is to take away the possibility of a faulty pickups? Thankyou you are serious knowledge people

[David Schwab]

Yes, Bass, Mid , and Treble pots work perfectly, and certainly My bass comes with a Volume/Blend/ and push pull active-passive switch pot all in one piece, but that switch is not working rigth now, no wires are attached to it, I try to make it work, but strangely does not work anymore...

You are using the MEC pots with the Aguilar? You need to change out all the electronics. They are not likely to the be the correct value. Didn't the Aguilar come with pots? If you want a passive active switch you can get a push-pull for that.

Personally I think the MEC preamp is better than the Aguilar. At the very least you aren't going to hear much of a difference except maybe the center frequencies on the tone controls.

[Funkyman]

You are using the MEC pots with the Aguilar? You need to change out all the electronics. They are not likely to the be the correct value. Didn't the Aguilar come with pots? If you want a passive active switch you can get a push-pull for that.

Personally I think the MEC preamp is better than the Aguilar. At the very least you aren't going to hear much of a difference except maybe the center frequencies on the tone controls.

No. Installed the pots that comes with the Aguilar preamp, and I tell you frankly, the MEC pots are 1000 times better built and better quality than Aguilar, but I didn't dare to use them, for fear that they were of different values, but actually they are the same 50k...

About if i heard a difference? a big YES, Bass frequency now is tremendous, HUGE, and most important, without losing definition, The Mec was poor.. i don't know if my MEC pre was damaged or different, plus the Mid Freq selector is nasal, but with taste.. my only complain are for Treble.. they don't stick out too much.. you need a horn in your cab or amp to really hear it's brightness.. Hey David thank you again for your support.. i'll wait the MEC response to see how they can help me out and i'll let you know guys! I have some recordings soon

[David Schwab]

a big YES, Bass frequency now is tremendous, HUGE, and most important, without losing definition...

That's what I don't like about the Aguilar. The bass control has too much gain.

[LtKojak]

That's what I don't like about the Aguilar. The bass control has too much gain.

You'll LOVE it if you have a B 5th string... works almost as a volume control for the B 5th ONLY!

I've discovered this just recently when I bought a Bubinga Top Peavey Cirrus 5 BXP. It's a godsend to record this 35" scale bass directly to the board.

[the great waldo]

Yes, Bass, Mid , and Treble pots work perfectly, and certainly My bass comes with a Volume/Blend/ and push pull active-passive switch pot all in one piece, but that switch is not working rigth now, no wires are attached to it, I try to make it work, but strangely does not work anymore... i leave the bass in active mode only... I've already contacted with Aguilar, and they told me that according to my statements, they see everything hooked up well, and that they don't know How MEC designates the wires of those especific Pickups and that i must contact MEC, which i did, and i'm still waiting for response..

So there's a way to test the pickups without the preamp, and without disconnect all wires? this is to take away the possibility of a faulty pickups? Thankyou you are serious knowledge people

Hi Funkyman

Check to see if the noise goes down when you turn the treble control down, a lot of ic opamps used in guitar electronics can introduce hiss (sounds like gas escaping from a bicycle tyre valve) Low noise opamps use more battery power so a lot of preamp makers use lower power but higher noise opamps.
I hope this helps.

cheers

Andrew

[David Schwab]

You'll LOVE it if you have a B 5th string... works almost as a volume control for the B 5th ONLY!

I've discovered this just recently when I bought a Bubinga Top Peavey Cirrus 5 BXP. It's a godsend to record this 35" scale bass directly to the board.

I only play 5 string low B basses. You haven't heard a good low B until you've heard by basses. I expect an even response from string to string. My low B is the same volume as the rest of the strings. That shows that the bass control on the Aguilar is too narrow, which is part of the issue.

I've installed a bunch of these preamps for people. This is actually a common complaint about the Aguilar if you read reviews over at Talk Bass.

I actually prefer the EMG preamps over the Aguilar.

Part of the problem with low B strings is the strings. Some brands low Bs suck. It's also an issue with some pickups.

[David King]

I've re-read all the above and I think we have a grounding issue.
Is the bridge grounded?
To me a noise that starts with Jjjjjjjjjj is going to have a frequency associated with it. Is there a 60Hz hum component to this noise?
Attaching the pickup shield drain (mesh) to the back of the pot only works if the pot is connected to ground.

Get a VOM or continuity tester and check for continuity between the strings and the output jack sleeve.

While you are at it measure the resistances between the 4 wires out of the humbucker and determine the wire pairs that show a coil (2-6k ohm).
Check for shorts between the magnets and the coils. Check to make sure that the magnets are connected to the shield drain.

The only issues you'll have connecting the pickups is getting the 3 coils in proper phase which is going to be by trial and error.

Some of the MEC push/pull pots have a weird wiring scheme. Find the switching scheme using the meter. Be aware that Aguilar modules must use a "break before make" switch for A/P or you will get a blast of feedback while making the transition.

[LtKojak]

Part of the problem with low B strings is the strings. Some brands low Bs suck. It's also an issue with some pickups.

So what strings do you use? I'm using D'Addario Nickel Wound 135-105-85-65-45. P'ups are stock active Peavey, I guess they've been modeled after EMG soapbars... they sound pretty close to ceramic passives.

Directly to the board they sound just great! At least to me they do, I'm a guitar player, you know?

[David Schwab]

I've re-read all the above and I think we have a grounding issue.

Me too.

[David Schwab]

So what strings do you use? I'm using D'Addario Nickel Wound 135-105-85-65-45.

Same strings. I love them. They are clear and punchy and last forever. I also use the half rounds on one of my basses. I think D'Addario have the one of the best low B strings. The low B on the half rounds is a bit thumpy, but that's to be expected. Ken Smith strings are very good too.

P'ups are stock active Peavey, I guess they've been modeled after EMG soapbars... they sound pretty close to ceramic passives.

Directly to the board they sound just great! At least to me they do, I'm a guitar player, you know?

I LOVE the tone Jeff Berlin got from his Peavy when he was using one.