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Sidsquishus
Posts: 1499
I was baffled by the battery drain - they last about a week, whether played or not!

I checked for continuity at the battery plug-in to check for a short - no short detected. Only thing I could see was a solder joint where the wire had splayed while under pressure from the soldering iron; might have been touching an adjacent solder blob, might not. Redid the soldering, but will just replace the whole Chinese-made rigging since it is so damn noisy.

Thanks for the feedback on the EMG active system. I may opt for that after all. cheers.
Marko1960
Posts: 3143
You DO unplug the jack from the guitar don't you? That's what connects the battery to the system
Sidsquishus
Posts: 1499
Yes - unplugged from the cable when not being played.

Didn't call in a priest for an exorcism though. Thought of it, but didn't want to interrupt Father's fondling.
Quote:
Yes - unplugged from the cable when not being played.Didn't call in a priest for an exorcism though. Thought of it, but didn't want to interrupt Father's fondling.
The Father can wait. A possibly possessed bass takes precedence over a small boy lol.
Sidsquishus
Posts: 1499
Marko, do you know anything about these pickups?

http://www.emgpickups.com/bass/extended-series/5-string/40twx.html

I am thinking that with two 40TWX pickups, you'd have a J bass, a P, a PJ bass, and an Ibanez-style double humbucker, all in one bass.

Another option is one of these at the neck and a jazz pick up (e.g. 40JX-CS) at the bridge for a jazz, precsion, and PJ bass.

Cheers.
Marko1960
Posts: 3143
Or you could have two Humbuckers with a coil tap for each, which is basically what this pick up is. The P/J set up is very popular but I'm not a fan of Fenders bass pick ups, the P is ok on low and mid frequencies and the J is ok for highs but each pick up is not versatile enough for what bass players are looking for these days. Leo Fenders Stingray Bass pick up is the best he ever came up with, loads of power and good response for lows, mids and highs, so two EMG Stingrays with coil tapping would be a good option
Sidsquishus
Posts: 1499
Thanks for the suggestions, Marko. The MM type EMGs have a larger footprint than the soapbars in my Ibanez, so that takes them out of the running. I can take out the old pickups and put in new ones of the same size, but I haven't the nerve or skill to route a larger cut out for a bigger pick up in a finished guitar.
Cheers.

Marko1960
Posts: 3143
Good point, if you don't have the confidence then don't do it. Sounds like the 40 TWX is the one for you then and with the solderless wiring it should be an easy swap over. EMGs are the business as you know, that's what are going on my new bass
Sidsquishus
Posts: 1499
Marko-
I have a bass that is dead quiet so long as I am touching the bridge, strings,or tuners. Let go of them and there's a hum. A grounding issue?

Both pickups are split coils.

From looking at the control cavity, I can tell there is a ground wire going to the bridge. Perhaps the contact between this wire and the bridge is poor? Would that explain what I am experiencing?
Marko1960
Posts: 3143
Yes definitely a grounding issue, unless you've had the bridge off for some reason there should be no issues with the earth contact there. Look inside the control cavity and check that none of the ‘Live’ wires are shorting across to the ‘Earth’ wires or contacts, also check that the solder is nice and clean and shiny, dull grey solder could have a poor contact.

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