mkat Posted February 19, 2005 Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 Hi, I have an old Dimarzio P bass style pickup in one of my basses, that I haven't used for years. I tried to wire it, but I can't get it to work. Here are some details: Top pickup (E & A strings) ------------------------------ green (tone pot) white (joined to brown wire coming from bottom D & G pickup) Bottom pickup (D & G strings) ---------------------------------- brown (joined to white wire coming from top E & A pickup) yellow (volume) Capaciter ----------- 0.05+ - 10% N 100V I tried P bass pickup (not the active one) diagram at the Dimarzio web site but it didn't work. Does anyone know how I can wire this thing? Regards, Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 19, 2005 Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 Try wiring the green wire to ground and the yellow wire to the hot side, and tape off the other two wires so they don't accidentally short against anything - that should do it. I'd temporarily straight-wire it directly to the jack, so any mistakes you made in the pot wiring won't affect it. If you get sound, then go back and debug the pot wiring - if you don't, check the pickup coils for continuity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkat Posted February 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 I'm not up with the jargon, what do you mean by "hot side"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkat Posted February 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Sorry, I missed another wire. Here are the actual wires... Top pickup (E & A strings) ------------------------------ light green (tone pot) white (joined to brown wire coming from bottom D & G pickup) Bottom pickup (D & G strings) ---------------------------------- dark green brown (joined to white wire coming from top E & A pickup) yellow (volume) Capaciter ----------- 0.05+ - 10% N 100V Any suggestions about the dark green wire on the bottom pickup (see above). Regards, Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Yeah, wire the other green to ground also. "Hot side" simply refers to the signal path (not ground, so "hot"). It'll be the tip conductor on your jack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkat Posted February 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 OK, thanks for that. I've tried it, but it still doesn't work. So, I've unsoldered and seperately checked the pots, the pickups, the capacitor and they all emit a signal. The pots are ~507 & 488 (both 500k). I'll post the resistance of the capacitor and pickups tonight. Any other suggestions, before I send more info? Regards, Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 Yes, we definitely need readings from the pickups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkat Posted February 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 ok... pickups: ~5.62 pots: ~507, ~488 capacitor: 0.05+-10% I've rewired them as outlined above and still no sound. When I touch the metal volume and tone nobs there is a loud hum. I tried using 250k pots and a slightly different capacitor, but same deal. Regards, Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 OK, shame on me for not making myself clear - i need to know what the resistance is from each wire on each coil to each other wire on that same coil. It sounds like you either have your ground reversed or no ground at all. Can you describe exactly how you have everything wired, from pickup coils to output jack? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkat Posted February 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2005 (edited) Ok, some slight changes but here is the messy info Top pickup (E & A strings) - resistance 5.76K ------------------------------ light green: wired to volume pot (ground) white: soldered to brown wire coming from bottom D & G pickup Bottom pickup (D & G strings) - resistance 5.73K ---------------------------------- brown: soldered to white wire coming from top E & A pickup yellow: wired to volume pot (left lug, where lugs are pointing down and bottom of pot is facing up) - yellow wire from left lug on volume pot to middle lug on tone pot - black wire from middle lug on volume pot to the jack tip - black wire from right lug of volume pot to volume pot (ground) - yellow wire from bridge to jack sleeve - Capaciter (473j, 2A0SG): soldered to left lug (where tone lugs are pointing up and bottom of pot is facing up) on tone pot and bottom of tone pot (ground) Note: There is a dark green wire wired to the jack sleeve. This connected to a plate under the pickups, which is not connected to the pickups. Here is a pic of it, just so it makes more sense http://users.bigpond.com/m.kat/html/fretless/pbwiring.jpg Edited February 26, 2005 by mkat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 26, 2005 Report Share Posted February 26, 2005 OK, now that you've got a picture of how it's wired, disconnect the pickup coils from everything (including one another) and get us some valid readings from each coil wire to each other coil wire. Accurately measuring resistance in circuit is impossible. Don't worry about anything else for now, just measure the pickups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkat Posted February 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2005 (edited) I didn't mention it, but that's what I did (as indicated in the resistance measurements in my last post). I actually unsoldered everything prior to taking the measurements and the pic. Then I took the readings, when all pickup wires were not connected to anything (same deal for the pots, all clean no wires or capacitor). Once I had the readings, I soldered the wires back together for the pic. I get soldering practise this way, as you can see I need it. Hope that's what you meant. I worked out a few days ago, when I bought the multimeter, that I couldn't get accurate readings with everything wired. Regards, Michael Edited February 26, 2005 by mkat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 26, 2005 Report Share Posted February 26, 2005 OK, disconnect everything but the pickup, and wire it directly to the output jack, yellow to the tip lug and green to the sleeve - if at this point you get no sound, it's time to replace the pickup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkat Posted February 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2005 Fantastic, I have sound. What next? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 26, 2005 Report Share Posted February 26, 2005 (edited) Now we slowly add parts back in until it stops - then we know what to replace! OK, remove the yellow wire from the jack and hook it back up to the bare volume control (leave the tone pot disconnected for now). Run a jumper wire from the jack's ground lug to the volume pot ground, and jumper the pot's wiper (center) lug back to the jack's tip lug. The volume pot should work now - if it doesn't, there's either a bad connection or a bad pot. Edited February 26, 2005 by lovekraft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkat Posted February 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2005 I've done that. I still have sound, but the volume does not work (stays the same when turned all the way up or down). I've had a big day today, so I'm gonna crash. I'll continue again tomorrow. Regards, Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 26, 2005 Report Share Posted February 26, 2005 Sorry, I forget you guys in Oz are about 15 hours ahead of me! When you get up, check the ground on the volume pot - it sounds like there's no ground connection to that lug. If that fixes it, hook up the tone pot and wail away!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkat Posted February 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2005 Ok, I sorted out the problem with the volume pot, it now works. So, should I wire the tone pot the way I had it wired before (in the pic)? Also, the green wire is still connected to the jack sleeve, is this ok? Got to do a few things and will log on again tonight. Regards, Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 27, 2005 Report Share Posted February 27, 2005 Yes, you should be able to reconnect the tone pot and move the green wire back to its original spot without any problems now - holler if it acts up again, but I think you've corrected the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkat Posted February 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 I've reconnected the light green wire to the back of the volume pot (ground) and have connected the tone pot. The volume pot works, but the tone pot does not work. I've connected the tone pot the same as the pic I posted. Any suggestions to correct the tone pot wiring? Note: The current wiring is slightly different to the original. Might send another pic to make things easier. Regards, Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 28, 2005 Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 Try connecting the tone pot ground lug to the volume pot's ground - that should take care of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkat Posted February 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 Both pots now work, I didn't have to connect the tone pot ground lug to the volume pot ground. However, there is some hum or buzz, which stops when I touch the volume or tone pot. How can I get rid of that? Here is another image with how it is now wired: Regards, Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 28, 2005 Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 It might help to connect the bridge ground lead to the back of the volume pot with the rest of the ground leads, and shielding the cavities might also help - see Guitar Nuts for more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkat Posted March 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 Thanks for all your help. I started with nothing working and some wasted time, to everything working and creating some music. Thanks for all your assistance, patience and logical thinking, which has enabled me to learn a thing or two. Regards, Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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