Wiring help please, is my pick-up damaged?

Jack_

So, I've got a Musicmaster bass, as simple as it gets wiring wise, 1 single coil, 1 volume, 1 tone.

Changing the tone is heavily impacting the volume. I've tried different pots, different cap, different wire, I've basically tried everything. Yes, the wiring it good, I've checked all the connections and even done a complete re-wire...

Is it possible that the pick-up itself is the problem?

ICBM

Yes. That's the classic symptom of a pickup with an open coil at the ground end. The remainder of the coil will act as a sort of 'aerial' and pick up some sound, but it will be thin and weak, and turning down the tone will kill the volume. Unfortunately the ground end is usually the inside of the coil so there is no way to fix it without rewinding the pickup. It's worth trying resoldering the eyelet at the ground end first though, sometimes there's a cold joint there - although it's more common with modern Fender pickups than old ones.

The good news if it is dead is that the Musicmaster Bass pickup is just a Mustang guitar pickup, and is the same basic size as any Strat pickup. You can improve the sound immensely by putting a better pickup in it.

Jack_

ICBM said:

The good news if it is dead is that the Musicmaster Bass pickup is just a Mustang guitar pickup, and is the same basic size as any Strat pickup. You can improve the sound immensely by putting a better pickup in it.

I assume I need to use a rail type? Any suggestions? I've never liked the look of rails, is it possible to get any that just look like a Telecaster neck pickup, completely uniform?

ICBM

Jack_ said:

I assume I need to use a rail type? Any suggestions? I've never liked the look of rails, is it possible to get any that just look like a Telecaster neck pickup, completely uniform?

Any Strat pickup that will fit under the Musicmaster pickup cover is fine - even with six polepieces, which is what the original pickup has. If it has taller polepieces it can be tricky to get enough clearance though, so best to avoid anything with the traditional stagger with the high G string pole.

I've fitted a couple with EMG single coils (and the EMG pots etc) which make them into a nice little active bass… but unfortunately I recently sold the last single EMG-SA I had, and they're quite expensive new.

I have a black Bartonlini Strat-size pickup I think - it does have the logo on top but it's quite subtle. And they make good bass pickups too.

A Fender Lace Sensor might be a possibility as well - they came with black covers on some models and no visible poles, and are also hum-cancelling.

If you can't easily find anything, drop Ash at Oil City Pickups an email - he'll be able to recommend or wind something for you, or repair the old pickup with either the original winding type or a more powerful one.

Jack_

I should probably mention that it's a Squier Vista Musicmaster, so it currently has a 4 pole piece pickup.

I'm going to assume that going to 6 pole is kinda of a backward step? Can you get covered rails? I find most rails to be ugly y'see.

ICBM

Jack_ said:

I should probably mention that it's a Squier Vista Musicmaster, so it currently has a 4 pole piece pickup.

Ah .

Jack_ said:

I'm going to assume that going to 6 pole is kinda of a backward step? Can you get covered rails? I find most rails to be ugly y'see.

Most I know of aren't covered and won't fit under a plain Strat cover either, so no.

Six poles isn't really a backward step I don't think, but a more powerful bar-magnet pickup might be an improvement anyway - some of these will fit under covers.

But given that it's not got a cover now so you would need to buy am Mustang one as well, it may be worth asking about rewinding it...

OilCityPickups

I could do a rewind for about £30 plus P&P,