Question about pickup output

[April]

I have a question about my 1992 Guild Pilot bass, which I bought new. I have since lost the owner's manual and/or spec sheet that came with the bass. How many ohms are the pickups supposed to be? I have a large Ampeg combo amp that I play through, and in order to be heard, I have to turn the volume up to 9. And we don't play loud. I know the input jack needs replacement, it cuts out sometimes. Could this be the problem, or part of the problem? Thanks for any help and advice.

 

[fronobulax]

Welcome. Don't know but most Pilots have active electronics. If yours is one of them then you might try replacing the battery. I have an amp with a passive/active switch (meaning one position is for active basses) and if you have a similar switch it might be making a difference. Input jack probably is not hurting the volume but that is my speculation. Obviously trying the bass in a different amp might eliminate some possibilities.

What color is your Pilot? Mine's black.

 

[GAD]

If you're already having output jack problems, then I'd absolutely start there.

 

[fronobulax]

Input jack probably is not hurting the volume but that is my speculation.

If you're already having output jack problems, then I'd absolutely start there.

I defer to GAD. Checking for a battery is easier but even if it is the problem you are still going to want fix the jack.

 

[April]

Thanks for the help! My Pilot is black, also. It's passive. I don't like those new-fangled active basses. It's just one more thing that can go wrong! J/K! I'm playing an active bass for now until I fix what's wrong with the Guild. It's a Sterling SUB or something like that. It's ok. It looks like an oar, though.

 

[fronobulax]

Some Pilot porn from member Grot.



GAD - above is 519 x 778 and 2.85. LTG said it was too big. If that's not what you expected, Let's Talk

 

[Nuuska]

Hello from Finland

First - welcome to LTG

Second - things to check : try your bass into other amp - try your amp with another bass. This will tell you where the problem is - bass or amp.

Third - tell us more - who are you - whereare you - what you play - what gear, style etc

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

Welcome April!

It's very rare for a Pilot bass to be passive. Do the pick-ups say "EMG" on them? If so, they are active and the bass will barely work without a good battery. You have to remove the control cavity cover to access the battery.

Happy thumpin'!

 

[SFIV1967]

Welcome to LTG! Post a few pictures of front with the pickups and the opened electronics compartment, that might help.
Ralf

 

[GGJaguar]

Some Pilot porn from member Grot.

Yikes, can't look at that for too long. The animation (not the basses) is gonna give me a migraine.

 

[GAD]

Some Pilot porn from member Grot.

GAD - above is 519 x 778 and 2.85. LTG said it was too big. If that's not what you expected, Let's Talk

2.85 what? MB? If so then yes - that's too big.

 

[fronobulax]

2.85 what? MB? If so then yes - that's too big.

Duh. MB. "Working as expected".

 

[April]

Welcome April!

It's very rare for a Pilot bass to be passive. Do the pick-ups say "EMG" on them? If so, they are active and the bass will barely work without a good battery. You have to remove the control cavity cover to access the battery.

Happy thumpin'!

Hi there! The pick-ups are just plain black with a rubbery top, no pole pieces showing, and no writing. I've played it through three amps lately. Same thing, very quiet. I've had the bass for almost 30 years, I've never had any problems with volume until about 2 years ago, and it was a gradual loss of volume, as far as I can tell. So if it's active, that battery lasted longer than any battery I've heard of, LOL! I will pop it open again to see if I missed something. Thanks for all your help, guys!

 

[April]

Welcome to LTG! Post a few pictures of front with the pickups and the opened electronics compartment, that might help.
Ralf

Will do.

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

OK, so it is possible that you have the model (I forget the number), that have passive DeMarzio pick-ups. Since yours don't have "EMG" on them this must be the case! If you're having problems with the jack, that could be the culprit. I had to replace a jack on a Pilot I played a lot.

 

[April]

Hello from Finland

First - welcome to LTG

Second - things to check : try your bass into other amp - try your amp with another bass. This will tell you where the problem is - bass or amp.

Third - tell us more - who are you - whereare you - what you play - what gear, style etc

Hello, Nuuska! I'm April H., and I'm 60 years old. I've been playing on and off, for 45 years. I live about 50 miles NW of Chicago, near the Illinois/Wisconsin state line. Where the coyotes howl and the hoot owls hoot.

I have 4 Ampeg amps, a small combo, a medium combo, a large combo, and the rig I've used most in the past, an early '70's Ampeg V4B that needs to be worked on so I can use it again. I also have a Boss Katana amp. I haven't used pedals much, but I have three now: An ancient Sovtek Big Muff(which only sounds good with the tube amp), and I recently bought a Darkglass Microtubes pre-amp/pedal, and a Joyo Ultimate Drive. None of which I know how to use except the Sovtek. I'm not really a pedal gal, but I decided to experiment.

Other gear I have is a Sterling Sub bass, which IS active, a short scale Squire Jaguar bass that is doomed because the truss rod is frozen, but has a really nice set of pickups someone added(Bass Lines in the neck position, and a Seymour Duncan in the bridge), a '67 SG, a Hello Kitty baby Squire guitar, 1 old Suzuki archtop acoustic, an old Harmony Tenor guitar, an Ibanez wood bodied resonator guitar, 1 regular Epiphone acoustic, and a PRS SE Baritone guitar, and a student sized cello. Most of this stuff is used, and bought for not a lot of money. The SG was given to me, but the headstock was broken, of course.

When I was a teen, I listened to punk rock, and was involved in the Chicago punk rock scene. Some great bands came out of there. I played in an all girl band, and we moved to Hollywood to strike it rich. Of course, that didn't happen. I was really into "grunge" when it came out...and was sad when it went away. I'd have to say my favorite band right now is the Foo Fighters. I'm into loud, aggressive music, I guess.

Hope this wasn't too long or more info than you needed LOL. P.S. I don't know if you're into Formula One racing, Nuuska, but my favorite driver is Kimi Raikkonen.

 

[April]

Will do.

Sorry, the guitar is filthy, but it's time to change strings and I'll clean it up then.

Welcome to LTG! Post a few pictures of front with the pickups and the opened electronics compartment, that might help.
Ralf

 

[Nuuska]

Hello again.

Plenty of nice info - we all are more or less "nosy" here - not in a bad way - but isn't it nicer to talk to someone you know a little about. Others know me, so I just tell you that I used to live in Bloomington MN - used to work at James Berns Music Store @8417 Pillsbury Ave S - three years. Then back home.

I am 68 - retired - roadie - FOH-engineer - repair tape recorders - used to work at Willi Studer in Switzerland - maker of finest reel-to-reel-recorders on earth - I play mostly fingerstyle.

Back to your problem - looking at the picture of cavity - I see no tone capacitor - has it been removed? Does the tone-pot have any effect?

 

[GAD]

No battery and normal pots = passive pickups. That guitar looks like it's seen some stuff. I'd bet a quick proper soldering of the ugly solder joints on each end of the ground lead to the output jack would help immeasurably.

 

[SFIV1967]

...my 1992 Guild Pilot bass, which I bought new.

I'm a little bit confused. All the pots in that bass are from week 37 in 1982! So the bass is 10 years older than your estimate! What headstock does it have ? What are the two starting letters of the serial number?

Also, what's happening here: A pot with only a middle connection ? Where is the second connection ? Or is that left lug connected with tons of solder to ground ? Also that middle connection of the hot wire looks wild!

Ralf