Wiring, etc

Some more progress made today. I soldered up all the wiring for this bass. I made a tracing of the pickguard on a cardboard box and mounted the pieces to it. This made is very easy to get everything in the proper place. With everything soldered up, the pickup wires and the bridge ground are ready to be attached. The bridge ground is usually just a wire with some exposed strands that sits under the bridge. I soldered the wire to a piece of copper shielding tape because I like a nice solid contact point for the bridge, just in case the bridge is not perfectly level on the bottom. All connections are then soldered to the control pots and the output jack.

Control assembly completed:


Pickups attached:




I also got the idea to paint some flat washers body color and put them under the knobs. I think it’s a neat look for it. Pictures below of everything mounted:

And I have a bit of a problem. I attached a test neck to the body and put strings on it, and it all looks good. Except there is no output at all from the neck pickup! Most of the time this happens because of a short somewhere. This can happen easily when you have wires crammed together in a small space like the control cavity.

After checking it all out, nothing looks wrong with it. I pulled the pickup out and the voltmeter confirms that the pickup is dead. I pulled the covers off and indeed the copper windings inside are broken. Time to get a new one! I should have the new one later this week, and then the whole body will be completed. The wiring is done and mounted, the pickguard is finished, the bridge is on, and the strap buttons are also mounted with rubber washers. It’s coming along nicely! Time to get to work on the neck next!