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Topic starter
12/05/2004 10:42 pm
My boyfriend bought a second-hand bass and amp a few months ago to start learning to play. Last weekend he was practicing, put it down to go do something (didn't turn off the amp) and when he came back to it, the sound wasn't transmitting anymore (nothing external happened to it during this 10 minute time period). We managed to figure out that the amp still seems to be working, so we figure that it's probably either the bass itself or the cord. So:
1. Does this scenario sound familiar to anyone?
2. Is there any way to fix it? or should we start shopping for something new?
(please forgive if terminology and such is wrong- I started learning to play acoustic guitar about 3 weeks ago, so I know nothing about electric anything, and not too much about the bass either)
13/05/2004 12:19 am
I would plug another guitar and cable into the amp and see if it works. If it does then plug the bass guitar into it and see if it works. if it does then the first cable is bad, if it doesn't then it maybe a broke wire or bad jack in the guitar.
Check the cable first, they are well known for shorting out. A multi meter could be used to test the cables.
hope it helps
Joe
Topic starter
13/05/2004 7:02 am
Well, unfortunately we don't have another guitar to plug into the amp, so the next best thing we could do was pick up another cord (and the cheapest option). And, well, that didn't work. So it wasn't the cord. It's either the bass or the amp. I think the next step would be to take the bass to a music store to try plugging it into another amp. Is there anything that could have happened to the bass itself so that this would happen?
13/05/2004 7:44 am
Yes, If the jack were the cable plugs in the guitar may have broke a wire, if so it would need to reconnected / soldered. Does the amp make any sound without anything plugged into it?
Joe
14/05/2004 1:46 am
That's bizarre. I wonder how it happened. Maybe the plug banged on the floor and disconnected a wire from the jack, or maybe something came loose when the instrument impacted the floor.
Double check the amp by touching the tip of the instrument cable when it's plugged into the amp. If there's a hum, you should be good there.
I'd take the guitar to a guitar shop if I were you. They will be happy to let you test it on one of their amps. If it doesn't work, you can drop it off for repairs while you're there.
14/05/2004 5:21 am
Many times I've seen were the bolt that holds the jack tight comes loose and when someone goes to tighten it, doesn't hold the inside or the jack just turns back and forth a few times from being loose that a wire breaks off. Perhaps the wire was only connected by one little wire and when it was set down it moved enough to completely break free.
Joe
Topic starter
20/05/2004 11:13 pm
We did take it to a guitar shop (and now I know a little more about the anatomy of a bass :-) ) and when the guy opened it up the first thing he did was take out the piece of electrical tape that had fallen off of the wires it was holding together. Then he soldered the broken wire, and the bass now sounds better than when he got it. So it's my guess that the combination of the humidity here in Hawaii and the slight jolt of putting the thing down was enough to dislodge the shoddy repair job someone had done on it a few owners previous. Thanks for all your help though.