Pickup stopped working

[dmraco]

I have a neck pickup on a bass that stopped working.  All wires are still commented.  I find it hard to believe a pickup would malfunction. Do you think it's jus the pot?

Thx

 

[bagman67]

Given the pot is the only moving part in the circuit, I'd say it's the most likely point of failure assuming you haven't poured battery acid all over the axe.  Certainly it's the easiest part to swap out. 

 

[line6man]

Test the pickup before jumping to any conclusions.

 

[mayfly]

Test the pickup before jumping to any conclusions.

Yep what he said.  ohm meter across the leads.

It is possible for a pickup to stop working.

 

[KaiserSoze]

Sounds to me like you need to start a completely new bass build

 

[GoDrex]

does your bass have a toggle switch? sometimes when a pickup stops working it's because the toggle switch is not making contact properly. I find it weird that a pot would go entirely bad all of a sudden.

 

[dmraco]

Ohm meter was steady at 4.5.  I have no idea what that means.  Pickup was out of the bass.

 

[line6man]

Ohm meter was steady at 4.5.  I have no idea what that means.  Pickup was out of the bass.

4.5 means a short somewhere. Unless you meant 4.5k?

 

[mayfly]

Ohm meter was steady at 4.5.  I have no idea what that means.  Pickup was out of the bass.

4.5 means a short somewhere. Unless you meant 4.5k?

Yep.  4.5 ohms means something is dead. 4.5k means things seem normal.

 

[dmraco]

OK. I looked again.  4.5K.  When I hit the range button it says 4.5K and 30 Ohms.