I have a danelectro bass guitar, and in the past two weeks, whenever I plug it into the amp, an awful torrent of distortion is unleashed. The strings dont even sound; it’s just this awful noise. I’ve tried different cables and everything.
Now, what should I do to fix this? I’m assuming it has to do with the pickups, but I could be wrong. Is it bad enough that I should take it to a shop and not try to do anything myself, or is it a simple problem that I could solve myself and maybe save a few dollars?
The bass may also have a problem with the connection jack, or the volume/tone nobs. You can try tightening the screws that connect the connection jack. I wouldn’t mess with the nob because I don’t know what I would be doing there. Also, if the volume/tone/jack wiggled loose from the solder (sp?) you will have to get it re-soldered to get a clear sound again. Typically picups don’t have much problem because you don’t fiddle with them constantly or plug things into them and take them out all the time.
There aren’t many components inside your bass. If you take it apart to get access to the jack and the knobs, you’ll likely find a broken connection. Most likely at the jack. If you re-solder that, it should be good.
Or if you’re not comfortable with that sort of thing, you should be able to find a musician friend who is, or if that doesn’t pan out, take it to a shop. It shouldn’t be too expensive.
Also, does it have active electronics? I had a bass player I used to play with that this happened to. I opened up the Bass(a old musicman sabre fretless), and found a ruptured 9 volt battery. I said theres you problem, the battery has ruptured. He said “it has a battery?”
He had been playing this thing for 15 years or so, and had never changed the battery(he didnt know it had active electronics)
Which Dano bass do you have, the Longhorn re-issue, one of the DC reissues, the Hodad, or the Rumor? (Forgive me for assuming that you have a newer Dano – doesn’t really matter whether it’s a reissue or original). The other posters who’ve suggested a whacked battery on a bass with active electronics sound like they’re on the right track, but the newer Rumor bass is only Dano bass model with active electronics (actually, it’s just the built-in chorus that runs off the battery – the pickups are passive). The Rumor has two jacks on it – one bypasses and switches off the chorus effect, while the other powers on and activates the chorus. If you have a Rumor bass, try plugging the cord into the bypass jack and see if the problem persists. If it’s not a Rumor, or if you’re already using the bypass jack, then it’s probably a bad physical connection in the jack or wiring harness – the sort of thing that you could probably deal with yourself if you’re adept with a soldering iron, but that’d be easy and cheap to have someone who knows their way around do for you.
BTW, I’m assuming you’ve eliminated the amp as the source of the problem by trying it with another instrument; if not, you’ll want to do so.
Thanks, guys. I took out the connection jack, and the black wire has indeed come off. Now…I don’t know a thing about soldering, so how difficult is it to do so with something like this? Or, should I just avoid all that and take it to a shop?
I’d take it in. Soldering’s not that hard, but if you know nothing about it, I assume that means you don’t have a soldering iron, and I’d guess that you’d probably spend as much on one as you would to have a guitar shop fix this for you. Besides, if you’ve had one failure in the jack, it might be worthwhile replacing the jack and reviewing the rest of the wiring – unless this is a vintage Dano that’s currently all stock.
Soldering isn’t too hard but if you don’t know what you are doing you probably won’t connect the wire properly and have a similar problem to what you are having now (or just a lot of white noise). Typically, a guitar repair shop can do this type of job while you wait and charge less than 20 bucks (in my experience) depending on where you live.
I suggest getting yourself a cheapo soldering iron and doing it yourself. I find myself soldering something on one of my guitars or pedals at least every couple months.
Get some flux core solder, not acid core. Acid core solder is for plumbing if I am not mistaken. Plug in the iron and let it get REALLY hot. Let it sit for like 15 minutes at least. If the wire you are soldering is braided, twist it up really tight, slip it through the hole on the terminal on the jack. Pinch it down and make it hook the terminal from the inside. Put the iron on the joint between the wire and the terminal. Let the iron sit there for at least 15-30 seconds. PUSH THE SOLDER INTO THE WIRE, NOT THE IRON OR THE TERMINAL!!! If you have heated it properly it will just suck straight into the wire. You dont need a ton. Keep the wire pulled tight against the terminal the whole time. Let the iron sit there for a few more secs till you dont see smoke coming out of the solder anymore. This will make sure all of the flux has been burnt out of the solder. Which will prevent a cold solder joint where it looks connected, but it really aint. Then let it cool off, put the jack in, and jam (without a pick ).
In case you dont know, flux is what keep the joint from oxidizing when it is heated. No rust=good connection.
By the way, you can get an entire soldering kit with flux, dikes, needle nose, solder, and an iron for like 15 bucks at Radio Shack. Thats cheaper than paying someone to take the 5 minutes to do it for you.
I recommend you look for a solderer among your friends. You’re likely to find one in any group of musicians.
Soldering in itself isn’t hard, but there are other things to worry about. Notably keeping shielding intact and not soldering to the wrong terminal. If you’re new to this, you might as well get a bit of help. But watch over their shoulder for next time.
Not to argue with Bill H., but you should have no problem figuring out which terminal to solder to because it should have some old solder or some other distinguishing feature on it so you will know it is the right one.
Soldering is easy. Dont be intimidated by these posts here. If you mess up, its very easy to fix in this case. This is the perfect oppurtunity to learn how to do it yourself. Heck, my wife has soldered before, and she is VERY technically inept. I wouldnt recommend soldering on circuit boards right away. That is where it starts to get tricky. But this operation you are doing should be a piece of cake. They do more difficult stuff in junior high shop class.
Personally, I prefer a butane iron. It heats up fast, and is easy to control. Try and find solder that doesnt say lead free. Lead free solder sucks. If you have never done it before, find something to practice on before you screw up your axe. an old radio, or vcr, or just wire laying around…
I will agree with bdgr, butane irons are nice, but if you only solder once in a blue moon they are a little costly. They are VERY nice when you are doing electronic installs in cars.
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