Broken coil in a Stingray pickup?

[DJBenzBass]

Broken coil in a Stingray pickup? - FIXED

I just bought a 1989 Stingray yesterday. 2 band EQ. There seems to be an issue with the pickup. It sounds somewhat thin and almost "mono". After some troubleshooting, I finally discovered that when I touch a screwdriver to the pickup poles on the neck side, the "click" & "pop" are extremely low. I really have to turn up the treble to hear anything. When I touch the pickup poles on the bridge side, they "click" & "pop" loudly, as expected. I checked my 2009 Stingray, and both sides made the loud pops and clicks.

I checked all the wiring, and everything appears in place. Even all the pickup wires appear in place. I'm guessing that the coil is bad on the neck side of the pickup? Does that sound right? If so, should I have it fixed, or should I just buy a replacement?
Is there anything else I can check? Thank you very much.

 

[rhythmCity944]

I would check the resistance coming off the wire from the pick up itself. Since the pickup is wired in parallel there might be a short on the neck side which will not affect the bridge side opperation. It's probably not a difficult fix once you locate the problem. A lot of heat has been run through the wires of a 20+ year old bass.

 

[DJBenzBass]

FIXED! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your suggestion led to the solution! I used an OHM meter to check the 2 wires connecting the neck pickup to the bridge pickup. They all had no resistance. They were fine. I checked both pickups. Both had the exact same resistance. I then decided that perhaps it was just a cold solder joint on those two wires. I heated them up, quick melt, quick cool. Plugged in the bass, and "tap tap" on the magnets, and they all worked!!! I put everything back together, and BOOM! the bass is fixed!
Thank you again!

I would check the resistance coming off the wire from the pick up itself. Since the pickup is wired in parallel there might be a short on the neck side which will not affect the bridge side opperation. It's probably not a difficult fix once you locate the problem. A lot of heat has been run through the wires of a 20+ year old bass.

 

[Rano Bass]

Nice!
Good job.

 

[rhythmCity944]

Awesome! Good Job! Your Welcome. Glad it was an easy fix

 

[cellkirk74]

Good to see how easy things can be fixed sometimes. I believe a lot of 'broken' amps or basses are just cold solder joints and a cheap fix.

 

[dio-bass]

Nice posts