IB-5 issues

Hi all, I am new here and hove only posted in the "welcome' thread so far.

I am in the process of completing an IB-5 build (5 string bass) and have a few issues.
Chief at present is getting sound out of it.
I have wired up according to the diagram and triple checked it-I am not a good solderer so it isn't neat but the connections seemed to be in the right spots and not shorting. I tried to take pics but they are not helpful and the copper tape just confuses everything
What I was getting initially was a solid ground hum with popping, Trevor suggested that I had the jack wired incorrectly so I changed the hot wire connection (the Earth was on the long pin and I didn't change that).
I then get a quieter more normal ground noise.
The trouble is that I get nothing from the pickups when I tap with a screwdriver suggesting nothing is getting through from them. There should be the usual loud pop.
I tried wiring the front pup directly to the output as a test and still nothing.
I am a bit concerned the problem may not be just my wiring skills here.
I have already ordered a Belcat harness as suggested in other threads but I am open to any thoughts/suggestions.

Hi Gloucestre,

Getting no output seems to me to imply a grounded hot wire.

It is possibly worth taking the pots out from the recess (away from the copper tape), and take out the jack, to see if that makes a difference (and hopefully some clear photos can be taken). Do not desolder them - just get the components out of the cavity.

Also - Do you have access to a multimeter? That can be used to check resistances (and shorts) in a circuit.

Hi Trevor, I tried it again out of the cavity with the same result- no output.
I have today off so I will pull everything apart and test the components in small groups ie pup->pot->output
Unfortunately I don't have a multi-meter so this is the only way I can think of to test.

Keep persisting. Soldering can be a PITA, and circuits can be very difficult to find fault in. Dry joints (where the solder looks good but does not actually join to both components) are normally my nemesis. Stray strands of wire are a close second.

If you intend to do more builds it may be worth investing in a cheap multimeter.

Try wiring the pick up directly to the output jack. If that works then it is in the pots. If not then the pickups may be the issue

Hey all,
I pulled it all apart this arvo.
Wired the neck pup to it's pots and got ground noise but a signal from tapping it with a screwdriver and thought all good (perhaps foolishly I didn't do this with the bridge pups and pots)
When I pulled it all apart I found some shorts from my dodgy soldering, so cleaned off as much as I could and tried to use less.
Eventually after a few cock ups I got it all back together and I pulled out all the copper tape shielding just to be sure- the body I got is really rough in the cavity .
Anyhoo, I got it all back together and am at the same place as before- loud ground noise and no signal when the hot wire is wired to one short jack pin and little his when wired to the other and no pickup signal.
I tend to be a problem solver and this is wandering around in my head a bit, I do have a Belcat harness in the post and I am hoping that will work-I will need to solder the battery connections and pickups and may need to make a cutout for the battery cover though.

A picture will probably be the best.

I'd say fair chance it's still dodgy soldering. If it's not done right, it won't be a good connection.

Also not sure what you mean by the jack pins. Both the short ones are the ones to use. One will be for the big one that touches the tip (should see it'll connect to the plate that the big bit is attached to), and the other will connect to the sleeve. If you have them bckwards, that could make sense. Make sure the hot is going to the tip/ the big one, and ground goes to the other that's the sleeve. If you aren't already doing that.

But pics should help a bit.

I tend to find seymour duncan wiring guides help a lot though. They're well drawn out, and explained, if that's part of the trouble too. I haven't used the pitbull diagrams myself personally. Last build I did I used an sd liberator, so was all sd wiring guide for that mess hah

Just out of interest, as I know i have done it before. Is the out put jack wiring the right way around?

Hi Mr Drifter and John, the diagram I have has the jack connections labelled opposite of what you say, I will reverse them as you suggest and try that-thanks.
I will get a multi-meter in the next coupla days also and check everything too

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mr.Drifter

A picture will probably be the best.

I'd say fair chance it's still dodgy soldering. If it's not done right, it won't be a good connection.

Also not sure what you mean by the jack pins. Both the short ones are the ones to use. One will be for the big one that touches the tip (should see it'll connect to the plate that the big bit is attached to), and the other will connect to the sleeve. If you have them bckwards, that could make sense. Make sure the hot is going to the tip/ the big one, and ground goes to the other that's the sleeve. If you aren't already doing that.

But pics should help a bit.

I tend to find seymour duncan wiring guides help a lot though. They're well drawn out, and explained, if that's part of the trouble too. I haven't used the pitbull diagrams myself personally. Last build I did I used an sd liberator, so was all sd wiring guide for that mess hah

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Hi Mr Drifter. I think the IB-5 has a stereo barrel jack socket. Are you describing the "normal" style jack socket?

I got myself a multimeter yesty and it looks like there is a short in the neck pickup pot, but I am not certain.
Might pull it all apart again on the weekend for learning experience as I got a better soldering iron and smaller diameter solder.
What I am waiting on is this Belcat active circuit:
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/zgMAA...7EQ/s-l500.jpg

It has a circuit diagram, what I want to check is that the pup hot connection goes to the centre pin on the respective pot (ie Neck=Bass and Bridge to Treble) using the kit humbuckers:

Attachment 43910

Does that make sense?

I think this thing has (temporarily) beaten me.
Today I pulled it all apart again and carefully resoldered.
No change.
I removed the tone pots from the circuit, still nothing abut loud hum and nothing from the pickups.
I removed the neck pickup and went straight from bridge pickup through the pot to the output, no change.
The only thing I haven't tried at this point it pickups directly to jack.
I used a better (hotter and finer) soldering iron and finer solder this time and I cleaned up all the joins and re-did clean.
I also used new wire for a couple of them.

Luckily I should be getting the complete harness next week

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trevor Davies

Hi Mr Drifter. I think the IB-5 has a stereo barrel jack socket. Are you describing the "normal" style jack socket?

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Ah rip. Went looking, and couldn't find anything on whether it was passive or active, so just assumed passive.
But yeah, referring to normal jack style.

In that case, would be this, if you didn't already have this
https://cdn.fuelrocks.com/how_to_wir...input_jack.jpg

But, from your diagram, it looks like it's a weird form of jack. But that's at least the parts that need which bits.
how odd

Hi mate, the Jack connector is one of those closed tube ones that expects you to guess the right input pins.

Can anyone confirm that the pickup outputs always go to the centre pot pin?

Yeah, I'd have to assume middle is middle, but I've never used one, so can't confirm

To find out what pins on the jack are is simple, all you need is a multi-meter and a guitar cable.

Set the meter to a setting that checks for continuity, either the continuity setting or the Ohms as some do not have a continuity setting.

Plug the cable into the jack, connect one cable to the tip and check which pin gives you continuity.

Then use the same process to check which is the earth. I have used the same type of jacks and I check all the pins to make sure there are no mistakes in the jack's manufacturing. Once I find the correct ones, I remove the ones I don't need so as to remove any confusion later on.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gloucestre

Hi mate, the Jack connector is one of those closed tube ones that expects you to guess the right input pins.

Can anyone confirm that the pickup outputs always go to the centre pot pin?

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The IB-5 wiring diagram has the pickup hot wires connected to the middle lug of the volume pot. (But they do not have to - the LP style wiring diagram for 2 humbuckers etc has the pickup hot wires on the 3rd lug and the output is the middle lug!! I assume this is a personal preference)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trevor Davies

The IB-5 wiring diagram has the pickup hot wires connected to the middle lug of the volume pot. (But they do not have to - the LP style wiring diagram for 2 humbuckers etc has the pickup hot wires on the 3rd lug and the output is the middle lug!! I assume this is a personal preference)

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I was suspecting that I was soldering to the wrong lug after a bit of reading last nite (complete noob here)
I also had a look at the belcat one a bit more and see that the pup hot wires should go to the centre lug on the balance pot, one on each layer, I Think I will just join all the earths to the jack as I am unsure if the pots are earthed (tho a multi-meter will tell me I guess)

Some success and some complaints.

Ok, I finally got something working.
I am not an engineer but my clinical medicine lecturer back in the day was (as well as being a doctor) and I like to think that his methodical way of problem solving has rubbed off a bit- either that or I am just obsessive.
I went over the jack again with the multimeter, it turns out that it was incorrectly labelled in the diagram Pitbull provided (1), the only pins connected are the short ones, the long pin does nothing.
I wired up the bridge pickup and it's pot and got a result.
I went and wired up the neck pick up similarly and got nothing, after a bit I worked out that there is some internal fault as there is no connection between the middle and right lugs, I didn't check the left one as it was soldered as the ground (2). Fortunately the tone pots provided were identical so I substituted one of these and finally got a result.
I now have two volumes straight to the jack and a playable axe.
I ended up not using the tone pots for a couple of reasons, one broke with the shaft coming out when I was testing the knobs (3) and I couldn't repair it. In the end I used the remaining one to replace the neck volume pot.
As above I have a Belcat harness coming and will use that, I also have some rather cool red knobs to replace the stock ones (they will suit the way it is painted), I will most likely have to make a cavity or incorporate the battery cover into the cavity cover.
There was no cutout routed for the cover to sit in as in the store photos unfortunately so it isn't flush with the body (4).
I think I got one that was last on the shelf and there may have been some QC issues but in the end it has taught me a lot more than having a perfect one would have.
Here is how it looks currently, I got it as much as an art project for my kids and I rather like the artwork.
These are the stock strings, they will likely be replaced with Chromes, Deep Talkin Flats or Tapes of some sort.
The knobs will be red.
Attachment 43922

I'm glad it worked out in the end. And it looks good. Good luck with the Belcat.