YB-4 wiring confusion (FIRST TIMER)

[MaxC]

This is my first guitar build and I don't have much prior experience with wiring and following wiring diagrams so I'm a little clueless.

In the diagram that is dedicated to my specific bass kit the diagram shows what looks like an extra wire on the neck pickup. Is this right or is the 'earth wire' the part without the plastic around it and 'Hot Wire' the part with the white plastic?





Here's a link to the actual diagram for improved quality:
https://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-co...f/PBG-YB-4.pdf




On top of this In was curious as to how i would go about grounding a wire to the bridge like it says in the diagram.



Cheers

[Brendan]

The wires on the P bass pickup have just changed slightly - from the yellow wire - take the outer sheath wire (silver) to the back of the corresponding vol pot, the other wire (looks like a white inner protective sheath) to the pot lug. The wire to the bridge will be out of the other wire that was part of the kit - just needs to be wrapped around one of the screws of the bridge, passed through the hole under the bridge to the control cavity and joined to the back of one of the pots.

[MaxC]

Oh okay I think I get it now.

Thanks heaps

[Brendan]

No probs - here to help! BTW - would love to see the YB - bass player myself - so a little guitar envy is always good .

[Jez748]

Hi guys,
Not sure if I can jump in here or need a separate thread but here goes...

I have a couple of questions on the YB diagram. I was supplied with 2 off B500K pots and 1 off A500K.

The diagram says 2 volume pots which according to the instructions I downloaded are the A type pots and 1 Tone which is a B type...but I was supplied with 2 B's and only 1 A? Do I need another A type pot?

I upgraded to Tone rider pickups, my P type pickups, the 2 small ones, have 1 white wire and 1 black wire, so that looks right to the diagram, the jazz pickup has 1 white and 1 black wire...so is my white wire the "hot" wire and the black wire the "bare" wire and does it need to be stripped back to a bare wire?

Thanks
Jeremy

[Sonic Mountain]

Hey Jez,

You are correct that generally speaking A pots are for volume and B for tone, but in my experience it doesn't really matter. The difference is in how the 'ramp' of the pot works. A pots are logarithmic, which for volume works better for the human ear. That means on a graph showing volume increase, the line will be curved. B pots are Linear, so on a graph of their influence the line would be straight. I personally use A pots for everything at the moment, but I also don't muck around with my controls much, works fine for me. If you want to match up with what it should be a replacement pot is about $3.50 for one similar to the kit ones. (I bet if you emailed adamboyle@pitbullguitars.com he'd probably swap it for you if its not what the kit was advertised as having). But even if you wire up what you have it will still work.

In regards to the pickups I can't answer that conclusively, but hopefully Weirdbits or someone will be along to clear that up - White for the Hot wire sounds correct, but there is a LOT of variation between different pickups, even on kit ones. The entire wire will not need to be stripped of its insulation, just some come with a 'bare' wire as the earth.

[Jez748]

Thanks for the reply, makes sense....do you think "better" pots does much, $3.50 pots...just sound cheap, no pun intended....

[WeirdBits]

The Tone Rider bass pickups typically use white/yellow for hot and black for ground (same for their other single coils). You don't need to strip all the black wire to bare, it makes no difference insulated or not, just solder the bare 'tip' to the indicated ground point (ie. back of the pot).

More expensive pots are usually closer to their specified value (250K vs 300K or 200K etc.), less prone to 'scratchiness' and tend to last longer. You can always start with the supplied pots and upgrade later if you feel the need.

[Jez748]

thanks Scott....

[MaxC]

After months of procrastinating, I finally built it. Here is the final result of my first build.

Cheers for the help.