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Mystery electronics
http://mowrystrings.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10123&t=53696
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Author:  Conor_Searl [ Sat Nov 21, 2020 1:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Mystery electronics

A customer dropped this off to me for a re-wire. It's some strange Japanese 80's Fender bass. I can't find a schematic anywhere, but I did find a video of a guy demoing the bass, so I've got a pretty good idea of what the controls are supposed to do. It's got two weird pickups, a mess of knobs and a weird switch. It's fairly obvious that 2 of the knobs are volume pots, the switch is a mini on/on/on switch, which I'm assuming is the pickup selector, and finally what I would assume to be a tone switch. I feel confident I can wire this back together, but the tone knob is giving me pause, simply because I'm not sure what it's supposed to be doing. The pot has a detente, and it would seem a resistor and capacitor attached to one side, a resistor attached to the other, and the resistors are connected to one another. Is the function of this part of the circuit obvious to anyone?

Author:  Chris Pile [ Sat Nov 21, 2020 4:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mystery electronics

What brand?

Author:  Conor_Searl [ Sat Nov 21, 2020 5:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mystery electronics

Chris Pile wrote:
What brand?


Brand of bass or brand of pot?

The bass is a Fender from the 80's made in Japan. It's called a performer. It's very weird. The brand of pot? I'm unsure.

Author:  Chris Pile [ Sat Nov 21, 2020 5:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mystery electronics

Okay, yes - Performer. The weird pot is a TBX ganged (or stacked) pot. It's the tone control. At the midpoint the EQ is flat. Turn it counter-clockwise (like a normal pot) it rolls off the treble. Turn it clockwise and it rolls off the bass. Fender used them on American Standard series stuff to begin with, and I think they are still offered on many Fender instruments. They sell for about $15. Lots of guys add them to other rigs because they are useful. I put one on my Yamaha BB-100 bass, and have some installed on a couple of my guitars in place of normal tone controls. I like 'em.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Performer_Bass

Have you asked on any Fender forums or perhaps Talk Bass?

Author:  Conor_Searl [ Sat Nov 21, 2020 6:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mystery electronics

Chris Pile wrote:
Okay, yes - Performer. The weird pot is a TBX ganged (or stacked) pot. It's the tone control. At the midpoint the EQ is flat. Turn it counter-clockwise (like a normal pot) it rolls off the treble. Turn it clockwise and it rolls off the bass. Fender used them on American Standard series stuff to begin with, and I think they are still offered on many Fender instruments. They sell for about $15. Lots of guys add them to other rigs because they are useful. I put one on my Yamaha BB-100 bass, and have some installed on a couple of my guitars in place of normal tone controls. I like 'em.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Performer_Bass

Have you asked on any Fender forums or perhaps Talk Bass?


Brilliant! Thanks Chris. No I haven't tried any other forums, that's a good thought.

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