Hello, I just joined this forum, hope this is the right place to post this. Anyway...
I have Ibanez gsr200. It is an active bass. I haven't played it in a few months but someone asked me that they need a bass player so I agreed. Went to learn the songs when the bass didn't emmit a single db of sound. I replaced the battery as that is the usual problem, but nope. I managed to borrow a bass, but had to return it and with corona lockdown, I can't take it to get fixed.
Also, I have toddler nephews who love that bass because they can turn knobs and who knows how hard they masscared it because one of the knobs is loose (they are banned to get anywhere near to it now). Anyway, I don't know if that's the problem. I opened it and couldn't see anything with my amateur eye.
Anyway, here's the photo. The knob that arrow is pointing at is the loose one. Also, all other knobs have 3 connections to it, this one has two, but can't see a loose wire if there is one.
Anyone have any idea what it may be?
I have Ibanez gsr200. It is an active bass. I haven't played it in a few months but someone asked me that they need a bass player so I agreed. Went to learn the songs when the bass didn't emmit a single db of sound. I replaced the battery as that is the usual problem, but nope. I managed to borrow a bass, but had to return it and with corona lockdown, I can't take it to get fixed.
Also, I have toddler nephews who love that bass because they can turn knobs and who knows how hard they masscared it because one of the knobs is loose (they are banned to get anywhere near to it now). Anyway, I don't know if that's the problem. I opened it and couldn't see anything with my amateur eye.
Anyway, here's the photo. The knob that arrow is pointing at is the loose one. Also, all other knobs have 3 connections to it, this one has two, but can't see a loose wire if there is one.
Anyone have any idea what it may be?
Unfortunately, there isn't enough information to go on. This instrument has relatively complex electronics, and the only way to tell what went wrong would be to find the schematic diagram, and then do a series of tests and measurements to locate the fault.
-Gnobuddy
Be sure your instrument cable is fitted with mono jacks to switch on the internal battery when inserted into the instrument. Is there any LED indicator for power on?
Double check your battery, check for broken off wires. Have a try on all the pots, do they turn the same amount and need the same force?
the most common problem is the long body strap style jack contact going bad and losing contact losing the battery power.
quick test with a jack inserted short across the two connections with the black leads on the jack if sound returns you know what to replace.
quick test with a jack inserted short across the two connections with the black leads on the jack if sound returns you know what to replace.
Im not expert in this, also, english is not my native language, could you explain what do you mean by mono-jacks? Because without battery, I can get some sound out of it. not notes, but noise. This time I get no output to the amp. It doesn't acknowlage it even when I touch the magnet with a string.
I did check the battery. It.s not the battery. I tried to see if I could find any broken wires, but it seems ok from what I, a newbie, can see. Also, what are pots in this case? Knobs? Because one knob is loose. I suspect that to be the problem because all knobs have 3 wires attached to it, only that one has 2, but I don't see any loose wire. Also, the schematic the Turk182 provided shows that 3 wires are attached to all knobs. But still, I see no wire that could be attached to it.
So, I don't understand any of it.. Heh.. Like I've said, English is not my native language and that lingo is not understandable to me. So, what is "long body style jack"? The thing where I put the cable in the bass? I mean, jack but the full name of it? Because I doubt that is the problem. I never seemed to have any problem with input jack. Also, your schematic suggests that all knobs have 3 wires attached to it. From what I can read from schematic, the tone knob is the one on my bass that has 2 wires attached to it, so one seems to be missing. I also get absolutely no sound from it. Not even when I press the string against the magnet.
Most of us would look at a distributor catalog to see the difference between a monaural 1/4" phone plug and a stereo 1/4" phone plug. The stereo plug has a ring after the tip, the monaural one doesn't.
There are pictures of the product on parts distributor websites. I think probably you should take this to a shop for an expert to handle it.
There are pictures of the product on parts distributor websites. I think probably you should take this to a shop for an expert to handle it.
I would very much like to help you, but I cannot. We simply don't have enough information.
You see, unfortunately, there are literally dozens, maybe even hundreds, of different faults that could cause the symptom you describe.
For a signal to come out of your guitar (sound from the amp), everything in the guitar has to work properly.
But you can see that there are many little electronics components on that PCB, and dozens of solder joints, and lots of little wires, and potentiometers and jacks and a battery; if just one single thing out of all of these hundreds of items stops doing its job, that could be enough to keep you from hearing anything from your bass.
As an example, imagine that your car stops moving forward when you shift the automatic transmission into drive. Now you ask someone on a forum far away, "Why won't my car move forward when shifted into drive?" That person can't help you, because there are too many possibilities. Maybe your torque-converter has no fluid in it. Maybe a gear broke a couple of teeth. Maybe the engine control computer is faulty. Maybe there's a broken wire from a sensor. Maybe the mechanical linkage from your gear shift lever broke. Maybe there's a blown fuse. Maybe one of the electromagnetic coils that operate the internal valves in the transmission failed. Maybe...
The only way to get some help would be for you to know enough about automotive repair to perform tests and measurements. If you did, you could check if there's transmission fluid, check the mechanical linkage, check the fuses, et cetera, until you find the fault.
We're dealing with a similar situation here. Unfortunately, by now it's clear that you don't know enough electronics to do the diagnostic tests and measurements that are necessary to give us any useful clues to help you. It's also clear that you don't know enough electronics to fix it yourself. 🙁
So I agree with Indianajoe: we can't help you. We want to, but we cannot get the necessary information from you, so we can't help. Your only hope to get this fixed is to find somebody local who can fix it for you.
I realize this may not be possible right now if you're under lock-down, but from your first post it seems you're still playing bass at gigs, so I guess you're not under lock-down? Or are your recording your bass parts in isolation, and sending them to the band via the Internet?
-Gnobuddy
well english isn't my native tongue either.
are the potentiometer lugs that are empty are not soldered to the case (establishing ground connections) ?
it's an active circuit, no power, no sound even if pushing the strings up against the pickup.
are the potentiometer lugs that are empty are not soldered to the case (establishing ground connections) ?
it's an active circuit, no power, no sound even if pushing the strings up against the pickup.
I have three active basses that can be switched to passive mode. In passive mode the sophisticated EQ controls stop working, but the bass still puts out a signal, and it's perfectly playable, just like vintage basses (that don't have any electronics on board.)
I assume this is implemented the same way "true bypass" is implemented in guitar effects pedals, with a DPDT switch.
I've never taken the battery out of one of these basses to see if passive mode still works, but I believe that's actually one of the reasons the passive switch exists: if you get to the gig and the onboard battery is dead, or dies mid-set, you just flip the switch and keep on playing.
-Gnobuddy
Yeah, I think I should, though I was hoping I could go around it.
Yeah, I understand what you are saying. I was hoping it was some small problem even I could fix, because it usually is. I know some basics about electronics but in English makes that knowledge worthless...
We are not under strict lock down, I could go get it fixed, but I want to keep my contacts as few as possible. Even though my city has few cases, still. I need it to practice and learn songs since we are hoping to play gigs during the summer because that was our goal since summer means earning money here, but who knows what will be. Until this ends I'll just play it dry.
Empty pontentiometer lugs are not soldered anywhere. Well, one lug. It just stands there doing nothing. Also, this can bass get sound out of it when there is no battery in it. Not notes, but sound. Similar to what sound you get when you press strings to the magnet. That's why I tired that.
Mine does not have that option. No battery, no playing. I played my portion of passive basses, but this bass of mine is the only active I've played, so I maybe lack knowledge in that part also.. But thanks for the replays. I'll see what turk186 says about empty lug and I guess we can close this topic.