Turns out I was wrong thinking I was new to playing bass - I actually bought one in about 1998, which has been in my folks loft since I fledged
It's an Acepro Jazz / MM humbucker jobbie in which I'd installed a set of Baseline pups, a 3 band EQ, blend and volume
I found it at the weekend and amazingly it all still works (original battery too) isn't all that bad as an instrument
The only issue is the sweep on the volume - it does nothing for the first 90% of it's travel and then rolls off abruptly to zero
I re-soldered the ground lug to earth and it definitely rolls off rather than going from full to zero
I'm thinking it's the pot value or solder leak onto the track? ..doubt I even used the volume back in the day ..either way, I'm going to replace it
So do I need a regular 250k pot or something different with the active preamp?
The answer was never 42 - it's 1/137 (..ish)
Comments
With a Duncan/Basslines pre-wired harness, the only difference between the versions for passive and active pickups is the resistance value of the Balance pot.
On both Duncan/Basslines versions, the volume pot is rated at 10k Ohms with a push-pull to activate a preset Contour function. I rarely find the sweep on these satisfactory. Replacement values could go as high as 100k Ohms without loading the system and dulling the tone very much.
If the onboard electronics are the AcePro parts, please upload some photographs.
Are either you or the bass guitar left-handed? It is possible that the volume pot has already been replaced once with an unsuitable component whose audio resistance taper is working in the opposite direction to the one you require.
FWIW: Bartolini seems to suggest the stock 250k pot with their preamp
I don't know the existing pot value at present, but it's not short on brightness
The pot soldering has clearly been done by 'an expert' and I'm guessing I re-used the existing pots
It's all right handed and the volume sweep is in the correct direction, it's just the taper that's the issue
In your situation, I would begin by cleaning the pot resistance tracks with electro-lubricant spray.
I haven't tried spraying the pot yet, so worth a shot - ta!
If I need to replace, what value do I need though?
I would also add 250K to the list Funkfingers gave, it will be fine with a preamp too. A standard good-quality Log pot of any of those values - although I would avoid 10K unless you know it's compatible - should do the job properly.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Seems my soldering skills were as good then as they are now!
PS - tried to 'double wisdom you' only to remove the one I did earlier, so have a 'Wow' for a change :-)