Rust on Pickup affecting sound?

[andtheLiquidmen]

I snagged a Mexican Fender P-Bass on the cheapz a few months ago. The upside is that it came beat up for me. The downside is that there's a bit of rust on the poles of the pickups, which are the stock ones that came with the bass. In the group that I regularly play in, the bass is drenched in fuzz, so I had no real concern with the tone.

Now that I've gotten to tracking some other bits and pieces for other projects and playing without any Fuzz or OD, I noticed that the low E distorts A LOT when I play. I tend to pick extremely hard, but that really shouldn't be causing this.

Cosmetically, I couldn't give two fucks. Googling has brought "it SHOULDN'T affect sound, but y'know" sort of responses.

Thoughts? Comments? Halp?


I should also note that I don't really have moneys to replace the pickups any time soon.

[Ilikewater]

Your low e might be too close to the pole and therefore distorting the sound. raise the height at the bridge or drop the pick a bit. should clean it out. You can use an eraser to clean off most of the rust on the poles, usually. I know brasso takes off rust, too, but it might harm the magnets. something I'm going to go research right now.

[andtheLiquidmen]

I lowered the pickup as much as humanly possible and the sound remains unchanged. I'll try raising the height at the bridge as well. Thanks!

[Achtane]

It could also be a wiring issue. I had a P copy that would sometimes be super quiet, other times made you go "what the fuck...?" and after redoing the wiring to the jack, it worked fine. Until I took it apart and salvaged things from it, anyway

[Mudfuzz]

I snagged a Mexican Fender P-Bass on the cheapz a few months ago. The upside is that it came beat up for me. The downside is that there's a bit of rust on the poles of the pickups, which are the stock ones that came with the bass. In the group that I regularly play in, the bass is drenched in fuzz, so I had no real concern with the tone.

Now that I've gotten to tracking some other bits and pieces for other projects and playing without any Fuzz or OD, I noticed that the low E distorts A LOT when I play. I tend to pick extremely hard, but that really shouldn't be causing this.

Cosmetically, I couldn't give two fucks. Googling has brought "it SHOULDN'T affect sound, but y'know" sort of responses.

Thoughts? Comments? Halp?


I should also note that I don't really have moneys to replace the pickups any time soon.

If rust fucked up the sound then seymour duncan antiquitys would not be AWESOME, but they are AWESOME! I own at least 4 basses with rust on the pickups.

Ok then... Does it do this at half volume? What it your signal chain?

[Jero]

No, a little rust shouldn't be doing anything.

[andtheLiquidmen]

I've plugged it directly into various amps and the distortion is there.

If I roll the volume knob back, it's still there, just quieter.

I'm going to try cracking it open and checking the wiring when I get a chance next week. Have to fly out of state for my bandmate's wedding this week.

[Mudfuzz]

I've plugged it directly into various amps and the distortion is there.

If I roll the volume knob back, it's still there, just quieter.

I'm going to try cracking it open and checking the wiring when I get a chance next week. Have to fly out of state for my bandmate's wedding this week.

Good plan, yeah gut it, new pots, wire, cap & jack. If that doesn't fix it then when you do a new pickup the rewiring will be already done.

[dubkitty]

i'm going with the prevailing consensus; something's screwed in the wiring. if i was given odds, i'd say it's a bad pot or a cracked/loose solder point, probably at the jack from years of getting rotated when the retaining nut gets loose, and ALL jack retaining nuts get loose regardless of lock washers etc..