This early 70s P bass was producing a very weak and very noisy signal. The challenges started with simply trying to get the scratchplate off - the screws were choked with rust, both in their threads and heads.
The wiring had been replaced at some point, but had been done by someone without great soldering skills - there were some poor solder joints in there. The pickup also had a problem - one coil showed very high DC resistance when measured on the multi-meter. I don't have the experience or equipment to start digging into a vintage pickup, so after consulting the owner I sent it off to Armstrong pickups in Kent. They rewound the coil and got it back to me in just over a week. I replaced all the wiring again and put the bass back together. All the scratchplate screws had a cleanup, apart from three that I replaced with new, aged screws. This bass had obviously had a life, with quite a bit of natural wear, and also some corrosion to metal parts. It was very satisfying to see it working properly again.
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