05/30/2026
I enjoy the 6 string guitar lessons and repair work I do, but I also find bass guitar lessons and bass repair work to be rewarding and enjoyable as well.
Rogan received this beautiful bass guitar for Christmas from his parents about 5 years ago.
(Rogan) “I had taken a guitar class when I was in 7th grade and fell in love with the bass when I got to play it for a concert, so I asked my parents for one for Christmas. My dad spent months on and off researching the best starting bass that would still have room to be upgraded in the future, he ended up settling on mine. I had already been in the south middle school jazz band for half of the year at this point playing trombone, so I asked my band director if he would let me switch to bass, he said yes. So I started playing primarily jazz for the first 4 years of playing the bass but this past year I’ve broadened my horizons to other genres such as rock and metal. I plan on playing this same bass until it can’t be played or I can’t play anymore😂. I’ve also kinda want to join/ start a band when I get to college so that I can continue to play with a group”.
Rogan’s bass guitar with the factory electronics lasted him 5 years before they started giving him issues. The sound from the bass weakened more and more and it got to the point where he had to completely crank his amp all the way up and use an effects pedal to boost the signal to get more sound from his bass. Rogan finally had enough and decided to contact me to see if I could repair his bass guitar.
Rogan then stopped by my repair shop with his bass so that I could take a look at it. I checked the 9 volt battery to make sure it was charged and did a quick inspection of the electronics, but I wasn’t able to find the problem, so Rogan decided to leave it with me. I then did a more thorough examination of the electronics (checking all the connections, wires, solder joints, output jack, switch, and controls) but was still unable to pinpoint the exact cause of loss of sound from the guitar. I came to the conclusion that the preamp was damaged beyond repair and that the whole electronics/preamp system would have to be replaced.
Rather than getting bummed out about this news, Rogan saw it as an opportunity to upgrade his bass guitar with better quality electronics, including him deciding to upgrade the pickups as well as the preamp and controls for better sound quality. Rogan decided to do his own research into different preamps and pickups and we settled on the preamp/controls and pickups featured in this post because they are good quality electronics, and because they were the most compatible electronics we could find that would work with the body configuration of his bass guitar.
Once the upgraded electronics/preamp and pickups arrived, I got to work. I first tested the new pickups with an ohmmeter to make sure they were working correctly. Then I plugged the new pickups into the new solder-less plug-in electronics/preamp and plugged the preamp into my amplifier to test them for sound and to test the controls. After removing the guitar’s original factory electronics and pickups, I started the process of fitting the slightly oversized pickups by sanding down the ends of the pickups outer casing so that they would fit into the pickup slots in the body of Rogan’s bass guitar. Once the pickup casings were sanded down and smoothed out, I installed pickup height adjustment foam into the pickup slots in the body of the guitar and then installed the new fitted pickups over the top of the foam and screwed them in place at a good height for great sound.
After that, I soldered the ends of all the ground wires together so that they can be plugged into the new solder-less plug-in electronics/preamp. I then removed the input jack from the new electronics because it was incompatible with the body configuration of this bass guitar and soldered the new electronics wiring to the original factory input jack on the guitar. Then I reamed out and widened the undersized holes for the electronics controls in the guitar’s body so that the new controls would fit. After that, I plugged in the new pickups, the smaller original factory 9 volt connector that had to be reused, and the ground wires into the solder-less plug-in electronics/preamp and fully installed and mounted the new electronics onto the guitar inside of the electronics control cavity on the back side of the body of the bass guitar. I then put the strings back on and tested the new controls, the new electronics/preamp, and the new pickups for good sound and I was pleased with the results. After confirming everything was working right and sounding good, I then reinstalled the original factory control k***s that worked well with the new controls. Last of all, I neatly arranged the wiring for the new electronics/preamp inside of the electronics cavity on the guitar, closed it up, and tested everything one more time. All good.
It’s great seeing aspiring musicians taking it to the next level like Rogan has with his newly repaired and upgraded guitar.
Message me here if you’re in need of guitar repair work or guitar lessons✌️
