Phillips (crosspoint) screwdriver, to remove electronics cavity cover
Crescent wrench or pliers
Soldering iron
Wire cutters
Wire strippers
Needle-nosed pliers
Heat gun (optional)
Solder wick or desoldering tool
Electronics solder (tin/lead, rosin flux)
Required skills
Installing the PZP-1 requires some soldering, and desoldering, experience. This
may not be a good project for you unless you’ve done some electronics soldering
before. Cafe Walter Audio is not responsible for any damage you do to
your bass, nor to the PZP-1, if you botch the install.
The basic idea
In the stock Fender Acoustic/Electric Precision bass, the piezo pickup is
connected directly to the blend pot. You’re going to insert the PZP-1 in
between the pickup and the blend pot.
Recent changes
Sorry, I haven't fully updated these instructions... the latest batch of PZP-1s
have a trimmer for the output level, so that you can match the level of your
piezo pickup to the level of your magnetic pickup. During assembly I set it to
my best guess for the Fender A/E. Your instrument might be different than mine,
so feel free to experiment.
Step by step instructions
Note: the pictures that accompany these instructions show my bass, which happens
to have been the subject of many previous experiments; so, the insides of your
bass will look different. In particular, you’ll note that the inside of my
electronics cavity is shielded. You might wish to do the same yourself, as long
as you’re opening it up. But I’m not going to go into how to do that in these
instructions.
In each of the following steps, make sure to place the instrument on a soft,
non-scratching surface. Whenever possible, cover the instrument with a soft
cloth, so that if you drop or slip with a tool, you won’t damage the finish.
Remove the knob from the blend control, by pulling it off. If you have to
pry it off, be sure to protect the finish of your bass with something like a
piece of cardboard.
Remove the nut that holds the blend pot.
Place the instrument face down and remove the cover from the electronics
cavity.
Remove and disconnect the battery.
Remove the blend pot from the cavity, so you can get at the wires.
The piezo pickup wire is the shielded wire that runs from the bridge, to the
section of the blend pot that is closest to the shaft (the “front” section).
Carefully unsolder both the shield and the center conductor of the piezo pickup
wire from the blend pot.
Slide the narrow black heat piece of heat shrink tubing over the piezo
pickup wire, and push it a few inches down the wire so that it doesn’t heat up
during soldering.
Solder the piezo pickup wire to the input terminals of the PZP-1. The
shield goes to the bottom hole, and the center conductor to the top hole, as
shown in the picture.
Solder the output wires of the PZP-1 to the blend pot, where the piezo wires
used to be. The black wire (ground) goes where the shield used to go, and the
white/black striped wire (signal) goes where the center conductor used to be.
Slide the heat shrink tubing to the end of the piezo wire, so that it covers
up the exposed shield. If you have access to a heat gun, shrink the tubing. Be
very careful not to damage the finish on the bass, or melt the insulation on the
wires, by applying too much heat! You can also use a flame to do this, but be
very cautious.
Place the large clear piece of heat shrink tubing over the entire PZP-1, and
shrink it enough so that it won’t slide off, using all the same cautions as in
the previous step.
Reinstall the blend pot. Make sure that the toothed lockwasher is on the
inside of the cavity, and the smooth washer is next to the nut, on the outside.
Connect the battery clip marked “Old Clip” to the old battery clip.
Tuck the PZP-1 into the electronics cavity, wherever it fits best.
Connect the battery clip marked “Battery” to the battery, and replace the
battery in the electronics cavity.
Replace the cover of the control cavity, and put the knob back on the blend
pot.
