Independent Dual Volume Dual Tone

[jsmith2500]

Hello everyone,

I did some searching on here and if the answer is already here, I missed it. Sorry for the repeat if so. Anyway, I have installed two pickups, Neck - JAZZ NECK (SH-2N), Bridge - DUNCAN CUSTOM (SH-5) and used this wiring diagram along with what is at the end to get independent control of the pickups.




I also used the Seymour Duncan wiring diagram for this set up so I knew what to do with the 4 conductor wires.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/images/wiring-diagrams/2H_3G_2V_2T.jpg

Tied off red and white together and soldered green and shield to the base and black to the middle pin on the pot. I also wired the cap as shown in the Stew-Mac image.

The neck pickup with vol and tone is working as expected. The bridge pickup not so much. It doesn't really act like a volume but more like a filter thing and the tone pot seems ok. Not sure how to explain it but it's definitely not acting as a volume control. Any suggestions would help! Thanks!

-Jason

[PFDarkside]

That’s a weird way to ground the tone cap.

Since the bridge and neck are both wired exactly the same way it’s probably a bad solder or incorrect connection. Recheck your grounds first.

[GuitarDoc]

There are several different ways to ground the cap. This way is just fine.

I agree with PFD that there is a bad/wrong connection somewhere. If wired and soldered correctly, everything should work as expected. Definitely recheck all of your connections.

[jsmith2500]

Sorry for later reply! Thanks so much! I will re-check and post an update.

[jsmith2500]

OK..Took me a while to get back to this project. I feel really confident that the wiring is correct. I payed closer attention to what the knob is doing. It seems to turn the volume down...just not all the way? It drops a little in volume and loses lower frequencies. Almost as if the sound with is still "leaking" through the pot and past the tone because I can still use the tone knob to adjust the tone. Is it possible that I have a bad pot?

[GuitarDoc]

Are you sure the third lug on the vol pot is grounded? Did you check it by just looking at it or did you resolder it? Could be a "cold solder joint". You should resolder all the joints and THEN check to see if it's working properly. Also make sur there are no stray wires touching anything they're not supposed to.

[GuitarDoc]

Also, it would be nice if we could see what's going on. Take several close-up pics of the wiring, from several different angles so we can see every connection. Make sure the pics are clear.

[hamerfan]

This is not the solution, but maybe a small part of the problem: Do you use logarithmic pots for volume?

[ThreeChordWonder]

There are several different ways to ground the cap. This way is just fine.

I agree with PFD that there is a bad/wrong connection somewhere. If wired and soldered correctly, everything should work as expected. Definitely recheck all of your connections.

Agreed on the tone cap wiring. Nothing odd about it.

Also agreed on probably a bad solder joint.

But...

Make sure your pots are good and that you haven't got a bad one or accidentally cooked one during soldering.

Also, and this can be contentious, make sure you haven't installed a volume pot to volume pot ground. I don't know why, but this seems to stop the independent volumes from working.

[jsmith2500]

Thanks for the replies all everyone. Not exactly sure what kind of pot it is. I ordered a wiring kit from StewMac. I will go ahead and resolder the third pin before taking pictures. I agree that it's most likely a bad solder joint. Thanks again everyone. Hope to have an update after the weekend!

[GuitarDoc]

How did it go? Did resoldering the connections do it?

[jsmith2500]

Sorry for taking so long on this! Here is the latest! I tried a few more times to get it to work to no avail. Went to Dallas International Guitar show and met the guys at the MojoTone booth and talked to them about it. They weren't sure what was going on. I saw a prewired kit from them for an SG while I was at their booth and let them know it wouldn't fit since mine is a side jack output. They were awesome! Told me to email them and remind them of who I was and they would work up a kit with some extra length on it. Received it yesterday, removed the old stuff and just put in and guess what! IT WORKS PERFECTLY! So...must have been bad pot *shrug*? Anyway, everything is good now! Thank you to everyone that helped me out with this!

[Mincer]

I am happy they took care of you! Love a good mystery solved.