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PLEASE HELP, IM DESPERATE!!! wIRING !!!

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  • PLEASE HELP, IM DESPERATE!!! wIRING !!!

    Actually I have been completely flummoxed by this probelm. I cannot get my potentiometers to work at all!!! I no longer an convinced it is a problem only with my caps. I am certainly no pro at this but i have rewired a couple of my own guitars in the past with no trouble.
    Here is my setup...
    Tele with custom 5 in bridge, alnico pro 2 in neck (w/chrome cover)

    I have the bucker routed to on/off/on toggle to get n.coil/Both/s.coil
    I have the single coil routed to push/pull to switch in /out of phase

    Both of these functions work PERFECTLY
    I have a ground running from under my bridge and also 2 others--> one from a lug in the neck pickup cavity and the other to a lug in the wiring rout. These are all soldered together. Obviously the ground from my jack is directly soldered to this also, and from the wiring rout lug I ran a ground to the bottom of my volume pot (not a push/pull --> I have that for the tone).

    I am using a T model megaswitch hooked up exactly as it instructs (checked a zillion times). My pickup switching also works flawlessly.

    What doesn't work is my tone and volume controls. The volume is basically an on/off switch as is, having almost no taper at all (it is 500k). When turned below "8" it cuts out entirely. As for the tone control, I cant even really tell if it works at all. Sometimes I think i hear it kind of rolling off the highs.

    Since originally writing this I have replaced both pots and tried caps of almost every concievable value. I have tried grounding the neck pickup cover. I have even completely gone back to bare bones with no switching at all and i STILL can't get any of the pots I tried to work. I have even tried not soldering the last new ones I put in (taped temporarily instead) jsut to see if I was overheating them. No luck.
    I must be doing something fundamentally wrong here. I have followed the shemes to the letter and checked 100000 times. And anyway just to see i have also tried every other concievable combination too!!! My hot from the jack is running to the middle lug (sweeper) of my volume pot. The bottom lug goes to the tone control and also to the hot from the pickup selector. The other lug on the volume pot goes to ground. The sweeper from my middle tone pot goes to capacitor, other end of cap to ground. I tried reversing the outside lugs on the pots in case I had them backewards bu no luck.
    PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

    I have stayed up all night for 4 days trying to get this to work!!!!!!

    pLEASE if you can help reply to this post or email me @ [email protected] !!!

    I need you guys!!!

  • #2
    Re: PLEASE HELP, IM DESPERATE!!! wIRING !!!

    bumpity bump

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: PLEASE HELP, IM DESPERATE!!! wIRING !!!

      What you're describing, is exactly as it should be. So . . . something else must be wrong. Or, and this is common, you're seeing what you think you should see. It happens.

      Is there any way you can get a fairly high resolution close-up photo of the wiring. Anyone you know have a decent camera. I can't think what else to suggest.

      Edit: One more thing, if it was me, I'ld disconnect the tone control completely. Get the volume control working first - then go from there.
      No sense trying to fight two potential problems at once.
      Last edited by ArtieToo; 06-08-2004, 05:56 PM.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: PLEASE HELP, IM DESPERATE!!! wIRING !!!

        tHANKS for the quick reply art, you seem like a swell dude

        Unfortunately, being that i NEVER seem to have exactly what i need exactly when i need it, I do not own a digital camera. If I can scrounge one up I'll surely give it some snaps and post 'em for ya to check.

        I have two questions for you..

        I have a p-bass-- what value pots are in that (thinking of raiding them as I KNOW FOR A FACT that they work) !!!

        Also, i have some 3 watt, 25 ohm pots lying around. Is it safe to try them?? Can they be of any service???

        Thanks

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: PLEASE HELP, IM DESPERATE!!! wIRING !!!

          im not sure man, if you have tried so many options and they havent worked....hmmmm..... either you have messed up pots or do you the wrong taper, such as linear as opposed to audio?..... im not sure what differnce that makes but if you say there is almost no taper at all that could be a problem?
          http://www.myspace.com/wildcatdotdotdot

          Fender Telecaster 1962 Reissue MIJ
          >cord<
          1968 Fender Twin Reverb

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: PLEASE HELP, IM DESPERATE!!! wIRING !!!

            Originally posted by FiendN
            I have a p-bass-- what value pots are in that (thinking of raiding them as I KNOW FOR A FACT that they work) !!!

            Also, i have some 3 watt, 25 ohm pots lying around. Is it safe to try them?? Can they be of any service???

            Thanks
            I'm not sure whats in a P-Bass, but the 25 ohmers are definitely out.

            I'm trying to think, what else might be the problem here . . .

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: PLEASE HELP, IM DESPERATE!!! wIRING !!!

              only a few random ideas here ...

              have you an ohm meter you could check the pots with? .. turn it full one way, measure the resistance .. turn it halfway, measure again .. turn it full the other way, measure again .. see if this yields clues? .. also, measure the pickups' resistances to see if they are in the ball park and not shorting .. check for a stray wire shorting out at the push/pull or the mega switch

              good luck
              gear list in profile

              "no seymour - no tone ... know seymour - know tone!"

              Is it not the glory of the people of America that, whilst they have paid a decent regard to the opinions of former times and other nations, they have not suffered a blind veneration for antiquity, for custom, or for names, to overrule the suggestions of their own good sense, the knowledge of their own situation, and the lessons of their own experience?" - James Madison - Federalist #14

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              • #8
                Re: PLEASE HELP, IM DESPERATE!!! wIRING !!!

                Thanks so much all of you, I have tried all of your ideas save for the ohm meter test with no results. EVERYTHING else works fine, no shorts, ground problems, nothing but good sound. Its just that the pots basically dont work at all. I guess i'll just go out and buy some more, again.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: PLEASE HELP, IM DESPERATE!!! wIRING !!!

                  Originally posted by flank
                  im not sure man, if you have tried so many options and they havent worked....hmmmm..... either you have messed up pots or do you the wrong taper, such as linear as opposed to audio?..... im not sure what differnce that makes but if you say there is almost no taper at all that could be a problem?
                  Linear pots won't do what he's referring to here, also putting 25 ohm attenuator pots in a guitar will suck all the high end out ... best advice, take it to a tech ... something tells me, it ain't the pots (as I've used those many times), it could be, but I doubt it, if you can unsolder the pots and check their resistance between the CCW lug and wiper lug, going from *0* to *10* , regardless of taper you should get increasing resistance from approximately 0 or a low reading 12ohms maybe, then a maximum of whatever the tolerance of the pot is stamped. If that checks they are fine, audio taper won't give you the effect you are talking about, neither will linear.
                  It's possible that he could have toasted the pots during soldring, hard to say.
                  Best advice, again take it to a shop.
                  ::::To sound reinforcement engineer::::
                  ... What? ... ::::snicker:::: ...Yes, ... Right, ...
                  Could we please have everything louder than everything else ? ...

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: PLEASE HELP, IM DESPERATE!!! wIRING !!!

                    Originally posted by flank
                    im not sure man, if you have tried so many options and they havent worked....hmmmm..... either you have messed up pots or do you the wrong taper, such as linear as opposed to audio?..... im not sure what differnce that makes but if you say there is almost no taper at all that could be a problem?
                    by no taper at all he means that the volume goes from off to on. If it were linear, it would be louder than an audio taper at 8. personally, i think you toasted two sets of pots... thats the only thing i can think of...

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: PLEASE HELP, IM DESPERATE!!! wIRING !!!

                      There are no shorts anywhere as I have repeatedly checked...

                      Remember, I HAVE COMPLETELY REMOVED ALL SWITCHING OPTIONS temporarily to focus on the pots alone.

                      As for taking it to a tech.... THAT WILL NEVER EVER HAPPEN IN 10000000 YEARS!@!!!! I am the only one who works on my guitar, period. I would accept a friends help though, but NEVER pay someone to do what I have successfully done myself so many times.

                      As i said before, this is a very strange problem. I am capable of pretty complex wiring options and never had a problem before, ever. I have been playing for 21 years and owned this particular guitar since 1992, having replaced the electronics in it several times successfully.

                      HOWEVER, I HAVE A NEW THEORY....

                      I recently got a nifty little butane powered soldering iron (no magnetic field generated---> cant degauss pickups etc.). It gets H O T !!!! This is the first time I have used it, so I bet you anything that I inadvertently let its exhaust get too close to the pots while soldering. I am almost certain that I have INDEED FRIED 2 sets of pots!!! I got some more today though and once I get home will be installing them. This time I will not even try to SOLDER ANYTHING AT ALL TO THE BACK OF THE POTS!!! Instead I am going to send all ground directly to the ground lug in my control cavity. Its less convenient this way, but almost totally eliminates any possibility of overheating the pots.

                      Thanks for all the help BTW. I really appreciate it!!!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: PLEASE HELP, IM DESPERATE!!! wIRING !!!

                        Originally posted by FiendN
                        I recently got a nifty little butane powered soldering iron (no magnetic field generated---> cant degauss pickups etc.). It gets H O T !!!! This is the first time I have used it, so I bet you anything that I inadvertently let its exhaust get too close to the pots while soldering. I am almost certain that I have INDEED FRIED 2 sets of pots!!! I got some more today though and once I get home will be installing them. This time I will not even try to SOLDER ANYTHING AT ALL TO THE BACK OF THE POTS!!! Instead I am going to send all ground directly to the ground lug in my control cavity. Its less convenient this way, but almost totally eliminates any possibility of overheating the pots.
                        If this butane torch setup you got is giving you that much grief, why use it, man? Sounds like it runs too hot for guitar electronics.
                        I've never heard of anyone having problems "degaussing" (call me ignorant, but I never read the word until today) pickup magnets because of using a conventional soldering iron.
                        If you used a gas powered soldering gun on your pots, My guess, too, is that the pots got fried. Something powered by gas like that is bound to run hotter than electric, or at least getting hotter faster.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: PLEASE HELP, IM DESPERATE!!! wIRING !!!

                          I'm glad that you may have found your problem, but as for the soldering iron - the only "iron" that could possibly deguass magnets, would be one of those huge 240 watt soldering guns. The type that have the big twin beams coming out of it.

                          An "ordinary" soldering iron doesn't generate a magnetic field like that.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: PLEASE HELP, IM DESPERATE!!! wIRING !!!

                            Originally posted by midnite_man
                            If this butane torch setup you got is giving you that much grief, why use it, man? Sounds like it runs too hot for guitar electronics.
                            I've never heard of anyone having problems "degaussing" (call me ignorant, but I never read the word until today) pickup magnets because of using a conventional soldering iron.
                            If you used a gas powered soldering gun on your pots, My guess, too, is that the pots got fried. Something powered by gas like that is bound to run hotter than electric, or at least getting hotter faster.
                            The butane soldering irons *are* adjustable, but first time using one it's hard to judge ... I've never heard of a soldering iron taking demagnetizing a pup's magnet myself either. Some iron's are non-inductive which are ideal for using around older CMOS chips, the grounded tips get around the static discharge problems, and are ideal for IC work. A normal inductive iron will not harm a pups magnet in the slightest. If it does, someone doesn't know what they are doing to being with period! Plus ,the cool thing about the butane soldering irons (not torches) is that they are totally portable ... this can be cool at times when needed unexpectedly. Gotta love component cooler spray and heatsinks ...
                            ::::To sound reinforcement engineer::::
                            ... What? ... ::::snicker:::: ...Yes, ... Right, ...
                            Could we please have everything louder than everything else ? ...

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: PLEASE HELP, IM DESPERATE!!! wIRING !!!

                              Originally posted by ArtieToo
                              I'm glad that you may have found your problem, but as for the soldering iron - the only "iron" that could possibly deguass magnets, would be one of those huge 240 watt soldering guns. The type that have the big twin beams coming out of it.

                              An "ordinary" soldering iron doesn't generate a magnetic field like that.
                              And we all know the GUNS are off limits to all but a few very adept people at the get in, get out game! ... If you can't get it done with a 45watt solder pen (iron) { what ART, like 850~925 degrees F, somewhere in that neighborhood, I mean how hot do you need it ...LOL! }... ya doing something wrong ... even when soldering pup covers...
                              Last edited by Kent S.; 06-09-2004, 11:16 PM.
                              ::::To sound reinforcement engineer::::
                              ... What? ... ::::snicker:::: ...Yes, ... Right, ...
                              Could we please have everything louder than everything else ? ...

                              Comment

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