Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

Invader09

Invader09

New member
I had the dimebucker put in a strat, but it sounds really weak, and thin and ultra piercing. (it sounds like a single coil... pretty low output) but when I tap on both coils they appear to both be working. I'm trying to figure out what might be at fault for this, could be 5 way switch ? everything appears to be wired correctly (black hot, green and bare to ground, red and white together) don't have a multimeter. Wondering what it might be. Thanks
 
Re: Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

Sounds like you have it wired correctly, but just to be sure, double-check the switch. Its not all that uncommon to have a wire or terminal bent over and touching somewhere where it shouldn't.

Also, I'd get a meter if I was you. You can snag one for as low as $5 at Harbor Freight, and they can be an indispensable tool on these occasions. ;)
 
Re: Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

yeah, if you don't have a meter your only real option is to pull eveything out, inspect it and then re-do the whole solder job.
meters are indispensible.
you can't get the cover off and inspect/manipulate the wiring when it's plugged in on a strat, so you'll be working blind in a sense
with that in mind, i'd have a good look at it and then either buy a meter (do it) or re-do the whole thing.
 
Re: Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

Yeah I just don't get it. both coils are on, but it has this single coil sound, and pretty low output !
 
Re: Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

I just thought of something else, and we've seen this in this forum before. When you say "red and white together", you do mean soldered, right? If they're just twisted, or not connected, the two coils will still inductively couple, and you'll get just what you're describing: low output, and weak tone.

Just a thought.
 
Re: Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

Artie, great to see you here again! I will check and make sure they are soldered together , and not just twisted. Any other ideas I can check while i'm in there tomorrow are welcome !
 
Re: Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

Has this Dimebucker ever worked before? Did you buy it new or used? I hope it's just those option wires.
 
Re: Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

I bought it used from a forum bro on here, but he said it worked great when he had it. Maybe it is some how a bad connection of the hot(black) wire (that could cause it right?), just weird because both coils appear to be on !?
 
Re: Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

you might want to peel the tape and check the lead wires going onto the 4-conductor cable. did you get that meter?
how's robby? she sounded like such a nice girl
 
Re: Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

Check the lead wires ? how do you do that on a dimebucker ? lol. It's a plastic casing.

And, lol. Can't believe you remeber robby, ahaha. She actually passed away. She was reeking havoc though.
 
Re: Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

Invader09 said:
Check the lead wires ? how do you do that on a dimebucker ? lol. It's a plastic casing.
Click to expand...
... yeah, i forgot about that.
ah well, plastic smashtic.
:smash:

and you don't have a meter. lol
; ]

Invader09 said:
And, lol. Can't believe you remeber robby, ahaha. She actually passed away. She was reeking havoc though.
Click to expand...
oh ok. sorry to hear about that.
 
Re: Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

Hey. I'm going to get a meter today. I'm not exaclty sure how to use one on the pickup. (I gues I have to uninstall it right ? How do I get the reading, and what should it read out at ? (if it reads out correctly could the pickup still be damaged?) Im going to get the harbor freight one I guess.. I checked the red and white wires together, and everything looks right. The neck pickup in the guitar works GREAT!

Anyway, thanks.
 
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Re: Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

Invader09 said:
Hey. I'm going to get a meter today. I'm not exaclty sure how to use one on the pickup. (I gues I have to uninstall it right ? How do I get the reading, and what should it read out at ? (if it reads out correctly could the pickup still be damaged?) Im going to get the harbor freight one I guess.. I checked the red and white wires together, and everything looks right. The neck pickup in the guitar works GREAT!

Anyway, thanks.
Click to expand...

No, you don't need to uninstall it. You'll need to set your meter to the 20k ohm range. Then put the red wire from the meter to hot and and black to ground. You can also test through a cord coming out of your guitar. red to the tip of the input on cord and black to your guitar's bridge. Looks like it should read around 16.25 k

BUT I just thought of something. Are you POSITIVE your green wire is properly soldered in with your ground? I had this same problem years ago with a pup that literally just sounded half ass and turns out the green only looked like it was soldered in. Check that out. Also make sure your option wires aren't touching any metal or just tape them off.
 
Re: Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

Let me go try this method real fast. I ended up getting a better multimeter than the harbor freight one.
 
Re: Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

Hey I just checked it. (used the output jack way you mentioned)the X2n in my other guitar was around 18-19 (it jumped a bit) I had a super distortion out of a guitar (measured on the lead wires) it was around 14. now in the guitar with the dimebucker, there is a single in the middle (it was measuring around 9.5), the Fast track II in the neck is around 17, and the dimebucker was around 9.5

So I guess something is up ! It seems that measuring from the output jack gives aslightly higher reading (since the single in the middle is more around 8K i'd guess, and the x2n is prob. around 17. but the dimebucker shouldn't be wayyyy lower like it is ! so what couldf be the problem ?
 
Re: Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

Invader09 said:
So I guess something is up ! It seems that measuring from the output jack gives aslightly higher reading (since the single in the middle is more around 8K i'd guess, and the x2n is prob. around 17. but the dimebucker shouldn't be wayyyy lower like it is ! so what couldf be the problem ?
Click to expand...

Seems you got a problem there indeed, the Dimebucker should not be anywhere near 9.5K DC when both coils are on in series.
My advice is to solder the Dimebucker out of your guitar, make sure the green and bare wires are soldered neatly together, same for the red and white wires, and then measure again on the wires.
If the pickup still indicates 9.5K DC, I am pretty sure there will be a defect to it.
 
Re: Dimebucker won't work right.. ?

OHHPS ! I just went back a measured. the 9.5 reading was in position 2 instead of just bridge (sorry) the bridge actually wont get ANY reading at all?!! but i do get sound out of the pickup when it's plugged in (although its a really thin jangly bad sounding single coil sound) what does this mean ?
 
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