So I recently got a Dimebucker that the previous owner had installed in a guitar with a much different back cavity than my Gibson SG, so I had to extend the Green, Bare, and Black wires between 3-6" a piece. (note: this detail is important...
nder
So I've had everything installed just like the diagram and instructions dictated, but my Dimebucker was only cranking out maybe 50% of its potential output (hasn't been too friendly with high gain settings either--which, needless to say, is just kinda weird...) and sounded really tinny, almost like an AM alarm clock or something.
So I've read through lots of posts on various forums, posted a few pleas for help myself, and read the the FAQ on this site, where I caught the bit about pickups being out of phase and how to fix that (i.e. switch where you connect the hot and ground wires...). So I took the Green and Bare wires and soldered them to terminal #1 on the bridge's volume pot, and took the black/hot wire and soldered it to the back of the bridge's volume pot.
And what do you do you know? The output improved quite a bit--still not at all as much as it should be (it's about 70% as much as the 490R in the neck position, and while I measure the Dimebucker's ohm resistance as 15.55-16.40K, the 490R's comes out to...9.46K...yeah, something still ain't right...).
I looked at the bare wire's extension and got a funny feeling and an idea about it that led me to desolder it and see how things would go. So with the green wire attached to terminal #1 and the black wire securely placed on the back of the Bridge's Volume Pot, I plugged my SG in again to see what effect, if any, that would have and...
Answer? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It sounded just like it did with the Bare wire's extension attached. And let me tell you: the joint on that extension was quite solid (I mean, I was proud of myself for that puppy...!) and covered with shrink tubing for added stability.
So, since just about all of the issues I've had seemed ground-related, I'm almost certain (Hell, I AM certain...) that the lack of the bare wire at the ground site is what has been the difference between why my Dimebucker hasn't been ripping people's heads off but sounding like a comically small AM radio someone stubbornly refuses to throw away. I'm thinking (or hoping, rather) that there's a specific type of wire (or more than one...hopefully with a wide range of prices...!) that I need to acquire to properly extend that bare wire (and yes, that does fly in the face of everything most of us have learned about this wiring this sort of project...), since your run of the mill copper wire certainly wasn't doing much as an extension.
So, do any of you kind souls know what kind of wire that could or might be? ANYONE? PUH-WEEZE? puh...LEEEEEZE...!!!
I'm so close to making my super SG...so...close...:argh:
nderSo I've had everything installed just like the diagram and instructions dictated, but my Dimebucker was only cranking out maybe 50% of its potential output (hasn't been too friendly with high gain settings either--which, needless to say, is just kinda weird...) and sounded really tinny, almost like an AM alarm clock or something.
So I've read through lots of posts on various forums, posted a few pleas for help myself, and read the the FAQ on this site, where I caught the bit about pickups being out of phase and how to fix that (i.e. switch where you connect the hot and ground wires...). So I took the Green and Bare wires and soldered them to terminal #1 on the bridge's volume pot, and took the black/hot wire and soldered it to the back of the bridge's volume pot.
And what do you do you know? The output improved quite a bit--still not at all as much as it should be (it's about 70% as much as the 490R in the neck position, and while I measure the Dimebucker's ohm resistance as 15.55-16.40K, the 490R's comes out to...9.46K...yeah, something still ain't right...).
I looked at the bare wire's extension and got a funny feeling and an idea about it that led me to desolder it and see how things would go. So with the green wire attached to terminal #1 and the black wire securely placed on the back of the Bridge's Volume Pot, I plugged my SG in again to see what effect, if any, that would have and...
Answer? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It sounded just like it did with the Bare wire's extension attached. And let me tell you: the joint on that extension was quite solid (I mean, I was proud of myself for that puppy...!) and covered with shrink tubing for added stability.
So, since just about all of the issues I've had seemed ground-related, I'm almost certain (Hell, I AM certain...) that the lack of the bare wire at the ground site is what has been the difference between why my Dimebucker hasn't been ripping people's heads off but sounding like a comically small AM radio someone stubbornly refuses to throw away. I'm thinking (or hoping, rather) that there's a specific type of wire (or more than one...hopefully with a wide range of prices...!) that I need to acquire to properly extend that bare wire (and yes, that does fly in the face of everything most of us have learned about this wiring this sort of project...), since your run of the mill copper wire certainly wasn't doing much as an extension.
So, do any of you kind souls know what kind of wire that could or might be? ANYONE? PUH-WEEZE? puh...LEEEEEZE...!!!
I'm so close to making my super SG...so...close...:argh:
