Gibson wiring problem

lyon

New member
I upgraded all four volume and tone pots in my Gibson SG. I did not make any changes to the wiring scheme.

Now only the bridge pickup works when the switch is in the treble position. In the middle position both pickups are dead and when the switch is in the rythm position the neck pick up is dead.

Any ideas? I did not touch any of the soldering to the switch and the switch was good before I started. I would think that I would have some sound from the bridge pickup in the middle position if it works in the treble position. OR the whole guitar would be dead.

Thanks for your help.
 
Re: Gibson wiring problem

Could be a lot of things, but you're not getting a signal from the neck pickup.

The middle position will not work if the neck pickup isn't working. (even though the bridge pickup works). The middle position requires signals from both pickups to work.
 
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Re: Gibson wiring problem

You have shorted the neck pickups hot signal to ground somehow. Sometimes it is as simple as a little solder dripped down from the neck volume pot and made contact with ground. The other place to check is the neck pickup's connection at the 3-way switch (if you did any soldering up there) So, any pickup selection that includes the neck pickup is shorted. Check all of the signal path of the neck pickup---you will find a short in there somewhere.
 
Re: Gibson wiring problem

WOW! You guys are awesome! Thanks for the quick replies.

Scotty, your analysis was right on the money. I had nicked a tiny little bare spot on the neck pickup wire with my soldering iron and it was touching the ground. I wrapped it in some black tape and that did the trick.

Thanks again, this forum is the best!
 
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