Help with my 2 humbucker wiring -- bridge pickup doesn't shut off in rhythm mode

[Pickngrin]

(edited since the problem changed..after tweaking)
I'm glad I just found this forum this week - what a cool place.
Anyhow, I just bought a JB (turned out to be JBJ) for the bridge and a '59 for the neck of my Hamer SATF import.
I followed the diagram (this site) for "2 humbuckers, 2 volumes, 1 tone, 3-way switch". The switch is not the original (ie, crappy) factory switch; it's an aftermarket that I had put in. It has four terminals on one side and 1 ground on the other side. I have the middle two terminals soldered together and wired to the tone pot/output jack (as indicated in the diagram).
Problem: When the pickup selector is in rhythm mode, the bridge pot is controlling the neck pickup (along with the neck pot also controlling it).


Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[Artie]

Re: Help with my 2 humbucker wiring -- bridge pickup doesn't shut off in rhythm mode

Hi Pickn; This is one of those situations where it simply means you've done something wrong. You need to just look over the wiring carefully, and retrace your steps. You have a wire or two in the wrong place.

I would look first around the 3-way switch. Thats most likely where the problem is, from your description.

Let us know what you find. We'll get this worked out.

Artie

 

[Pickngrin]

Re: Help with my 2 humbucker wiring -- bridge pickup doesn't shut off in rhythm mode

Artie-
Thanks for your reply... this is driving me nuts! I have examined the wiring diagram multiple times, and even separated the middle two terminals on the switch, wiring each one separately to the jack (realizing it's essentially the same, just trying it)...then re-soldered them back together.
It seems that the bridge volume pot is overriding the neck for whatever reason.
Does it matter that the outer braid on the neck pickup wiring is grounded to bridge volume pot (I just thought of this)? I would think that since they are all grounded to central, that shouldn't matter.

Speaking of the outer braid, how do people separate enough of that to ground? I found it really difficult to do.

thanks again!

 

[Pickngrin]

Re: Help with my 2 humbucker wiring -- bridge pickup doesn't shut off in rhythm mode

I got it! Thanks for suggesting that I focus on the switch. It turns out it wasn't a wiring issue per se after all. After troubleshooting a bit, I looked at the switch contacts more closely and realized that one of the terminals was bent a bit too much and that seems to have accounted for the problem. I suppose the moral of the story is to be more careful when working with switches - I know I've bent these terminals quite a bit.

now...time to screw the pots back in and string this thing up!

thanks again