HotRail so quiet ??

Exutus

New member
Hey guys

I even disoldered the wires of the other pick ups to test

i tested the HotRail with the Black on the switch (green + bare to ground, white-red soldered togetter)
and green on the switch (bare + black on gorund, white-red togetter soldered)

And still, a very poor weak sound

I'm really getting pissed off now, I never got to make the HotRail work like it's supposebly supposed to sound, I just wanna throw it out through the window... but before I make a mistake I need your help ;)

I want it at the neck, I got a Jackson btw

The Parralel Axis at the bridge works like a charm,
however i can plug in on 2 or 3 pins for a given position of the switch and it works.. I think one of the pins of the switch gives more treble.. why ??? Now I don't even know which one is best to connect it to (bridge) lol

thanks for your patience boys (and girls)
 
Re: HotRail so quiet ??

For the HotRail

How can I wire the Red and White other then soldered togetter ?
Will that fix the issue ?

And btw, the HotRail is at 3/32 inch to the string so heigh is not the problem


:S
 
Re: HotRail so quiet ??

Time to go down the checklist:

* Is it wired correctly according to the diagram? I'm assuming it is, but you have to ask...
* Is everything grounded right?
* Did you tape the red and white wires off after soldering them? If not, it may ground out.
* Are the switches and pots functioning right?

If you can, use a multimeter to check EVERYTHING. Check the resistance of each coil of the pickup. If it is a neck model, each coil should read about 5.4 K ohms. Each coil of the bridge model should read about 8.5 K ohms (just in case you're using a bridge pickup in the neck). If your measurements are way off, the pickup may be broken.

Use the multimeter to make sure your pots and switch are working, and make sure you didn't forget anything while wiring it up. I've had my share of wiring frustration, and it was always because I messed something small up.
 
Re: HotRail so quiet ??

Is the hot supposed to go to the switch first or the pot/s first? What kind of guitar/wiring scheme are you using?

Luke
 
Re: HotRail so quiet ??

How do I test the coils with the multi meter, Black wire + White wire, the black + red ?? I'm not sure if it's a neck or bridge pick-up actually... I wish I can put it at the neck position.



My jackson originally has a humbucker at the bridge, a single middle and single neck, 1 tone and one volume, 500k each.


Another thing, if I cut the wires too short, can telephone wire do to repair ? (im not there yet lol)
 
Re: HotRail so quiet ??

Who is the woman in pink ?



James

That is one whole lotta silicone.

Meanwhile, back at the pickup... I once had a similar experience with a Li'l '59 for Telecaster. The output varied hugely for no apparent reason.

Take a look at the underside of your Rails pickup. You should see two blade polepieces butted up either side of a bar magnet.

On my faulty pickup, it was possible to shift one of the blades away from the magnet by a tiny distance. This seemed to be enough to mess up the output level (presumably, by weakening the magnetic field).
 
Re: HotRail so quiet ??

How do I test the coils with the multi meter, Black wire + White wire, the black + red ?? I'm not sure if it's a neck or bridge pick-up actually... I wish I can put it at the neck position.

Not quite... Test it with black and white, then test red and green.

Good luck, and let us know how things work out.
 
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