HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

[ruger9]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

Couldn't get thru to SD; had to leave a VM (maybe they are at lunch). In desperation, did some more digging and have found some info on various Texas Specials, depending on where they came from, could be wired differently.... BUT: with my wiring, both pickups work. And the neck+middle works. It's ONLY when I add the JB to the mix that things don't work.

Also read that SD MAKES the Texas Specials now? And they they ARE INDEED in-phase with JB pickups nowadays?

There's got to be something wrong with the way I have the JB wired... it's even grounding out the middle pickup in notch. All I did was follow Duncan's diagram, except I switched the black and green to get it in phase with the Texas Specials.

I hope SD calls me back....

 

[Mincer]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

Couldn't get thru to SD; had to leave a VM (maybe they are at lunch). In desperation, did some more digging and have found some info on various Texas Specials, depending on where they came from, could be wired differently.... BUT: with my wiring, both pickups work. And the neck+middle works. It's ONLY when I add the JB to the mix that things don't work.

Also read that SD MAKES the Texas Specials now? And they they ARE INDEED in-phase with JB pickups nowadays?

I hadn't heard that, if it is true. Ask them when they call you back, though.

 

[ruger9]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

It's a thread from 2006

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?70440-fender-polarity-question

 

[gregory]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

I don't see anything in that thread that suggests that SD makes the Texas Specials. SD makes the Antiquity Texas Hots, but those are entirely different pickups.

 

[ruger9]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

Crap! I posted the wrong damn link. I'm looking for the right one...

SD still not answering their damned phone.

Well, since I didn't bookmark it, I can't find it now. I've gone thru browser history and I can't find it there either. Some here on SD forums said the TS's were made by Duncan "lately" (I THOUGHT the year was 2006, but now I don't know anymore), and therefore the SD and TS were in-phase.

Then I see many posts about the TS being wired differently (polarity) depending on what guitar they are going into...

This is so frustrating. I'm following the diagrams, and it's just not effing working. And no help from SD. What I DON'T want to do is just start swapping wires all over the damn place, I hate re-re-re-re-soldering stuff, I'd rather get the info straight from SD before making any changes.

I have half a mind to un-reverse the JB (make it standard: black hot green ground), and reverse both of the TS. But I feel like I'm flying blind at this point.

 

[Mincer]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

Give em time, they will get back to you.

 

[ruger9]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

No joy.

Talked to SD tech, he was as baffled as I am. Pickup tests fine on meter. It's wired right. Pickups tests fine straight to output jack. The 5-way blade is a standard Fender, so no monkey business going on there. I re-soldered everything back, no go. I specifically asked if maybe a bad ground on the vol pot might cause it... and re-soldered that twice, as well as adding some lead and attempting to ground it somewhere else.... nothing.

I'm about ready to throw this JB in the garbage an order a DMZ AT-1. Because I've HAD IT. I'm DONE.

Only one weird thing: when I had it re-soldered up this last time, I could have sworn it DID work.... then didn't. It was like, the JB was working by itself as well as working with the middle pickup, for a few seconds... but then the sound just ... faded away. And since then, nothing.

He said I could try wiring the JB as standard, and reverse the leads on both Fenders, but he also admitted that should make zero difference to the problem I'm having. It's the only thing I have left to try, and even at that, it's shouldn't electronically make a bit of difference.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

So position 345 works and position 12 are dead? Also it worked for a while then stopped? This could indicate something in the cavity is grounding out the JB at the switch. Phase issues don't cause there to be no sound.

 

[ruger9]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

I THOUGHT it was working for a few seconds, but I can't confirm, it happened so fast. And the cavity isn't in play- the pickguard is upside down on top of the guitar, I'm just tapping the slugs to check what's working and what's not. This guitar hasn't had strings on it since I put the new pickups in the pickguards, because I haven't been able to get the JB to work.

I just switched the black and green back to SD normal, meaning green+bare to ground, black to hot. And it works as it's supposed to. Even tho common wisdom (and the SD tech) says it shouldn't have made any difference. But apparently it does.

So NOW.... do I have to reverse the wires on both Texas Specials? From what I've read, I've should. But then everything I've read about switching the black and green have been wrong, so....

Any way to know if they are currently out of phase with a meter? Or do I have to string it up to find out?

 

[Clint 55]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

I put only the 6th string on to test phase that way it's less work and it's easier to loosen the string and get the pickguard around it.

 

[ruger9]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

It's a little hard to tell with 1 string, but I do think the JB and middle TS are out of phase. Position 2 (bridge+middle) is definitely thinner an quackier than the middle pickup alone or the neck+middle. Of course it WILL be thinner than anything concerning the neck pickup, but I guess the best was to put it is, position 2 is the obvious standout "I'm different than the other 4 positions!!!"

So... reversing the leads on the middle TS will solve this, correct? Then if I want to keep humcancelling in position 4, I must also swap the leads of the neck TS, right?

OR.... do I just swap the actual pickups (neck and middle)? A thread here said that was the thing to do... that would put the middle (which is RWRP, and out of phase with the JB) into the neck, and the neck in the middle, no presumably in phase with the JB?

 

[ruger9]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

What a riot!!! I ended up have to do the EXACT OPPOSITE of the advice I got here...

JB had to be installed regular (Duncan's wiring)
The Texas Specials not only had to be installed reverse (swap hot and ground), but ALSO I had to swap the positions of the middle and neck pickups (to retain hum cancelling when pairing with JB)... I had to do the "which TS sticks to the slug coil of the JB" thing to figure out the 2 pickup positions had to be swapped.

NOW it appears to be functioning correctly again... what a nightmare. I have never had this kind of wiring trouble with a guitar in the 30 years I've been working on them (as a player, I'm not a tech of any kind except on my own guitars.)

I still can't figure out why (nor could the SD tech) the JB will ONLY work with black as hot and green to ground, as normal. The pickup WOULD NOT work in reverse.

 

[gregory]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

I bet bare wire of the JB is touching the green wire somewhere when you had the green wire as hot and the black wire as ground. That is the only reasonable explanation if everything else was functioning properly.

 

[ruger9]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

I bet bare wire of the JB is touching the green wire somewhere when you had the green wire as hot and the black wire as ground. That is the only reasonable explanation if everything else was functioning properly.

Actually I took that into consideration, and taped all the connections so that would NOT happen. I have had that issue previously, and that's why I started taping things off, especially when trying to diagnose a problem.

 

[ruger9]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

Believe me, I know I must sound crazy... if I were on the "other side" of this thread, I would probably also be thinking "dude did something wrong"... but I'm telling you, this was a bizarre one. I tested that JB, with the SD tech on the phone, and it worked. I wired it up, hot/ground swapped, with him on the phone, no dice. He said to me "all I can maybe recommend is, wire it up normally and see what happens, but it should not be causing this issue." He was as perplexed as I was. I'm no electronic tech, not even an experienced amateur one, but I have been installing pickups over the years (for about 30 years), and 9 times out of 10, it works the 1st time I wire it up. Occasionally I'll have a stray bare touching something else and grounding out, which is why I started taping. But I've never dealt with anything this convoluted in 30 years. I guess I should just be glad I didn't have to start flipping magnets.

FWIW, the JB sounds GREAT with the 250K pot. Now I have to work on dialing in the Texas Specials for volume balance and getting the middle pickup low enough to stay out of my way.

And there may be a couple of STK-7s in my future...

 

[gregory]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

Actually I took that into consideration, and taped all the connections so that would NOT happen. I have had that issue previously, and that's why I started taping things off, especially when trying to diagnose a problem.

Taping things off doesn't fix a short somewhere up the cable which is likely what is happening.

Good luck in getting a balance that works for you!

 

[ruger9]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

Taping things off doesn't fix a short somewhere up the cable which is likely what is happening.

Good luck in getting a balance that works for you!

"up the cable"? Not sure what you mean... inside the pickup? Or are you saying inside the sheath the bare cable is contacting another wire (which would of course require the other wires insulator to be open)?

 

[gregory]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

Upstream, exactly. In the cable or at the connections internal to the pickup.

It's all water under the bridge at this point.

 

[ruger9]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

Upstream, exactly. In the cable or at the connections internal to the pickup.

It's all water under the bridge at this point.

That it is. But what a friggin' disaster.

I figure, at least the JB is in "normal", so if I decide to try some STKs, wiring won't be a sticky wicket... I hope? I'm assuming SDs should be "compatible" with SDs...

 

[gregory]

Re: HSS strat.... Texas Specials vs YJM Fury

Assuming you still wish to split the JB with a Duncan stacks and not have to flip a magnet and reverse the wiring, put an STK-S4M in the middle. Split the middle for position 2. I would also split both the middle and neck such as the -S4N, -S4B or -S7 (in increasing output) for position 4. You'll need a 5-Way Super Switch to do this. They're pretty easy to come by and aren't very expensive.

EDITED to reflect the information in the following thread:
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/sho...single-coils-on-together-still-not-humbucking