I installed a new bridge pickup, but need some wiring advice!

[veil]

So I got a 36th Anniversary and put it in the bridge of my guitar. I've only ever installed pickups once before, and that was probably like four or five years ago. I accidentally singed a white wire going to my second tone knob with the soldering iron, on account of I'm a dumbass. Once I got it stringed up and plugged in, I noticed that the guitar was unusually dark in all positions. As if the tone knob were all the way down. I'm assuming that these events are related. Do you think it's likely that I broke the wire? I only melted the rubber a little bit. If so, where do I get new white wire to resolder back on? Or, is it possible that I shorted the pot? Sorry, I'm a beginner at this.

Also, I noticed that my coil tap positions are equal in volume to the full humbucker situations, which is kind of surprising since they were always half volume. I'm kind of happy about this and don't want to change it, but what do you suppose would cause that to happen? I soldered the new pickup in exactly the same way.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: I installed a new bridge pickup, but need some wiring advice!

you have two tone knobs? rite?

if you have two then one goes to one pickup and one to another
damaging one should not affect the other

you only added the one pickup ?

what other wiring did you do ?

did you cover the melted wire with tape ? it may be shorting on something else

 

[Sanford]

Re: I installed a new bridge pickup, but need some wiring advice!

What pickup got replaced? Does the color code of its wiring match the one you put in?

 

[veil]

Re: I installed a new bridge pickup, but need some wiring advice!

Hello! There's an SD '59 in the neck position. I changed a Dimarzio Super Distortion into a Dimarzio 36th Anniversary. I basically unsoldered the pickup and resoldered the new one using the exact same color wires, in the exact same places. :newbie:

 

[dominus]

Re: I installed a new bridge pickup, but need some wiring advice!

On a Dimarzio, green and bare are ground, red is hot, and black and white are for coil tapping.

 

[veil]

Re: I installed a new bridge pickup, but need some wiring advice!

On a Dimarzio, green and bare are ground, red is hot, and black and white are for coil tapping.

Righto. I'm pretty sure I followed the wiring okay... The pickup works and taps fine, it's just as if the tone knobs are all the way down, but they do nothing when I turn them.

 

[cakire82]

Re: I installed a new bridge pickup, but need some wiring advice!

Is there any chance that you burned the pot. If you have a multimeter check the input and output lugs when the pot is tuned all the way up and tell us what it reads.

It should read around 250K or 500K depending on the pots you use. Possibly 500K as you are using HBs. If 0 it is ruined and you will have to replace it.

 

[veil]

Re: I installed a new bridge pickup, but need some wiring advice!

That's totally possible. I was pretty bungling while wiring it. I don't have a multimeter though. Blast!

 

[veil]

Re: I installed a new bridge pickup, but need some wiring advice!

Errr I just plugged her in again, and now the tone knobs are working?

I am so confused.

 

[cakire82]

Re: I installed a new bridge pickup, but need some wiring advice!

^^
If it goes dead again in the future it might be what ehdwuld said. There might be shorting wire somewhere in there.

did you cover the melted wire with tape ? it may be shorting on something else

 

[veil]

Re: I installed a new bridge pickup, but need some wiring advice!

Thank you! If it does, I'll break out the tape and make sure everything's kosher.

You guys rule.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: I installed a new bridge pickup, but need some wiring advice!

intermittent problems are always loose/shorted wires