Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

[kroeber]

Hello, everyone. Please help! I have installed my newly purchased Jimi Hendrix Pickup set in my 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat. Installation was done in accordance with the wiring of the original pickups. I have also checked the correctness of the new wiring by referring to the wiring diagram in PDF file available at Fender website. However, I have the following issues/symptoms:

1. Regardless of the postion of the pickup selector (CRL with 5 positions), all three pickups are active simultaneously, and they pick up the vibrations of the strings together.

2. The signal is weaker; in other words, there is not enough volume even when the volume knob is turned up to the maximum position.

3. Shifting through the five positions of the pickup selector does not yield any change to the sound. The condition did not improve even after the selector was replaced by a new CRL pickup selector.

What can possibly be the cause of the above issues? The tone controls seem to be working. I would appreciate any constructive advice on fixing the issues. Thank you very much in advance.

kroeber

 

[VinceT]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

Can you take photos of the wiring and post them here?


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[kroeber]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

Thank you for the reply. Thank you for the suggestion. I am attaching some photos I have just taken. Your help would be appreciated!

 

[kroeber]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

Please let me know if photos of specific parts of the guitar are needed to diagnose. Thank you.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

with all the extra wire in there, i cant see the connections well.

1 & 3- can you identify the common tabs on your 5 way? in the diagram you posted the two common tabs (one on each side of the switch) are connected together
2- these are not high output pups but until you get the wiring straightened out, you cant really judge what you have

 

[AlexR]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

Trim some wires in there....and tidy the routing and positioning of them too. You should be aiming to get something like this:


It is sounding like the switch wiring is the culprit......like you've not got the common tab as a selector and have a pickup wire attached to it.

 

[kroeber]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

Vince T, jeremy, AlexR, I would like to thank each one of you for the response and useful comments. This time, I am attaching a few photos of the pickup selector. The first thing I suspected as the culprit for the issues was also the selector. So, I have replaced it with a new CRL one just the day before yesterday. This replacing did not result in any change, however. The common tabs as mentioned by jeremy are the same ones as indicated in the wiring diagram attached earlier. Please note that this is a lefty Strat strung for a lefty, that is myself. Any additional clue to identify the source of the issues would be appreciated. Thanks a lot!

kroeber

 

[AlexR]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

Well, the selector switch is the only thing that will be the culprit within a normal wiring scheme......so unless you have another physical connection of the hookup wires caused by pinching or similar then I'd be looking there.

If you have a multimeter look to see with the pickups desoldered from the switch where (what lugs) you are getting continuity to the volume pot with your existing setup. If you are getting the typical lugs for each position being active only, then neither the switch nor the wiring is at fault, and you have to go to the pickups + hookup wires. If you are getting multiple lugs connected to the pot then you have to look at the wires touching each other, or the switch forming other connection either through poor manufacture or through solder making a connection. In this case removing all other connections and checking only the switch itself will be necessary.


The fact that 2 switches (including a brand new one) are exhibiting the same issue is pointing more toward an issue specific to what you have done in this guitar.

 

[kroeber]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

Thank you, AlexR, for your helpful comments and instructions. I will investigate the switch and its wiring further when I return from work. In the meantime, if anyone notices any additional issue, please let me know. Thank you again.

kroeber

 

[Adieu]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

Hmmm.... i'd bet that ridonculous XXXL capacitor and/or the switch, or some other part of the jumble of wire, are bottoming out and shorting across the cavity shield paint... or the foil pickguard shield

For starters snip the tones out of the circuit entirely and see if that does anything


Also:
1) star ground on the volume pot looks like a cold or possibly detached entirely solder joint
2) volume pot lug to jack joint (on the thin wire) looks kinda iffy
3) volume pot jack and switch connections seem to hang off the same lug??? If so that's wrong...Does operating your volume pot actually do anything right now?

 

[kroeber]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

3) volume pot jack and switch connections seem to hang off the same lug??? If so that's wrong...Does operating your volume pot actually do anything right now?[/QUOTE]


Adieu,

Thank you for your observation and ideas/hints. At present, the volume control does work: it changes the loudness of the sound. But it works on the all pickups simultaneously, as had been indicated. I will check the shielding and the XXXL cap to see if they are okay. Thank you again.

kroeber

 

[kroeber]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

After coming home from work, I have trimmed the pickup lead wire, and re-soldered some of the connections. Then I removed the tone pots physically from the pickguard to see if that brought about any change. Unfortunately, there has been no improvement in the condition: All pickups are still active simultaneously regardless of the pickup selector position.

 

[VinceT]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

I don’t know if this is it - I do notice your wiring diagram doesn’t have the switch wired the same way as the image at this link:

https://goo.gl/images/TcmNHF

(I checked several standard Strat wiring diagrams and the one at the link seems typical)


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[Adieu]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

Strung up and played or knocking on poles with a screwdriver while pickguard is unmounted?

Hmmm... Metal switch? Check it for shorts through its chassis

Drop some electrical tape between it and the pickguard foil...and, if it's doing this assembled, on the cavity shielding under it --- some cavities are just a little too shallow or the wiring job a little too tall, and stuff shorts out and makes unwanted contacts through the shielding when mounted. Then you pull it out and it looks ok


PS btw, that diagram looks a lot like one for a boxy YM-50 switch, but with alternating lugs .... yours, I don't recognize what that is. Not all switches are created equal, some can have surprises in how their lugs relate

 

[kroeber]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

Thank you, VinceT and Adieu. I really appreciate your opinions and inputs. I know: that diagram is a bit surprising to me too. But apparently that is how Standard Strats made in Mexico are wired. The diagram is at the following website of Fender's:

https://p4.zdassets.com/hc/theme_assets/549136/200076499/013-4620_22C_SISD.pdf

Adieu, I knocked on the pickup polepieces with a screwdriver while the pickguard was unmounted; all three picked up the signal.

kroeber

 

[Adieu]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

Still got the mexican wiring?

Maybe just splice the pups in and be done with it?

 

[kroeber]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

Thank you, Adieu. I will try the standard wiring and see if it fixes the issues. I will report the result when it's done.

kroeber

 

[kroeber]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

Now that I have checked multiple strat wiring patterns, it is not only made-in-Mexico strats that are wired the way mine is, but also some of the recent U.S. models as well: e.g.,

https://p4.zdassets.com/hc/theme_assets/549136/200076499/010-7420_22A_SISD.pdf

https://p4.zdassets.com/hc/theme_assets/549136/200076499/011-7420_22A_SISD.pdf

 

[kroeber]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

After having been busy at work for a few weeks, I was able to take some time to fix the issues with my guitar the other day. I replaced pretty much everything I could think of: potentiometers, selector switch, wire to-and-from the input jack as well as that to-and-from grounding etc. In addition, I re-soldered the connections to make sure that they have solid and robust links. At last, the guitar an its pickups works as it should. Unfortunately, I still do not know what the original problem was. Finally, I appreciate all of you who have provided me with constructive advice. Thank you! :newbie:

 

[jeremy]

Re: Issues with Jimi Hendrix pickup set in 2017 lefty Fender Mex Strat

glad you got it sorted out!