Artie
Peaveyologist
The initial problem was very weak output. The customer took this to two other shops first. Neither can figure out what the problem is. So he brings it to us. Note that the customer drops this off to my luthier friends home, and then I pick it up on my way home from work. I never see the customer face-to-face. When I pick up the guitar, it works fine. So I poke around inside. I find that both pups are grounded to a little metal tab, (red arrow), thats held in place by one of the screws on the kill switch. It was loose. I tightened it down and ran a soldered dedicated ground back to the control cavity. The axe works fine, so I take it back.
Next day, my friend calls and says it's back. Intermittent operation. (Fortunately, customer is a cool, calm, and collected.) I plug it in at my friends shop, and it works perfectly. :banghead:
So I take it back home. Thankfully, when I plug it in at home, it's completely dead. Now I have something definitive to track down. I start at the output jack, just touching the "hot" wire, and listening for a pop/buzz. Everything's good at the control plate. I move to the upper plate, since I messed about in there, and it's completely dead. Move to the 3-switch plate and everything is initially dead, but as I'm touching the common wire that connects all three switches, it starts to come alive. Note the green arrow, and what it says there. "Bend component vertically to avoid shorting . . ." The control cavity is very tight. Apparently, at the time of manufacture, the employee bent the resistor/cap down perhaps before the solder completely set up. The "wire" that connects all three switches is actually the uncut resistor lead. Inspection with my magnifying glass revealed that the wire went through the solder blob without actually being connected. As you tugged on any control plate, it would make contact.
So, reflowed the solder, and all is good. This was one of those weird ones. Hope this info might help someone else. I'm sure its not the first time this has happened.
Next day, my friend calls and says it's back. Intermittent operation. (Fortunately, customer is a cool, calm, and collected.) I plug it in at my friends shop, and it works perfectly. :banghead:
So I take it back home. Thankfully, when I plug it in at home, it's completely dead. Now I have something definitive to track down. I start at the output jack, just touching the "hot" wire, and listening for a pop/buzz. Everything's good at the control plate. I move to the upper plate, since I messed about in there, and it's completely dead. Move to the 3-switch plate and everything is initially dead, but as I'm touching the common wire that connects all three switches, it starts to come alive. Note the green arrow, and what it says there. "Bend component vertically to avoid shorting . . ." The control cavity is very tight. Apparently, at the time of manufacture, the employee bent the resistor/cap down perhaps before the solder completely set up. The "wire" that connects all three switches is actually the uncut resistor lead. Inspection with my magnifying glass revealed that the wire went through the solder blob without actually being connected. As you tugged on any control plate, it would make contact.
So, reflowed the solder, and all is good. This was one of those weird ones. Hope this info might help someone else. I'm sure its not the first time this has happened.
