Mystery wiring issue

[Gtrjunior]

I just swapped the hot rails neck with a YJM neck.
For some strange reason the bridge pickup is audible no matter which position the switch is in. It’s a 3 way blade switch.
I don’t think it was doing this before the swap, but who knows...maybe it was and I didn’t notice it.

Any ideas what would cause this? I checked the wiring against the 2 humbucker, 1vol, 1 tone, 3 way blade diagram. It all looks correct as far as I can see.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Anyone?

 

[Artie]

Look closely at the switch terminals. There are two different versions of the 3-way blade. I'm talking within the Fender/CRL/Oak Grigsby style. Not those Asian "in-line" 3-ways. They have the "common" terminals on opposite ends. You've got to look closely to make sure you have the one that matches your diagram, or transpose the wiring.

I'll see if I can find my pic that shows the two.

 

[Artie]

This isn't exactly the pic I was looking for, but it will do. And even though these are 5-ways, the same applies to 3-ways. Look closely at "A" and "D". At first glance, they appear to be the same. But notice that "A" has the common terminal on the right. (Gray finger.) And "D" has the common on the left.

 

[Gtrjunior]

So if I have the opposite one, I need to reverse the jumper wire that connects the 4 lugs to volume and also reverse the side that the hot leads of each pickup goes to...?

 

[Artie]

So if I have the opposite one, I need to reverse the jumper wire that connects the 4 lugs to volume and also reverse the side that the hot leads of each pickup goes to...?

That sounds about right. It's hard for me to say exactly, because I tend not to use a diagram. I just look at what makes contact in what position, then wire according to what I want.

 

[Gtrjunior]

That sounds about right. It's hard for me to say exactly, because I tend not to use a diagram. I just look at what makes contact in what position, then wire according to what I want.

I’m tried reversing everything but it still did the same thing. Here’s a pic of the switch installed in the guitar.
I removed the jumper and hot leads.

 

[Gtrjunior]

 

[Gtrjunior]

The other side of the switch

 

[Artie]

Is that pick taken with neck up?

I mean, the neck of the guitar is pointing up.

Edit: Assuming it is, do this: Connect those four terminals together with the red line. That also becomes your output wire to the volume pot. Neck hot connects to the blue arrow and bridge hot connects to the green arrow. That should do it.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Is that pick taken with neck up?

I mean, the neck of the guitar is pointing up.

Edit: Assuming it is, do this: Connect those four terminals together with the red line. That also becomes your output wire to the volume pot. Neck hot connects to the blue arrow and bridge hot connects to the green arrow. That should do it.

Yes the neck is pointing up in the picture.

That’s how I had it!
I’ll try again.
I just followed a YouTube video and wired it like the guy showed.
The result was the bridge pickup worked properly but the neck was on in all 3 positions.
And the hot output to the pot comes off of the bottom most lug that the jumper is connected to..?
Faulty switch??

 

[Gtrjunior]

Ok, I wired it like you said and now the bridge is on in all positions and the neck doesn’t work at all.
I give up. I’m ordering a new switch and I’ll try again another day.

 

[Artie]

That is super odd. I've never seen a switch with that particular failure mode before. Once you get it out, see if you can post a clear pic of each side. Or, if you want to send it to me, I'll pay shipping. I'd love to see what's going on here. (If you're in the US. If not, it wouldn't be worth it.)

 

[Gtrjunior]

That is super odd. I've never seen a switch with that particular failure mode before. Once you get it out, see if you can post a clear pic of each side. Or, if you want to send it to me, I'll pay shipping. I'd love to see what's going on here. (If you're in the US. If not, it wouldn't be worth it.)

I just ordered an Oak Grigsby 3 way.
I’m on the east coast US so I’ll be happy to ship the old one to you. I’m sure it’s me doing something wrong....
I’ll let you know when it’s ready to be shipped. Probably a week or two.
I appreciate your help! Thank you

 

[Artie]

Cool. Certainly no rush. I'm just curious what might be wrong. I've seen stranger things happen in over half a century of doing this. I'll PM you an addy.

 

[GuitarDoc]

To me, it doesn't sound like a problem with the switch. Sounds like a wiring/soldering issue. Perhaps a single strand of one of the wires is shorting out (touching) another switch terminal or another wire. Or possibly too much solder contacting another terminal or wire.

When you wire up your new switch be careful not to use gobs of solder...less is better. And make sure there are no stray wires and that no exposed wire can touch anything it is not supposed to touch. Heat the terminal (with the wire attached) with your iron then let the solder flow onto it and the wire. It helps if the wire is pre-tinned before connecting it to the terminal. Do NOT heat the solder and flow it onto the terminal...that leads to cold solder joints, gobs of excess solder, shorts, and damage to the components.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Yes, it very well may be some stray solder or wire making contact. I did briefly inspect the old switch when I took it out and nothing jumped out at me right away. The switch doesn’t click into place in one position as well as it should. Maybe something is stuck in there. I’ll have to take a closer look.
I replaced the switch with the new one and all is good in the circuit.

 

[Hank-]

Is that pick taken with neck up?

I mean, the neck of the guitar is pointing up.

Edit: Assuming it is, do this: Connect those four terminals together with the red line. That also becomes your output wire to the volume pot. Neck hot connects to the blue arrow and bridge hot connects to the green arrow. That should do it.

Are you sure? Shouldn't the red line be only connecting to the outer edge terminals while the bridge & neck terminals need to be jumpered with terminals next to each other respectively?:33:

 

[Artie]

Are you sure? Shouldn't the red line be only connecting to the outer edge terminals while the bridge & neck terminals need to be jumpered with terminals next to each other respectively?:33:

Yup. Either way works. There's multiple ways to wire up a 3-way or 5-way. Both of these are electrically identical.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Yup. Either way works. There's multiple ways to wire up a 3-way or 5-way. Both of these are electrically identical.

When we were discussing the schematic the other night, I found a YouTube vid where a guy described exactly how the switch works. How each lug works in conjunction with the others depending on what position the switch is in.
After the explanation, he explains how each of the above wiring schemes both work.
Let me see if I can find the video. It may help someone in the future.
Here it is:

https://youtu.be/o7zcb-2daHU