Pickup trouble. SEND HELP!!!

[Kess.V]

So there I am, playing a show on a chilly February night when a certain solo comes up. I decide to switch to my bridge pickup (SD Invader) and... nothing. I get home and do a complete rewire of my guitar. Everything works fine. Fast forward a few months and the same problem occurs, barely audible sound, but usually slamming the 3-way switch back to the bridge position brought it back. A few weeks ago, I bought a push/pull to use for coil-splitting. Installation was seamless and everything was working fine, then all of the sudden my old foe came back. Barely an audible sound from the Invader. I thought it might've been the 3-way switch, so I ordered a new one. After installing it, nothing changed. I wire everything up, tap the pickups with a screwdriver to hear that faithful loud popping noise from the neck (SD Jazz), but the bridge still has it's faint tap. I'm really worried that the Invader has gone kaput. Here's the schematic I used. Everything is wired up exactly as shown:


Here's a video showing my problem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvT4bxaiMi8

And here's some pics of the wiring, not that it really shows anything:


I appreciate and thank you for any feedback!

 

[Demanic]

Re: Pickup trouble. SEND HELP!!!

First thing that comes to mind is a cold solder joint where you installed the Invader.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[Kess.V]

Re: Pickup trouble. SEND HELP!!!

Redid all of the connections and made sure my soldering iron was clean each time/no drafts or anything were in my work area. Even used a helping hands clamp system to hold the wires steady. Still nothing :^(

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Pickup trouble. SEND HELP!!!

Probably you suck at soldering. Have somebody do it for you.

I would test that damn Invader with a multimeter first to make sure that it is fine.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Pickup trouble. SEND HELP!!!

+1 on testing the Invader.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[The JEM Ghost]

Re: Pickup trouble. SEND HELP!!!

+1 on testing the Invader.

Another +1 on testing the Invader with a multimeter to see if it's resistance is what it should be if you measure between hot and ground wires with the red and white wire twisted together. If it measures right (about 16.6K DC) the problem is elsewhere.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Pickup trouble. SEND HELP!!!

I can't discount that switch being wonky. It is rare, but it happens.

 

[Kess.V]

Re: Pickup trouble. SEND HELP!!!

Probably you suck at soldering. Have somebody do it for you.

I would test that damn Invader with a multimeter first to make sure that it is fine.

Lol I've soldered guitars before without a hitch. Thanks for the input, though. I'm going out to get a multimeter today

 

[Kess.V]

Re: Pickup trouble. SEND HELP!!!

+1 on testing the Invader.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

I used the multimeter on the cable when everything was wired up (plugged one end into the jack and touched the multimeter to the other end). The readings I get would be somewhere in the 140-190 range. The 1 is always there when testing, but the other numbers would pop up for a brief second, then dissappear. Splitting the coil changed nothing. When I desoldered the pickup and used the multimeter on in alone, I got a reading of 16.4, which is only .2 off from SDs output description of 16.6. The neck pickup had no problems when being tested from the cord.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Pickup trouble. SEND HELP!!!

When you go to tap the pole pieces on the Invader, how's the magnetic pull compared to the neck pickup?

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Pickup trouble. SEND HELP!!!

I used the multimeter on the cable when everything was wired up (plugged one end into the jack and touched the multimeter to the other end). The readings I get would be somewhere in the 140-190 range. The 1 is always there when testing, but the other numbers would pop up for a brief second, then dissappear. Splitting the coil changed nothing. When I desoldered the pickup and used the multimeter on in alone, I got a reading of 16.4, which is only .2 off from SDs output description of 16.6. The neck pickup had no problems when being tested from the cord.

Fascinating. I'm wondering if something in the guitar is shorting out just the Invader? Like maybe that fully-exposed bare wire is being pushed against the hot, or you've got a baby-hair strand touching something it oughtnada.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Pickup trouble. SEND HELP!!!

I notice a lot of shielding in there. It's possible something is touching something it's not supposed to and grounding out when everything is put back together.

 

[Kess.V]

Re: Pickup trouble. SEND HELP!!!

I notice a lot of shielding in there. It's possible something is touching something it's not supposed to and grounding out when everything is put back together.

I've since fixed the problem, but thank you so much for your input!