Question??

Jermo3178

Member
I got a prewired pickguard last week... STK S7, STK S4, JB... installed it last night. I'm headed to bed, but wanted to ask a question about what's happening... (posted in the guitar shop, but thought I should put it here for the input.)


So, I started putting the guitar together last night...everything went together smooth. I'm thinking man, this is awesome. In just a few hours I'll be playing this beautiful lady. WOOT WOOT............ :no: ..... I get this thing wired up. Hook it up to the amp.... ugh..... it's weak and nasally... The volume is wide open or NOTHING. The tone nobs don't seem to do a thing. And the jb rings out about as long as the "singles" do. I've fiddled with it for a couple hours now, and nothing has changed.

So I've logged onto the forum of SD, to ask what say you?.... Sorry, I'm pooped.... Anybody have any ideas as to what the deal is? I'm about to go take a nap. Then I'll get up take it apart and get some pics of the guts to get them posted. Until then, mull it over if you don't care.

I shall return, after my nap.
 
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Looks right from what I can tell. Looks well done, other than I wouldn't have used push-back wire to tape off the series link wires. Maybe something's out of phase? Or always on and out of phase? That's a guess from the description.

FWIW - the only times I've had a volume pot act like an on-off switch was when I torqued or rotated the pot too hard and messed up the wiper on the track; maybe the wiper broke loose from the shaft or not sure. The other is just a bad hot connection where touching it sometimes it came alive and otherwise died out.
 
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Thanks for the input. I couldn't see anything out of sorts. It's kinda odd, even at full on the volume is still low and lifeless.
 
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Try checking the jack, or wherever you soldered it in. Could be just a cold joint at the point where you added it to the guitar. If so, just reheating it could reflow the solder and make it work; but make sure the wire is making contact with any lug or other wires under the solder, e.g. push the wire against the lug or other wire while reflowing the solder.
 
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Well funny you should mention that... I have tore my house and shed apart and can't find my meter. So now I have a quest going on to find that...

But on to my initial quest...
I took the guitar completely​ apart... Again... Noticed the jack wasn't setting straight like I thought it was. Apparently the last 1/4 turn, turned it slightly. So I straightened it up... Went back to the amp and tapped the pickups thru the whole volume spin and it cycled like it should. Put it back together, strung it back up and now everything works... I don't what exactly happened... And really don't get it....

Which brings me to a new question... Does the jack usually do this? or did everything just fall right into place this time? If I bang it around will it go Craptacular on me? And why is the sun closer in the winter, yet colder outside? To much? Sorry...

Thanks for the input, and if anyone cares to share some more knowledge, please do... Lord knows with all the overtime and lack of sleep I could use it.
 
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I've had multiple Strat jacks do that to me, where it spun just so when tightening it and it grounded out the works. But only happens when it's all put back together. Take it out of the guitar, it works, put it back in and it doesn't; because it's touching something it shouldn't when all put back together.
 
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I'm guessing that's what was going on here.. idk. Thinking maybe it was turned just enough to touch the shielded paint on the wall.

I remember rewiring my tele back a few years ago. Worked til it was together... then notta. Take it apart, then back together several times... there was 1 strand of wire that was left out of the solder joint that grounded everything out. Clipped it and no problems since...

Thanks for the help. I do appreciate it!
 
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I've had that happen, too! I didn't have anyone to ask about it either. I took the thing apart 10 times, until I figured it out. I am happy it is working for you!
 
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Crazy how you can overlook something so silly after multiple times... And how that simple little deal can cause so much damn havoc.
 
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Hello all can someone help with this question. I try looking everywhere but I can't find it anywhere. Why do these Seymour Duncan Pegasus & Sentient 7 string humbucker look different then the ones on SD site. Or if they are even real SD pickups. If anyone tell me Whats the different too. Would help a lot thank you all 20170312_080136.jpg20170312_080132.jpg20170312_080004.jpg20170312_075925.jpgOPTIONS1.jpg
 
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Hello all can someone help with this question. I try looking everywhere but I can't find it anywhere. Why do these Seymour Duncan Pegasus & Sentient 7 string humbucker look different then the ones on SD site. Or if they are even real SD pickups. If anyone tell me Whats the different too. Would help a lot thank you all View attachment 78917View attachment 78918View attachment 78919View attachment 78920View attachment 78921

You should have started a new thread for this. But I would bet money they were pulled from or are OEM for a Strandberg slanted Boden guitar.
 
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Jermo3178 - beaubrummels is exactly right on almost all cases when this happens to me.
I have to make sure all the ground wire is covered, I go to extremes, but this (your problem and mine) has happened to me so many times. I cover up all ground wires with electrical tape, look at where it's going, look back at what I am putting in again, and tap it as it goes in, so I don't waist time tuning up one string.
Now it never fails. Just a slight touch of 2 wires, from one pickup can ruin the whole thing.
SJBuffington
 
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May or may not be related, but if I shield a guitar, I never shield the "hole" where the jack sits. I had an import that came with shielding paint from the factory. When I rewired it, I replaced the jack with a Swithcraft, like I normally do. The outer dimension of the Switchcraft jack was larger than the cheap, import jack. If the Switchcraft jack wasn't oriented just right, there was contact between the tip contact of the jack and the shielded wall of the bore through hole. Needless to say, when I finished re-wiring and put the guitar back together, I got very low output. I thought I had oriented the jack so I had clearance between the tip solder tab and the shielded wood, but apparently not. I removed the control cavity cover and loosened the nut securing the jack and re-oriented the jack to make sure that was the problem, sure enough, it was. But that wasn't good enough because I worried that if the jack loosened up, it could move and short out again. Took it back apart and spent 10 or 15 minutes with some sandpaper, removing the shielding paint from the bore through hole. Made a mental note ... never shield the hole. I had a similar experience with another import in which the cavity for the toggle switch was shielded with paint and unusually small. Probably a story better left for another day.
 
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