Rewired HB's - pot has dead spot now?

AR15DCM

AR15DCM

New member
Hello,

I have a Les Paul copy that I decided to rewire recently. It has a Custom-Custom in the Bridge and a Pearly Gates in the Neck. It also has the Triple Shot mounting rings.

As a reference I used the 2H 2TS 3G 2V 2T Seymour Duncan wiring diagram to find my way around and followed it implicitly during the re-installation of the parts. I mean it is not that detailed nor difficult anyway. So now that everything is back together and working, there is a weird issue with the Bridge Volume Pot. Starting all the way down at 0 going up to about 5 it's fine, it hits a dead spot at 6, then picks up again and continues fine to full volume at 10.

Okay now... the first thing everyone is going to say is "you have a dead spot on the volume pot, replace it". Wrong! This was a new pot, and, I also saw the problem after installing two additional brand new volume pots and one additional known good used pot all of them exhibited the same issue.

The only variation from the diagram that I have made is with the capacitors. The diagram has .047uf capacitors on both pickups, however I put a .056uf on the Bridge and a .015uf on the neck. But in any case I do not see how that would cause the problem exhibited in the Bridge Volume pot.

Has anyone every run across this issue before, or heard of it happening? If so, what is the fix?

Thank you,
 
Re: Rewired HB's - pot has dead spot now?

I can't say I have ever seen this myself. Can you post pics of your wiring, so the experts can see if there are issues? There have been errors in the diagrams before, so it might not be your fault. Also, if you can. post the diagram you used.
 
Re: Rewired HB's - pot has dead spot now?

Hi Dave,

It's ugly and it works except for the pot hiccup.


Wiring_As_It_Is.jpg





2H_2TS_3G_2V_2T.jpg
 
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Re: Rewired HB's - pot has dead spot now?

the only time ive seen that is with a cooked pot from over heating
 
Re: Rewired HB's - pot has dead spot now?

Flat bottomed pots sometimes suffer impact damage. If the pot shaft is forced downwards into the chassis, it can deform the bottom face of the chassis, resulting in poor or non-existent contact between the wiper and the resistance track.
 
Re: Rewired HB's - pot has dead spot now?

Hey guys thanks for the replies.

Well regarding the impacts, the pots were taken out of the box they were shipped in unwrapped from the strip wrapping and installed. So unless they were damaged somewhere between manufacture and me taking it out of the box, we can rule that one out.

As far the over heating, I used a set of large tweezers as a heatsink to minimize overheating. Plenty of time passed before multiple solder points were made on a single pot. Besides, I would have had to have roasted 3 brand new pots, and 1 known good pot, but it is a possibility.

The only thing I can do in the interim is take it out and install another. This time I will solder the audio ground to the ground cable instead of the pot back and the 3-way switch ground to a different location. If it repeats then it is my guess it's a problem with one of the capacitors or the wiring scheme itself.
 
Re: Rewired HB's - pot has dead spot now?

Hello,

Okay after pulling what little hair I left on the top of my head out I found the fix. The only thing I can figure out is that the following was seen as shortening the ground and it made some kind of difference with the model of the potentiometer I am using? Other than that I have no damn idea LOL.

The wiring diagram would only be changed slightly, and, only if you experienced the Bridge Volume Glitch.


1) Desolder the #3 Connector from the Bridge Volume Potentiometer Back. Bend it into its normal position away from the Potentiometer Back.
2) Desolder the braided ground wire from the Bridge Volume Potentiometer Back.
3) Solder the Braided ground wire to the #3 Connector.

Prior to performing 1-3:
I removed the 1/4" phone jack braided ground wire from the back of the tone pot and reattached it directly to the ground braid connecting the two Tone Pots. It made no difference at all on the Volume Glitch. But it was noted here as a change to the wiring you see in this picture.

Hiccup Fix.jpg
 
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