Somehow I failed at Esquire wiring - help!

[wootwhoop]

First soldering job here. I think I'm having grounding issues.

My final connection is my ground wire from the bridge. When I connect it to a pot, it cancels the signal entirely (no sound at all). When unconnected, the hum is bad but also gets much worse when my finger touches the bridge.

I haven't unscrewed the bridge plate to see if there is something wrong with the grounded wire though.

Yellow = hot wire from PU
Black grounded to tone pot = ground wire from PU
Wire with tape = wire coming from bridge

disclaimer - my soldering and wiring job sucks, I know :14:

 

[wootwhoop]

Re: Somehow I failed at Esquire wiring - help!

bump

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Somehow I failed at Esquire wiring - help!

My observations:

- Lots of hum means you have a bad ground connection somewhere. No signal means you've shorted something to ground.

- From the first pic, it looks like the capacitor is shorting out on the switch housing.

- You don't need a wire linking the backs of the pots. They are already connected via the metal control plate.

- It's hard to tell from the pic, but I think you wired the switch up backwards. You also seem to be missing the resistor and capacitor that are usually hooked up to one of the switch positions. See the diagram below.

My suggestion is to start over and be sure to follow the diagram EXACTLY.

 

[wootwhoop]

Re: Somehow I failed at Esquire wiring - help!

I should have mentioned that I am attempting the Eldred mod instead of the standard Esquire one that you posted. I tried following this pic:

Does that change your assessment at all? Thanks for the reply.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Somehow I failed at Esquire wiring - help!

Okay, that makes more sense.

You still have a problem with that cap shorting on the switch housing though. It probably isn't causing your main problem - at worst it will make that switch position not work. Wrap some tape around the part of the cap lead that travels past the switch.

I'm betting the pickup output is shorting on the bridge plate somehow. That would explain the obnoxious hum when you disconnect the bridge ground (bridge plate acting as a big antenna) and the lack of sound when you connect it. Take that bridge plate off and make sure the pickup leads aren't touching the bridge plate or the ground wire.

Oh, and the extra wire linking the two pots is still superfluous. If it's not well soldered it can contribute to hum as well.

 

[wootwhoop]

Re: Somehow I failed at Esquire wiring - help!

What does shorting mean? :cool2::thanks:

 

[Kam]

In this case, I think he means that it's connected to something that's grounded when it shouldn't be, which is 'shorting' your hot signal to ground.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Somehow I failed at Esquire wiring - help!

What does shorting mean? :cool2::thanks:

A short (aka short circuit) is an accidental, unwanted electrical connection that bypasses some or all of the circuit.

In your case, my guess is that the pickup's "hot" lead is somehow connected to the bridge plate. This could be an exposed piece of the white wire touching the bridge plate, but it's more likely that part of the bridge ground wire is touching the pickup and the bridge plate.

Take the bridge plate off and see what's happening under there.

As for the cap, look at where the cap's lead is touching the metal housing of the switch. That's a short too, because your switch housing is grounded (via the control plate).