Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

[Vajazzled]

So I'm still working out the wiring on my 36-fanned fret, 8-string guitar
I'm starting with the easiest wiring diagram cuz the Alumitone X-Bar from Lace
has to have different color codes:banghead:

I am using this diagram:


I've used this diagram before with a mystery humbucker on another guitar and the tone knob did NOTHING when rolled to either side. I thought it was the pickup, but it looks not, init?

The pots, caps, output jack, wires,and pickup are kosher

Am I missing something or is this just a sad fact of life that I gotta deal with?

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

I followed that diagram on my 31 fret build and its all sweet.

 

[CTN]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

There's nothing wrong with the diagram. Ergo must be something wrong with your wiring.

Take a picture? Or draw a schematic diagram of your circuit?

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

My guess, if you wired it like the diagram, I am willing to bet the input leg of the cap is touching the back of the pot, grounding out the cap before it can filter any frequencies. There's no photo of your wiring, so I can only guess from the symptom and the fact it's happened to you multiple times on different guitars - the only thing common here is the person doing the soldering.

What I do is take some extra insulation off of other wires that I've stripped and slide that insulation onto the legs of my capacitors so that the legs never can touch anything else.

 

[synzzzer]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

Where I have run into problems before is the lug on the pot that is grounded out is not touching. Resoder and really push on that lug to make sure there is good contact.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

Make sure you have a ground wire connecting the back of the two pots

The cap needs ground to work

*(Sent from my durned phone!)*

 

[orpheo]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

not just ground, you need the right cap. It's likely you used a cap that's too small a value, or maybe even fried it by heating it up too long.

 

[kilphody]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

^^^
Orpheo is on the money with this.
Learn how to solder. Any connection should not take more than a second at most.
Use the sht w/2% Ag
PC

 

[Vajazzled]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

My guess, if you wired it like the diagram, I am willing to bet the input leg of the cap is touching the back of the pot, grounding out the cap before it can filter any frequencies. There's no photo of your wiring, so I can only guess from the symptom and the fact it's happened to you multiple times on different guitars - the only thing common here is the person doing the soldering.

What I do is take some extra insulation off of other wires that I've stripped and slide that insulation onto the legs of my capacitors so that the legs never can touch anything else.

That is the weird thing, I had my local guitar tech do it to the first guitar (He provided the pots and tone-cap) and the results are the same to my attempt on a different guitar

 

[Vajazzled]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

not just ground, you need the right cap. It's likely you used a cap that's too small a value, or maybe even fried it by heating it up too long.

I'll try a new cap and see, thanks

 

[Vajazzled]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

I followed that diagram on my 31 fret build and its all sweet.

I have an INTENSELY small penis, so I require 36 frets

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

I have an INTENSELY small penis, so I require 36 frets

I am building a 37 and i have made a 36 too....so suck on that.

 

[Vajazzled]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

I am building a 37 and i have made a 36 too....so suck on that.

Are we having some sort of "Compensation-off" right now?

where the winner would be the one with the smallest twig an' berries?

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

Are we having some sort of "Compensation-off" right now?

where the winner would be the one with the smallest twig an' berries?

I think we are but i could be wrong.

You go any pics? Of the guitar that is.

 

[Vajazzled]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

I think we are but i could be wrong.

You go any pics? Of the guitar that is.

The guitar itself...?
ya, sure.
Give me a few days, I'll start a new post so I can gain maximum ego-sustenance

 

[Artie]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

That is the weird thing, I had my local guitar tech do it to the first guitar (He provided the pots and tone-cap) and the results are the same to my attempt on a different guitar

I don't want to sound too harsh here, but if someone who calls themself a "guitar tech" hands you back a guitar with the tone pot not working . . . they aren't a guitar tech.

He/she would would investigate what they did wrong, and fix it. You, the customer, might never know they had an issue. A tone pot is the single easiest thing there is in all guitar wiring to do.

I would suspect that the back of the pot was overheated. That would melt and/or distort, the plastic piece that holds the "wiper". Ergo, no tone control.

 

[Artie]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

That is the weird thing, I had my local guitar tech do it to the first guitar (He provided the pots and tone-cap) and the results are the same to my attempt on a different guitar

I don't mean to sound harsh, but if he/she hands you back a guitar without the tone control working, they aren't a "guitar tech". The tone control is the simplest part of all guitar wiring. If it was wrong, they should have investigated the problem, and fixed it, before handing the guitar back to you.

I would guess that the back of the pot has been overheated, resulting in melting and/or warping of the little plastic disc that holds the wiper. Ergo, no tone control.

 

[Vajazzled]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

I don't mean to sound harsh, but if he/she hands you back a guitar without the tone control working, they aren't a "guitar tech". The tone control is the simplest part of all guitar wiring. If it was wrong, they should have investigated the problem, and fixed it, before handing the guitar back to you.

I would guess that the back of the pot has been overheated, resulting in melting and/or warping of the little plastic disc that holds the wiper. Ergo, no tone control.

Repairing and wiring guitars is all the guy does for a living too.

I have wired strats and les paul style guitars before with no problems in the tone area, it is strange that I could do those more complex wirings and still not get this 1-vol, 1-tone, 1-humbucker guitar working properly.
I picked up some different tone caps today and I'll give it another shot

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

I've done a few jobs for people, most paid, and I would *never* return a guitar that wasn't functioning perfectly. I'd either ask for more time at a lower cost, a modification to the wiring to make it work (with customer's permission), or give a full refund. You should get your money back - that's just ridiculous.

It is probably one of these common problems:

- Fried/overheated potentiometer
- Overheated capacitor
- Unwanted solder bridges causing a short
- Forgot a wire
- Misread the diagram

If you have a multimeter, you can try to determine what went wrong. If there is no reading for DC resistance when the lugs are touching the pots two outer legs, you have a fried pot. Make sure the multimeter setting is correct. You can check for continuity between components. Wherever you see a wire in the diagram, there is supposed to be continuity on whatever the wire is directly attached to. Check for continuity between components and ground to see if anything is grounded when it shouldn't be. If your multimeter has a setting for capacitance, check the capacitor.

 

[Vajazzled]

Re: Tone-knob not functioning on Single Humbucker guitar

If you have a multimeter, you can try to determine what went wrong. If there is no reading for DC resistance when the lugs are touching the pots two outer legs, you have a fried pot. Make sure the multimeter setting is correct. You can check for continuity between components. Wherever you see a wire in the diagram, there is supposed to be continuity on whatever the wire is directly attached to. Check for continuity between components and ground to see if anything is grounded when it shouldn't be. If your multimeter has a setting for capacitance, check the capacitor.

I respect my tech, he's pulled off unreasonable wiring jobs in a pinch for me in the past, this might have been a fluke.

Thanks for elaborating on what to check for when using a meter, I have one, but never knew what to test nor what to expect in terms of guitar wiring.
I want to be able to do more guitar wiring on my own in the future, but in the mean time I've reverse-engineered some of the wiring jobs my guy did for me in the past.
Everyone deserves a mulligan now and then, he's a busy guy.