Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

[75lespaul]

Hi guys. One problem that I have with the Les Paul that I just wired up completely is the neck volume turns the volume down some, then just kind of thins out the sound without shutting it off. This is a brand new CTS pot, although it's been sitting for about a year. The tone pot is a push pull. I wired everything up to Seymour's diagram, and everything works fine except for that little thing. Because of my eyes, anything really close is blurry, so does this sound like the pot is bad, or could I have wired something wrong or maybe have solder touching two lugs etc.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

your ground leg on your volume pot has come loose
redo the solder on that one point

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

Okay, I'll give that a shot later today. That's probably it, because I remember after wiring it up and holding the pot while I bolted it to the guitar I heard a snap and the solder on that lug had snapped apart. I started to solder it again, but the solder ran down the lug. I pushed the lug against the pot and soldered it again, this time with no solder drip. Could it have gotten inside the pot somehow and fouled things up? Not really a big deal because I never turn the volume all the way down on the neck, but I still want it to work right.

Thank you!

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

Nope, that wasn't it. Any other suggestions?

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

well
the only thing that would cause what you describe is
an ungrounded volume

because

when the pot rolls to connect the hot to the .........

wait a min

you are right handed , correct?

and if you look at the bottom of the pot

you see three tabs

with the three tabs below said pot

you should see the left most tab with the wire to the pickup/Switch
the center tab should be the hot in from the jack
the right most tab would be the one bent back to ground

if you reversed the two wires on the pot
you would be grounding the pickup but not necessarily the signal

hmm
let me know

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

well
the only thing that would cause what you describe is
an ungrounded volume

because

when the pot rolls to connect the hot to the .........

wait a min

you are right handed , correct?

and if you look at the bottom of the pot

you see three tabs

with the three tabs below said pot

you should see the left most tab with the wire to the pickup/Switch
the center tab should be the hot in from the jack
the right most tab would be the one bent back to ground

if you reversed the two wires on the pot
you would be grounding the pickup but not necessarily the signal

hmm
let me know

Yep, that's the way I see it. I guess the answer then is that I ruined the pot when the solder ran down the lug. It was around 3am and I was exhausted, and I was soldering, and soldering, and wondering why there was no ball of solder on the pot, lol. Either from the solder or the heat. No biggie. I'll swap out the pot. Thanks for helping man, I appreciate it.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

the question was

Do you have the wires

left lug = pickup/switch
center lug/wiper = hot from jack
right lug = Ground

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

the question was

Do you have the wires

left lug = pickup/switch
center lug/wiper = hot from jack
right lug = Ground

I answered; yep, that's the way I see it. In other words, I wired it up to Seymour's diagram, double and triple checked it, and I checked it again this morning so I know the wiring is correct.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

I answered; yep, that's the way I see it. In other words, I wired it up to Seymour's diagram, double and triple checked it, and I checked it again this morning so I know the wiring is correct.

sorry I didnt catch that


hmm

do you have a multi meter?

if so

remove the two wires

put one lead on each of the empty terminals

roll the pot

with the wiper / knob all the way in one direction
its should read either shorted ( 0.0 - 0.1)
or the value of the pot

ya know you probably could do this without removing the wires

insert a jack into the guitar

measure resistance on the tip/sleeve of the jack

volume all the way up should read the the resistance of the pickup
or close

all the way down would be the shorted thing again

if you would please

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

As the undisputed heaveyweight champion of the world of amateur botched wiring jobs, I offer this little pearl of wisdom; Scrap it. Start over, and this time get a aftermarket wiring harness.

 

[jmh151]

As the worldsundisputed heaveyweight champion of the world of amateur botched wiring jobs, I offer this little pearl of wisdom; Scrap it. Start over, and this time get a aftermarket wiring harness.

After wiring many guitars, I agree with this advice. Save up your money, save your time and aggravation, and get a prewired set from RS Guitarworks.

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

sorry I didnt catch that


hmm

do you have a multi meter?

if so

remove the two wires

put one lead on each of the empty terminals

roll the pot

with the wiper / knob all the way in one direction
its should read either shorted ( 0.0 - 0.1)
or the value of the pot

ya know you probably could do this without removing the wires

insert a jack into the guitar

measure resistance on the tip/sleeve of the jack

volume all the way up should read the the resistance of the pickup
or close

all the way down would be the shorted thing again

if you would please

My meter just died! Got another coming. One actually came in on Friday, but it was broken. I'll give this a shot next week when it comes in. Great info man, thank you!

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

As the undisputed heaveyweight champion of the world of amateur botched wiring jobs, I offer this little pearl of wisdom; Scrap it. Start over, and this time get a aftermarket wiring harness.

Ha ha, it's tempting, but I don't mind little stuff like this. When I was younger it would make me want to smash the guitar, but now, I'll just put it aside and work on another one or something; no sweat. Plus I love knowing that I did the work, not someone else.

 

[Ktulu]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

Hi,
Old thread this one... But I've just run into serious trouble.
And I have to ask, why is it that Seymour Duncan diagrams show the 3rd lug soldered, whereas the DiMarzios don't?

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

Third lug to ground
Whichever way you get there

Still to ground

 

[Ktulu]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

OK, I'm going to try and attach the DiMarzio.
This one actually works on one of my guitars.
Please tell me in which way does the 3rd one connect to ground.
And afterwards I'll describe my dilemma.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

Third what

The third pot? The tone control?

It's a tone control
Leg of the cap goes to ground
Neither leg of the.pot

 

[Mincer]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

In that diagram, it looks like the 3rd lug is going to ground to me...it is the one going across all 3 pots at the top.

 

[Ktulu]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

In that diagram, it looks like the 3rd lug is going to ground to me...it is the one going across all 3 pots at the top.

Yeah, but look at the left side. They're already connected to the ground. Their metal carcass if already connected.

So, what your telling me is, that they have double such connection?
Why doesn't SD have such?

Anyway, my dilemma is about the Jimmy Page wiring from SD. But I'll upload that tomorrow, with pictures from the cavity also. I'm having volume 100%.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Volume knob partially working...wiring or the pot?

The dimarzio diagram shows the same lug connected to ground, but with a wire rather than a bent lug. There is no double connection - the pushpull lugs have ground for the switching they have to do.. Pushpull pots don't have a pot back to make that back of pot bent lug ground anyhow.