Went "fishing" today..

[TeleLubber]

So my buddy brings over this guitar.. a Heritage Custom Shop H-158 loaded with 2 Duncan '59s

The reason he brings it over is.. "it sounds like crap.." LOL.. that could mean anything.. so I plug it in, and I soon discover the 3-way toggle switch ain't workin too good.. and look where the switch is.. time to go fishin!

Before I do that, I wanted to make sure there weren't any other problems, and thankfully, there was a control plate I could access.. Heritage uses, um.. some interesting wiring techniques.. but everything checked out on my meter.. looking on the inside, I think this whole body is maple..

The only way to get to this switch, is if I remove the neck pickup.. fun!

And sure enough, it was a cold solder at the switch lug.. easy, quick fix.. now to get this S.O.B. back into place.. ugh.. so I took about a 9 inch length of wire, stripped off about 1 1/2" insulation, wrapped the copper into a tight braid, and tinned the tip to prevent it from unraveling, and there's my guide wire.. I wrapped the bare wire around the top of the switch.. ran the other end back thru the hole, pulled the switch thru, slid the washer and nut down the wire as I held the switch in place, and bolted it back in..

Sounds sweet now! Especially in the neck position, love them '59 neck pups!

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Went "fishing" today..

cool pics and good tips! Yeah, I have 59s (bridge models) in the neck of several axes. love em!

 

[TeleLubber]

Re: Went "fishing" today..

thanks.. I actually used my cell phone for those pics.. some came out blurry .. oh well haha

 

[Kam]

Re: Went "fishing" today..

That guitar's awesome. When you said he brought it over and said it sounded like crap I was really hoping your next sentence was going to be something like, "Yeah, so I gave him fiddy bucks for it and now it's all mine yo!" but you're a better friend than me, it seems.

Cool pictures though, dude. Nice job.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Went "fishing" today..

That guitar's awesome. When you said he brought it over and said it sounded like crap I was really hoping your next sentence was going to be something like, "Yeah, so I gave him fiddy bucks for it and now it's all mine yo!" but you're a better friend than me, it seems.

Cool pictures though, dude. Nice job.

LOL!! Yeah, sorry dude, its hopeless. But since you need something to play, I got this hondo Ill trade you even up...:fingersx:

 

[karpathion]

Re: Went "fishing" today..

I'm kinda confused. Where was this cold joint at? I have a couple of cold joints on a beater of mine, and don't have a problem at all. From what I have found, A cold joint really only makes a differnce when there is high current, which opens up a bad joint because there is extreme heat, which is related to a major votage drop across the wrong component. There really isn't that much current going through the electonics in a guitar. Please elaborate.

I'm not trying to be an ass, I just want to know.

 

[TeleLubber]

Re: Went "fishing" today..

That guitar's awesome. When you said he brought it over and said it sounded like crap I was really hoping your next sentence was going to be something like, "Yeah, so I gave him fiddy bucks for it and now it's all mine yo!" but you're a better friend than me, it seems.

Cool pictures though, dude. Nice job.

Don't think I wasn't tempted! HAHA.. but nah.. I helped him pick it out, and I know how much he's really trying to learn.. besides, he told me I could "borrow it anytime I wanted" since I fixed for him..

This guitar is definately very bright sounding, clear & acoustical in nature.. and the neck feels absolutely great too.. the action is low but manages to pull off great tone, and plays fast.. the '59 in the neck thru my rig instantly reminded me of Schenker's tone on their live album, during his UFO days.. and when in the middle position on cleaner settings, it has these very "bell" like overtones.. haven't decided if I like the '59 in the bridge position yet.. I'm used to hearing a bit more beef..

Thanks for the kind words too.

 

[TeleLubber]

Re: Went "fishing" today..

I'm kinda confused. Where was this cold joint at? I have a couple of cold joints on a beater of mine, and don't have a problem at all. From what I have found, A cold joint really only makes a differnce when there is high current, which opens up a bad joint because there is extreme heat, which is related to a major votage drop across the wrong component. There really isn't that much current going through the electonics in a guitar. Please elaborate.

I'm not trying to be an ass, I just want to know.

A cold solder joint is typically a joint where maybe the soldering iron wasn't hot enough or enough heat wasn't applied for the solder to melt and really form a good bond. Or maybe the surface being soldered wasn't nice and clean and contaminent free. You may need a magnifying glass but usually you can wiggle the joint and notice a 'crack' in the solder joint. Sometimes it is very noticeable and sometimes they are hard to find. But they can cause static noises and/or intermittant cutouts, etc. It is best to suck the old solder out, clean really well then resolder although you can sometimes just remelt the existing solder or add a little new and get away with it but the problem will sometimes return. In this case, I found the cold solder at the lug on the switch leading to the bridge pot.

 

[karpathion]

Re: Went "fishing" today..

A cold solder joint is typically a joint where maybe the soldering iron wasn't hot enough or enough heat wasn't applied for the solder to melt and really form a good bond. Or maybe the surface being soldered wasn't nice and clean and contaminent free. You may need a magnifying glass but usually you can wiggle the joint and notice a 'crack' in the solder joint. Sometimes it is very noticeable and sometimes they are hard to find. But they can cause static noises and/or intermittant cutouts, etc. It is best to suck the old solder out, clean really well then resolder although you can sometimes just remelt the existing solder or add a little new and get away with it but the problem will sometimes return. In this case, I found the cold solder at the lug on the switch leading to the bridge pot.

I guess my soldering isn't that bad then. Sounds like he didn't tin something. I sometimes see a couple of little pinholes right at the top of the joint, but it's not like a cold dark grey joint.
If you don't mind me asking, did he do it himself? That seems like a "very rookie" wiring job.
I'm glad you found it! A good guitar is a terrible thing to waste!

 

[TeleLubber]

Re: Went "fishing" today..

Nope, he didn't wire it himself, that's how it arrived from Heritage to the dealer he bought it from. The guitar worked great when he first picked it up a while back, he brought it over tonite telling me it "sounded like crap", or sometimes "didn't make any sound" which told me right away there was a short somewhere.. I'm no soldering expert by any means, I've had weird stuff happen days or weeks after I install something, and I can trace it to a cold solder joint.. I think I've gotten a little better with practice because it hasn't happened in quite a while.. haha

 

[karpathion]

Re: Went "fishing" today..

Nope, he didn't wire it himself, that's how it arrived from Heritage to the dealer he bought it from. The guitar worked great when he first picked it up a while back, he brought it over tonite telling me it "sounded like crap", or sometimes "didn't make any sound" which told me right away there was a short somewhere.. I'm no soldering expert by any means, I've had weird stuff happen days or weeks after I install something, and I can trace it to a cold solder joint.. I think I've gotten a little better with practice because it hasn't happened in quite a while.. haha

I can dig it! I just can't believe it came from Heratige like that. 2 points off for Heratige. That sucks. Again, glad you found it. That's a bad ass axe.