Wiring/volume issue

[SpiderVenom]

First of all - wow, it's good to be back here. I've been engulfed by my first year of university - semester 1 exams soon - but things are starting to even out and I'm getting into a more even routine. I'll be around a bit more often, anyway.

Now, to the problem. Come forth, all thee resident wiring geniuses! :laugh2:

I've finally got my DXMG wired up (a pair of Lace Drop & Gain 'buckers, I'll post my opinions on those later) with a three-way blade switch (n/n&b/b) and two volume knobs. The problem is that in the middle position, both volumes take control of both pickups, turning them up or down in tandem. That is, turning either volume knob down turns both pickups down, not their respective ones.

It would seem from this than the switch is wired correctly (checking all positions visually supports this, and the correct points seem to show continuity, but I could be wrong). My theory is that it's some strange with the pot grounding, because way that's been wired is a bit strange, due to making a couple of connections in the wrong order :blackeye: I'll do my best to describe it.

First, all non-pot grounds (pickups, cavity shield wires, and string ground) go to the back of the neck volume knob. From there, a short wire jumps to the ground lug of this pot, then another wire jumps from this point (the lug) to the back of the bridge volume pot. Finally, from this point, two wires go out, one to the ground lug of bridge volume, and one to the ground lug of the output jack. So is there anything there that could cause this problem?

I've left out the rest of the wiring, since I can't find anything wrong with it. If what I have listed doesn't help, then I'll make a diagram of exactly how it's done.

Thanks guys

 

[Artie]

Re: Wiring/volume issue

There's nothing wrong. Thats exactly what happens with dual-vol control guitars. Its one of the reasons I don't care for them. You're trying to make a passive mixer, which just doesn't work. One work-around, is to reverse the two connections to the volume pot that aren't ground. That will alleviate the problem a little bit, but create a new one that may be more desirable. As you lower the volume, you lower the effective pot value, thus altering its sound.

There's no way around this other than using an active mixer.

 

[SpiderVenom]

Re: Wiring/volume issue

There's nothing wrong. Thats exactly what happens with dual-vol control guitars. Its one of the reasons I don't care for them. You're trying to make a passive mixer, which just doesn't work. One work-around, is to reverse the two connections to the volume pot that aren't ground. That will alleviate the problem a little bit, but create a new one that may be more desirable. As you lower the volume, you lower the effective pot value, thus altering its sound.

There's no way around this other than using an active mixer.

Another bit of "I wish I asked about that earlier" information for the vault :chairfall

I may just leave it as is. I suppose I could also consider making a tone knob out of the second pot, but I went for a second volume since I absolutely never use a tone pot, and would rather it not even be in the circuit - it seems more useless than even a separate volume.

As it is, there's still one use for this setup - by rolling the volume knob right down for one pickup, I can easily switch to a nice clean sound without changing amp settings, which is rather handy.

Thanks for the info, and all the help you've given me in the past, too - I really appreciate it.

Edit: And wow, you've gained about 2,000 posts in my absence - no shortage of fools like myself trying to wire guitars up, eh? :laugh2:

 

[Artie]

Re: Wiring/volume issue

Edit: And wow, you've gained about 2,000 posts in my absence - no shortage of fools like myself trying to wire guitars up, eh? :laugh2:

And just as many of us fools giving advice.