[Turas]

Hi,

I have an old 60s japanese hollow body that needed to be rewired (just mere nostalgia). Two humbuckers, three way switch, one volume and one tone. I purchased parts from Stewmac, two NOS pickups, and went to town... It didn't work. The pickup output was very low (I have to put a 30 watt amp on 8 before you can hear the output), tons of buzz. Particularly there was a KILLER buzz when I touched the three way selector switch. I assumed I had a bad ground. So I attached a second ground wire. Same result. I decided to get it fixed properly and took it to a guitar tech.

He rewired it, though he said he could find nothing really wrong except that the three way switch was not grounded (there was not a means to ground it), and the volume pot was wired reverse. He claimed it was fixed, but the output was still very low and that it was probably bad pickups. I took it home and low and behold it was exactly the same as before.

Bought new Seymour Duncans and installed them. I figured this was it. Guess what... still the same, except that now the neck pickup hardly works at all, and when I use the middle position it seems to cancel both pickups. The pickups are in phase (or at least I think they are). I still have that KILLER buzz if I touch the body of the three way.

Has anybody seen this type of issue before? Any ideas? Is it possible that it has a bad grounding issue (like the ground and hot wires are touching inside the shielding somehow)? Bad pot? I would love to get some ideas before I turn it all into kindling.

Thanks !

[Turas]

Well that's it then. Rewired it exactly the same, only this time using genuine Gibson pots. Works like a charm.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions.

[allthumbs]

way to go Turas. Of course now we expect a clip.

[Racetruckdave]

To ground the three way switch, solder a piece of wire on a star washer and place the washer on the shaft sleeve, then install the switch, Voila, a grounded switch!