Help, before it becomes kindling

Turas · #1 February 16th, 2007

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 !

Rockerbob · #2 February 16th, 2007

It sounds like bad wiring to me.

fly135 · #3 February 16th, 2007

You didn't put bronze acoustic strings on it, did you? Other than that, like RB said it isn't wired right.

Turas · #4 February 16th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by fly135

You didn't put bronze acoustic strings on it, did you? Other than that, like RB said it isn't wired right.

No, I used nylon classical strings.

Thanks for the replies. I was figuring it had to be wiring, but I was confused that the professional repair tech wired most of it, and then could find nothing wrong except to blame the original pickups.

I guess I'll have to strip it out and wire from scratch.

Thanks again.

Stratrat · #5 February 16th, 2007

I hope the "wink" smiley meant you were kidding about using nylon strings on it........

fly135 · #6 February 16th, 2007

Since it was a hollow body I figured there might be a slight chance that you put acoustic strings on it. I don't that's any more unlikely than expecting us to fix your guitar without posting a wiring diagram.

Turas · #7 February 16th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by fly135

Since it was a hollow body I figured there might be a slight chance that you put acoustic strings on it. I don't that's any more unlikely than expecting us to fix your guitar without posting a wiring diagram.

Yeah, I understand it was a legitimate question. My reply was in jest, just trying to be humorous. I guess it didn't work. Sorry if I offended.

Frankly I didn't expect anyone to fix my guitar via a forum, with or without a wiring diagram. Just looking for some input, a second opinion, someone to talk to who understands and has an interest in discussing these things.

Turas · #8 February 16th, 2007

Oh, and just as a post script...

I can pretty much guarantee the wiring is correct, visually. In other words all the wires go to and are connected to the right places. The issue is that somewhere in the mix there is a bad solder connection, or melted through insulation, or a disfunctional pot, or etc, etc.

I thought perhaps someone may have encountered something very similar, and would be able to suggest a place to start to look for the problem.

Thanks again.

SlickCat · #9 February 16th, 2007

Hi Turas...
Try this......disconnect the pickups wires from the circuit and connect one pickup directly to the output jack. (no volume/tone/switch)
You can use jumper wires if you like (you know the ones with small clips)
Now you will be able to tell if the pickup indeed works or not. If it does then check the other pickup. If they work direct then the problem is in the wiring or switch.

Turas · #10 February 16th, 2007

SlickCat,
Thanks. That is a excellent tip! I will try that tonight. I am assuming that in order to completely eliminate any effect from the rest of the circuit I should run both the hot wire and ground directly to the jack, and jumper the jack ground to the bridge as well?

Andy S · #11 February 16th, 2007

slickcat's idea is a good one for a short test. IF the Pups are good, then it may just be a bad potentiometer. Depending upon how it's wired, sometimes the two pups are actually loaded together. That is, when one volume pot is turned all the way down, both pups are off. So, if one pot is wired incorrectly or is bad, it could have the same effect as having the pot turned all the way down, thus, turning off the volume.

if you have a VOM (voltage-ohm-milliamp meter) then you could ohm out the pots and turn them to make sure they respond.

Oh, and I did get a chuckle out of the nylon string comment, heh heh heh. Gotta use humor or I'd go nutz!!!

Turas · #12 February 16th, 2007

Thanks Andy S.
I am going to try connecting the pups directly as SlickCat suggested (not tonight though, the wife has other ideas). If the Pickups do work, I will definitely ohm out the pots. I am beginning to think this could all be from a defective pot. I know this is going to be one of those things that when I find it, I will feel really stupid.

My wife tells me that based on her perception of my weird sense of humor, I am probably already nutz.

Andy S · #13 February 16th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turas

I am beginning to think this could all be from a defective pot. I know this is going to be one of those things that when I find it, I will feel really stupid.

Well, a long time ago, when I was doing bench work for an audio company, and learning the fine art of troubleshooting, one of our techs said, with all sincerity,"It's always the last thing you check, isn't it?!"

Took him about 10 minutes to figure out why we were laughing!

Turas · #14 February 17th, 2007

Quote:

"It's always the last thing you check, isn't it?!"

That is always the answer. If only we could check the last thing first, it would be so much easier.

I wired the pups direct and they work wonderfully. Man are they sweet. I wired them individually and together and they both work like a charm.

Now I'll have to check each control component with the ohm meter. We're down to the volume pot, tone pot, and 3 way switch (which has already been replaced once). How much you want to bet that one of the brand new pots is shorted out?

allthumbs · #15 February 17th, 2007

Good to see your not taking no for an answer. Keep swinging till you knock it down for the count.