Help with LP-1 pickups

[Andyport]

At the wiring up stage and have noticed a problem with the pickups, lucky before i soldered them in.
My neck pickup (yellow wire) has the thicker surround, while the bridge pickup (red wire) has the thinner surround.
Isn't that the reverse of how they should be?
I'm assuming the surrounds have been matched up wrongly....or could the wires have been reversed?
Anyway a newbie can easily tell the two humbuckers apart?
If it is the surrounds, i assume its simply a matter of unscrewing and swapping them over?

Thanks for any help.

[Gavin1393]

Sounds like they have been swopped over.......

[keloooe]

Swapping the surrounds isn't that hard, but it can get tricky if you don't have the right approach to it

[wokkaboy]

yes Andy the thicker surround should be on the bridge pickup (red wire) so just unscrew them and be careful the spring doesn't pop off and you lose it, I've done that before !

[Andyport]

Thanks guys....swapped the surrounds no problems...didn't loose any springs!
Finished the wiring. Too late to test it now, will do that tomorrow night.
Hope its all ok.

[Andyport]

Have tested the wiring and unfortunately the neck pickup is not working.
What is unusual though is that the bridge pickup works, but when the 3 way switch is in the middle position it cuts out.
So the 3 way switch is only working in the bridge pickup position...not for either the neck or middle position.
Have checked and double checked that all wires are in the correct place and soldered solidly.
Any ideas of what it could be? Could it be the actual switch that is at fault?

[WeirdBits]

Sounds like the 'hot' of the neck pickup is being grounded somewhere, which means it would also ground the bridge pickup when the switch is in the middle position... hence no sound when the switch is in the neck or middle position.

I'd double check to make sure that all wires are hooked up correctly, then do a careful check to ensure no stray strands from the neck pickup ground wire are somehow contacting the hot lead or a pot lug etc. If you still can't find the problem, disconnect the neck pickup entirely and see if you get sound from the bridge in the middle position etc. that should help narrow it down.

[Gavin1393]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from Andyport on July 18, 2013, 18:09
Have tested the wiring and unfortunately the neck pickup is not working.
What is unusual though is that the bridge pickup works, but when the 3 way switch is in the middle position it cuts out.
So the 3 way switch is only working in the bridge pickup position...not for either the neck or middle position.
Have checked and double checked that all wires are in the correct place and soldered solidly.
Any ideas of what it could be? Could it be the actual switch that is at fault?

Andy, please post some clear pictures of the wiring. but also check the following:
-that you have connected the output Jack correctly in terms of the hot wire and ground.
-that you do not have a ground loop...
-check the resistance of each pickup with a meter, please record the readings you got. Should be between 6k and 12k. if you get below 1k it's shorting somewhere.
- you may have cooked the switch. This is especially true if you soldered and then resoldered the switch, or if you didn't use a 'heatsink' when soldering.

gav

[Andyport]

Still having hassles!!
Disconnected the neck pickup which immediately enabled the bridge pickup to work in the centre switch position.
Resoldered the neck pickup, and now still have the bridge pickup working in both bridge and centre switch positions.
But still no neck pickup sound in either neck or centre position.
Obviously making some progress, as the bridge pickup now functions as it should...
But what could be the cause of no sound at all from the neck?
Sorry guys, but as an electrician , i make a good signwriter...lol

[Gavin1393]

Have you checked through the list I gave you? I see no photo's? The problem points clearly to a short somewhere. I bet if you measured the resistance of the pickups from the pickup plate you would get the full resistance range i quoted above. Then if you measure it again from hotwire to ground at the point where the pickup meets the volume pots it will be drastically reduced, thus indicating a short and thus NO resistance and therefore NO sound......

The last time this happened to me reversing the wiring at the output jack solved my problem...i'd wired up the live wire using black wax coated pull back wire which I usually use for my ground and had forgotten! Wired the ground to the live and live to ground and wondered why in position 4 and 5 at the neck of my strat I got nothing from the neck pup....sound familiar?

[AJ]

* Check the capacitor is connected correctly or is not short circuited

[Andyport]

Hi Gav
Reversed the wires to the output jack and still no joy.
I dont own a multimetre to be able to send you any readings.
My soldering definately leaves a lot to be desired, so i'm sure that doesn't help things...getting better as i go along though.
Dont have a decent camera on me at the moment, but will try and take some photos using my tablet.

Really pleased with the rest of the build so far, but as i know nothing about wiring i thought all along this would be my downfall.
Thanks heaps for your patience.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/4kr36-20130720_125019.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/c6w1s-20130720_123903.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/g3167-20130720_123924.jpg

[WeirdBits]

Gav may have a much better suggestion, but here's what I would do.

Not having a multimeter makes things a bit more tedious, but the method essentially remains the same… process of elimination. The bridge pickup appears to be working, so either the switch or the neck pickup or a combination of elements is causing the problem. First, check that none of your pot lugs are making contact with the cavity shielding, as a slight bend of a lug or trail of solder can sometimes make a connection. Also, make sure that all pots are at full during your testing (obvious I know, but just in case).

Next, all of the following is based on what I can see in your images (wires/colours etc).

Test the switch
Disconnect the black (bridge), brown (neck) and purple (output) wires from the switch (mark the switch so you know which lug had black connected to it). Temporarily connect the black and purple wires together directly then test and you should get sound from the bridge. Disconnect the black wire and connect the brown and purple wires together directly and test, you should now get sound from the neck pickup. If you get no sound then the fault is likely to be either the neck volume, tone or pickup itself. If you do get sound then it's probably the switch causing at least part of the problem. In this case, temporarily add the black wire to the brown and purple join and you should get sound from both pickups. If both are working then it's most likely the switch at fault, however if you stop getting sound from either then it's the interaction between the pickups that's causing the issue, which means a fault in either/both pickup circuit(s). If you suspect it's the switch, double-check it by reconnecting the purple wire to the middle lug of the switch and connect the black (bridge) wire to the lug that previously had the brown wire attached. With the switch in the neck position you should now get sound from the bridge, if you don't then it's the switch, if you do then it's probably a fault in the neck pickup circuit. If the switch is faulty, replace it, if not then reconnect your black, purple and brown wires to the switch.

Test the neck tone
With the switch in the neck position, disconnect the yellow wire from the neck volume pot that connects to the tone pot and test for sound from the neck pickup. If you get sound then you know it's a issue with the tone section (pot, cap or a short somewhere). If you don't get sound, then leave the tone section disconnected and move to the next step.

Test the neck volume
With the switch in the neck position and with the tone circuit disconnected, disconnect the white (neck hot) inner wire and brown wire from the neck volume pot lugs. Temporarily join the wires together and test for sound from the neck pickup. If you get sound then it's either a cooked pot or a lug/connection/ground issue on the volume pot. If you don't get sound then it may be a fault with the pickup ground connection (check your soldering) or the pickup itself.

Test the neck pickup
This isn't ideal, but it's a simple option without a multimeter. Disconnect the neck pickup wires (ground and hot) from the volume pot and connect them directly to a spare output jack (if you have one). Plug in the output jack and test the pickup (ideally with a headphone amp, or if with a normal amp at low volume use a shielded screwdriver to gently tap the pickup poles so that you aren't touching anything metal… just to be extra safe as the bridge/tailpiece ground isn't currently part of your test circuit). If you get sound you know the pickup is ok, if not, then either the pickup is damaged or it's shorting internally.

Hopefully you can track down the problem or at least report back with your findings.

(I'm no expert, so as I said before, Gav may have a much better course of action for you)

[Andyport]

Thank you so much Scott and Gav....PROBLEM SORTED!!!!
Simple as a couple of the pot lugs contacting with the cavity shielding.
Far out, this guitar building can be stressful.

Have attached a photo of the sunburst body, really happy with the result.
Not far now...the end is in sight.
Once again, many thanks guys.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/w7lep-20130720_124250.jpg

[Fretworn]

http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/w7lep-20130720_124250.jpg

That is pretty. Great job on the sunburst.

[Gavin1393]

That sunburst has turned out extremely well.

One other thing, since you have gone to the effort of sheilding the cavities it is unnecessary to wire-ground the Pots. The sheilding simply needs to be ground and each of the pots comming into contact with the sheilding is therefore earthed!

[WeirdBits]

Congrats on getting your wiring issues sorted, they can be infuriating to solve sometimes. And, I must say, that is one beautiful looking 'burst!

[Andyport]

Understand now that its been explained about the pots not needing to be wire-ground once you've shielded.
But how do i go about grounding the cavity shielding ?

Thanks for the favourable comments on my sunburst.
Didn't know really how it would be recieved...lacquer seems to be a taboo word around here...lol

[Gavin1393]

If you are using copper shielding simply solder a ground wire to the shielding and ensure the "other" end is ultimately attached to the ground wire that leads off to the output Jack.