The PBG B46.....Behemoth bass and guitar kit.

I thought about options last night, and one idea caught my attention. How do I get solder to go where I want it and to stay there? Much reading later I came up with this.

From Jaycar...it is no clean up....nice for control cavities....and I blobbed it on lightly with a toothpick....it worked a charm. Now to wait until the body and necks are ready......again again again. phhhew.

The job is not as neat as some I have done....but minimal heat to the connectors on the switch....no slop of solder....heat shrink covers it up a bit though.

I used a cut off lead (the long legs) from a capacitor, and I bent the lead at a short right angle and soldered one each side in the middle connector.....then pointed the open end at the outside connector on each side. I then took my template to the body and worked out which ay the wires would need to enter and leave the socket in the body.....then soldered the end of the leads to the incoming wire and the connector all in one rosin flux dribble.....I hope it works and stays connected for me. Multi-meter...as recommended above...shows connectivity in the right positions.

Oooh this is the fun bit now. :)

https://www.jaycar.com.au/solder-flu...g-tub/p/NS3070

P.S. Yes wires all over.....but the majority of the harness will need to be made inside the body.....I have probed the holes in the body....man it is going to be tight in some of them.

I am wondering about joining wires in locations together and only sending one wire down the drilled holes. E.G. join the earths for the Bass pickups and only send one wire down the tube. Same for the Guitar pickups. A query to those that know. Will I have to isolate the earths for each guitar from the other? e.g. All the Bass earths within a Bass circuit that ends at the Earth under the bridge. Or can I make shorter runs to back of pots or a joining wire and only run the minimum of one wire to a common earth point somewhere with space to solder 14 million earth wires?

The big switch is going to be the one that hogs the hole.....four sets of wires in and out.....may have to use the thin plastic coated wires....I don't think the pickup wires will reach anyway....so will have to extend them.

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Originally Posted by Kick

I admire your efforts and results Ozz. Things will end up ok, that's for sure ;)

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Mister KICK I do thank you. I just wish I could approach the staining and finishing portion with as much enthusiasm as some of you guys. I have no issue with setup...actually enjoy that part. I have no issue using a soldering iron....not saying I am any good...it just does not scare me.

The staining and clearcoat finishing scares the poosicles out of me. :)

I am also having trouble wiring the BG-46. I have started wiring it according to the PBG wiring diagram but the wiring between the bridge end 3 way switch and the output jack looks odd. Wouldn't it be better to drill a track between the switch cavity and the main cavity?

Hi Martfen, welcome to the forum, member for 7 months and your first post.
Sure drill a hole between the cavities if it makes the wire path more direct.

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Originally Posted by martfren

I am also having trouble wiring the BG-46. I have started wiring it according to the PBG wiring diagram but the wiring between the bridge end 3 way switch and the output jack looks odd. Wouldn't it be better to drill a track between the switch cavity and the main cavity?

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If you check earlier in the thread you will see that the master of all things wiring....user name weirdbits...kindly made some suggested wiring diagrams.

I bought a special switch from the USA to allow the diagram I am using.

Whichever way you go....lots of wire.

Study your chosen diagram well....running useless lengths of earth wire....as I was planning to do....can be overcome by make a junction point in one location and running one wire to another.

Thanks Ozzbike. Really helpful. I have found the suggested wiring diagram and will have a go next week.

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Originally Posted by martfren

Thanks Ozzbike. Really helpful. I have found the suggested wiring diagram and will have a go next week.

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You are more than welcome. Credit must go to Scott.....username Weirdbits....for the wiring diagrams.

This is a great forum.....I hope you enjoy your build. 😎

What do you do to fill a morning before you go to work at 12......you solder.

The electronics are all in the Big Girl now.

I have to align and fit the necks, the Bass bridge, the guitar pickups....then a full setup x two begins.

Getting closer. :)

The Tone Rider Jazz Bass bridge pickup require a small shave off the inside of each of the four screw cutouts.
The only extension required was the Bass neck pickup...about 30mm too short on both leads.

In the big switch cavity I ended up joining 6 earth leads......Bass bridge....one each bass pickup.....Guitar earths x 2 for each pickup....and a lead to thread through to the main cavity. The guitar bridge earth went straight to the back of the Neck Volume pot.

I love these recessed Tele socket you like Wazkelly...nice.

Pushed a lead into the socket and plugged her into the little crappy amp. Tap Tap on the pickups and all works well. Hard to tell about the tone but the pickup selector and neck selector works great first time.....thanks Weirdbits. :)

A Query:-

I have full control on the volume and tone.....however should I choose a central, all on, position on either neck I only get volume control with one or the other volume control. In one way that is good....you only need to roll off the volume on one pot to kill them all. But it means you cannot change the ratio of volume between the two pickups whilst selecting the both pickup position. Whichever volume you choose, neck or bridge, then behaves as a master volume.

However, select either neck or bridge pickup with the selector toggle and the volume works for that pickup just fine.

Also there is no sound at all in the central, or all on, position of the big neck selector switch. Up gets me BASS down gets me Guitar.....nothing in the middle. (This I don't mind at all....as I was worried about feedback and noise if both were on at the same time.)

I have checked the wiring again and I have good connections...by eye and multi-meter.....I wonder if I have missed something.

Weirdy...if you are there....please help....I am lost in your masterpiece of wiring. Thank You, and anybody else who may have ideas. :)

I'm very new to this kind wiring, so I may well be corrected here, but I would double check that you have all the earths from pick up selector to the tone pots. From what I can tell, the diagram as shown should allow volume control on both pickups when the central position is selected.... I think.

In regards to the necks, in the central position you should have no output. Its either one or the other or off going by that diagram, which honestly seems sensible, but I guess if you wanted to finger tap on both necks at the same time that would be a problem. I'm not entirely sure how to solve that as wiring both necks would mean using one or other of the volume and tone controls and might mess up their normal operation - unless you introduce a second switch for that scenario.