I have had a look and all the wires seem to be connected.
It started intermittently now doesn’t work.
If I have to get another is there a benefit in buying the upgrade kit?
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I have had a look and all the wires seem to be connected.
It started intermittently now doesn’t work.
If I have to get another is there a benefit in buying the upgrade kit?
Can you post some photos of the wiring, showing the solder joins as clearly as possible? That will really help with diagnostic suggestions.
DC
If you need to replace it, I really think it's worth paying a bit more to get a top quality CRL or Oak Grigsby switch. They are a lot more reliable. Pit Bull sell them.
If you're thinking about a full tele electronics upgrade kit, there are a few considerations to be made.Quote:
If I have to get another is there a benefit in buying the upgrade kit?
The factory control cavity routing is too narrow to fit full size 24mm pots, and sometimes not deep enough to accommodate a CRL-style lever switch. Lastly the holes for the pots in the control plate will need drilling out to fit imperial size pot shafts.
You can definitely fit it all in there, but not without some minor alterations to the cavity & plate.
The pit bull up grade kit comes with a plate so I guess it’s just opening up the cavity.
I guess with the upgrades I’ve already made with Grover tuners, Fender Tex Mex pickups if I upgrade electronics too I should get an authentic sound. I’ve never soldered before and I possibly could get help to improve my technique before a full upgrade.
I have a 1970 Tele and I would like to get close to the original sound.
If you don't have a router, the job can be done with a Dremel (or other rotary tool) and a small sanding drum.Quote:
The pit bull up grade kit comes with a plate so I guess it’s just opening up the cavity.
From memory, it only needs to opened up a total of approx. 1.5 mm (.75 each side) to fit the pots and still be covered by the control plate. The length does not require any routing/sanding.
There are some good how-to videos on YT, and if you need to buy a soldering iron, it would be a good idea to also buy a couple of cheap pots to practise on (you can get both from Jaycar NZ).Quote:
I’ve never soldered before and I possibly could get help to improve my technique before a full upgrade.
Only the pickups will alter the actual sound. Better electrics will make the guitar far more reliable and possibly quieter, but a like-for-like component swap (with regards to resistance and capacitance values) won't affect the tone produced.
The Bourns Mini Pots will fit in the standard cavity. That's what I have in mine.
Thanks for that
Thanks ...so really a switch swap maybe all I need. With all this info I will go thru and check and maybe redo all connections and if that doesn’t work then a new switch. I did watch a re wire utube from Morris guitars yesterday which was very detailed and very clear and I will use as a reference. As always thanks for comment
If you've decided to just replace the switch, you might look at Guitarparts.co.nz (RealTone MUsic)
Just thinking it may be quicker, possibly cheaper for you. They're a great mob and where our Realparts.com here in AUS originated.
So they'll sell a large subset of the Allparts range of products. Which is good, but also bad in the current situation as the Allparts works/warehouse in Albany NY, USA, has been closed due to Covid-19 restrictions, so you'll probably find (certainly the case here with Allparts in the UK) they've now run out of stock of most parts.
Guitarparts.co.nz website shows Oak Grigsby 3-way in-stock.
Slightly cheaper CRL one at Pitbull, though postage may make a difference to the final cost. https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...ch-st-tl-kits/
Yep....they are just up the road thanks
Well got the New switch spent time on u tube....thought I did it right. But just a loud buzz when plugged into and and total silence when I screw it back into cavity. Any ideas pic attachedAttachment 35616Attachment 35616
This is a better image I hope....Attachment 35617
Total silence when inserted in cavity due to shorting out on the copper shielding.
I usually put some insulation tape on the copper under the switch.
cheers, Mark.
Thanks but I was only getting a scream from the amp plugged in out of cavity.
I wonder if the switch is wired back to front....hence no pickup connection?..
I can't see a ground wire from the output jack to the back of a pot. It may be there, but not in the photo.
Attachment 35624
The blue circles are your pickup connections to the switch common contacts, and the switch output wire is wired appropriately for that. The solder joints aren't great, but should do. You really need to get the joints a bit hotter and the solder will flow better. The common output wire looks a bit close to a switch tab (yellow circle), so I;'d bend the tab away from it a bit. If it touches it won't stop it working, but it won't select the pickups properly.
Not sure what's going on with the red circle,. Are you just using the screen of the screened wire as a ground for something?
The green circle is the ground connection of the volume pot. It looks to be folded flat against itself, but is supposed to be folded against the edge/top of the pot and soldered to it. There looks to be a solder bridge to it, but worth checking that with a meter. Try and keep and solder bridge lengths to a minimum. If in doubt, use a piece of wire to link them, as on some pots, the tabs are too short to fold up against the pot body.
It's always best to run some copper screening tape underneath or close to a screw hole. Then you have positive pressure holding the control plate down on the copper tape to create a good conductive ground path. I always run a tab of tape up under each end of the control plate on a Tele/
If you've run copper tape inside the output jack cavity, there's a good risk of the jack socket signal tab touching the copper when
a plug is inserted. So as has been said, insulating tape in those areas where there is a risk of a signal wire or connection shorting to the copper.
With the cover off, put a meter across the tip and sleeve of the end of a cable plugged into the output jack. Turn the volume and tone controls fully up. Measure the resistance, and you should be getting a figure in the 6-9k ohm region with the bridge or neck position selected, and half that in the middle position.
If not, and you only get a open circuit reading, then the circuit is broken somewhere and you need to use the meter to trace back from the output jack on both the signal and ground sides until yu find where there's no continuity.
Or if you read a very low resistance of a few ohms, you've got a good short between signal and ground somewhere.
If you get a normal resistance reading, then a screaming pickup could be down to a microphonic pickup, especially of the pickups haven't been wax potted (or not potted properly). This is when the pickup windings themselves are vibrated by the amp volume, and as they act like a load of very short guitar strings, you get a high pitched scream which doesn't stop when you damp the strings.
It's unlikely you'll get two new microphonic pickups at the same time, though it is remotely possible. Unless they aren't wax potted types (there are sonic benefits to non-potted pickups as long as you play fairly cleanly and with not too much gain or volume), they tend to go microphonic over time as the wax dries out and shrinks, allowing the coils to move.
Wow thanks for that.....golf day today but I will get on to that tomorrow.
I was worried I’d put the switch in wrong wayarround. The red circle is where the original blue wire was but I figured I would use a continuous wire from the 4 connector wire right through to the pot rather than stopping at the end of the switch and then using another wire to connect switch to pot.
That was a lot of work and gives me a lot to work on....thanks
PROBLEM SOLVED eventually
I redid much of the solder and the three switch positions connected. I put tape under the switch. Everything looked ok.
Back to my music room.....farting and spitting came out of the amp. My wife said you’re not going to spend hours retiring again...go to the guitar repair guy I have used for guitar set ups in the past. I agreed and he took me into his workshop checked connections soldered a couple. Still a connection problem...it was the copper shielding and he took that out and it sounded fantastic.
20 minutes and my problem over and he did it as a freebie...nice guy. Played for hour or so last night super chuffed.
As this should be my last post ( my wife thinks 8 guitars is enough) thanks to all. It really has been a great experience and lockdown is over in NZ so I’m also back to golf / lawn bowls etc YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN GREAT
You have been a great help....thanks. Shielding in the switch cavity was the real issue.
Eight guitars is what we normally call 'a good start'. :cool:
Glad you got it working in the end. All the best and enjoy the guitar.
Congrats for getting the build finished. That's something I haven't managed yet.
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Thinking of making a AG ...I’m missing the fun of making a guitar.
I think I can handle the soldering...only concern is the set neck asi guess you only get one goat glueing.
Have you done this...pitfalls?
None really. Just need to make sure that you mask off the neck heel and the pocket edges when putting on the finish as you need wood to wood contact for the glue to work properly. With the two horns, it's fairly easy to get three clamps onto the neck when gluing for good pressure (always use protective wood blocks to spread the pressure and stop the clamps marking the body).
Mask off around the heel join area on the outside so any glue squeeze-out doesn't sit on the finish (or just the wood, depending on when you glue the neck on in the build process). And wipe off as much excess glue as possible with a damp cloth or damp cotton buds etc. If I find a spot is hard to reach with a cloth, I'll use a small artist paintbrush with water to thin and remove the glue.
Try not to use too much glue to minimise squeeze-out, but better a bit too much than too little. Best to spread the glue on both surfaces with a brush to ensure as much of the surface is covered as possible, rather than rely on the clamping to squeeze the glue out evenly from a couple of central blobs.