Bare bones no upgrades PBG build. Maybe?

[ozzbike]

I came home after work days.....nope the stain burst sucked...back with the 80 girt.

Sanded through the grades again and Timbermate has been on and dried.

Right now it is sanded to 240 grit...one coat of Jarrah Stain and left to dry yesterday.

Right now has had two coats with steel wool of the Fine Buffing Oil. I think that is enough of the steel wool as it has dragged enough of the colour out of the finish.

I will do two with a cloth wiping the oil on. Then let it hang whilst I am back at work again.

The ash body is so light....really amazing.

[ozzbike]

I have done the body with sanding, filling, stain, and Fine Buffing Oil. I think six coats of FBO...first two with steel wool, and the rest wiped on with a cloth.

The logos on the headstock and it has a couple of Tru Oil coats over the decals. When I get back...the neck with get the FBO treatment.

Then it will be time to redo the wiring harness.

[ozzbike]

The body has had many fine buffing oil coats....four wax coats...and two carnauba polish coats...all applied by hand and buffed off by hand.

The headstock has had four coats of Tru Oil, including the last one as a tru oil wet sand at 600 grit. Logos on this morning, they appear to have something to grip on to now.

The body will get the control cavity taped with copper. Then it shall wait until the neck and the modified wiring is done.

Headstock will get at least another six coats of Tru Oil to try and cover the decals and produce at least a semi gloss.

Then the neck will get a number of steel wool Fine Buffing Oil coats, then wax and then polish.....hmmm polish.

[ozzbike]

Back at work again. Just before I left I put the updated wiring harness....thanks weirdy for the drawing...into the body.

I plugged it in and man the noise out of it was amazing.

I am not certain whether it is the barrel shapped jack socket.....or that the pots are really tiny and they may be bottoming out onto my carefully applied copper tape.

I had put one nylon washer on each pot...and the thread made it through the guitar top and the nut and washer locked the pots in place.

Maybe I will pull the wiring out and try it on the bench and see if it is much quieter.

I also noted that the pickups really don't go down that far into the pickup routing holes. Maybe I will have to get the green shed version of the a dremel out and ream out a track down the side of both pickup routing holes and see if I can encourage the wiring to stay in there.

I did try to fit the supplied capacitors into the new wiring diagram but I had trimmed them to suit the basic wiring diagram and the leads were too small. So I have broken the mould.....I have used two orange drop caps across the volume to tone pots.

Maybe I may have to grind out the control cavity to ensure that none of the connection lugs on the pots are anywhere near the copper tape......really just the two sections between each volume and tone pot recess.

[WeirdBits]

I always add some insulating tape on top of the copper where the pots lugs will sit, just in case.


That way if it stops working when you install it you know it can’t be a lug shorting.

Also, if it is the stock barrel socket they can be a little tricky, the lugs don’t typically connect the expected way. There are a couple of threads on it from a ways back.

[Simon Barden]

Loads of noise normally means the ground and signal connections on the output jack are swapped over. Best to insert a guitar lead and use a multimeter to check the connections.

If all the pots have insulating nylon washers between them and the shielding, then double check that there is a proper ground link somewhere to the shielding.

[ozzbike]

I have taken all four pots out....put two layers of insulation tape on the copper tape...then an extra piece on top of the connection lugs.

I have reconnected everything and still screaming. I then removed the harness from the guitar and still screaming.

I then trolled the net and saw that these barrel jack sockets do not come with a golden history. So The long of the three lugs is universally listed as the ground connector and the shortest as the hot connector, the third one is for a battery.

I have removed this thing.....soldered the two leads I have into all three lugs and the six possible connections.....and still squealing.

I am having a break now so the workshop does not get damaged with a flying guitar body.

I am tempted to solder in a standard switchcraft jack socket and see if that helps.....but not right now.

Standard is good, standard is simple for numpties like me to put together. Ibanez and others do some weird stuff.

I also soldered in a wire from the volume pot to the copper tape to ground everything. I even hooked an alligator clip to the bridge earth wire and back to the volume pot....no difference.

Before I began to launch things I dragged out the multi-meter, and the warnings from people above above the connectivity on the bridge was spot on.

Unless I touch the tips of my red and black probe leads to each other.....there is no place on this bridge that offers connectivity.

Wow. I would never have suspected that. Makes me think about some of more noisier guitars.

I am thinking a dremeling I shall go.....I think the holes where the ball ends of the strings will sit at the rear and hidden under a little ledge on top of the bridge is good. Then also in a location where the bridge earth wire will contact the bridge.....or just grind a whack off and put some copper tape down and let the wire connect to the tape.

Neck is keeping me calm. It is looking really nice. Ripped the logos off....they were terrible. Got some new ones on....and three coats of Fine Buffing Oil on the back of the neck now....so smooth and minimal gloss. The headstock has about ten coats of Tru-Oil in total and only one wet sand at 600 grit. It will get no more and will get wax and carnauba polish with the rest of the neck.

[WeirdBits]

Usually with the PBG barrels it's the two short lugs as your hot and ground, as in, non-standard. It's easiest just to plug in a lead, set your multimeter to resistance/continuity, put one probe on the tip of the other end of the lead and then probe the lugs until you get signal/min resistance. Then repeat with the sleeve to test for the ground lug.

It may also pay to try the multimeter directly onto the lug pairs with a lead plugged in, just to make sure you're not getting any shorts within the jack. If all else fails swap the barrel out for a standard jack just to test, that way you'll know if it's the jack or the circuit. Also, run a knife/flat head screwdriver between the lugs on the pots just to make certain there are no stray wire strands or damn near invisible solder threads causing a partial short... they're infuriatingly easy to miss sometimes.

[ozzbike]

Usually with the PBG barrels it's the two short lugs as your hot and ground, as in, non-standard. It's easiest just to plug in a lead, set your multimeter to resistance/continuity, put one probe on the tip of the other end of the lead and then probe the lugs until you get signal/min resistance. Then repeat with the sleeve to test for the ground lug.

It may also pay to try the multimeter directly onto the lug pairs with a lead plugged in, just to make sure you're not getting any shorts within the jack. If all else fails swap the barrel out for a standard jack just to test, that way you'll know if it's the jack or the circuit. Also, run a knife/flat head screwdriver between the lugs on the pots just to make certain there are no stray wire strands or damn near invisible solder threads causing a partial short... they're infuriatingly easy to miss sometimes.

Just because it was you weirdy I tried the multi-meter....again.

Do you realise how much of a dumb a@# I feel. Without a lead in position no circuit was created. See how being stressed makes you do dumb things.

Anyway. The PBG barrel connector is indeed wired internally differently.

The really long lead is the BATTERY connector. The shortest lead is the HOT/TIP connector, and the medium lead is the GROUND/SHAFT connector.

I even tried soldering in a standard switchcraft socket.....so quiet...so quiet. The wiring diagram, as always, of yours worked great...Thank You...again.

I have now soldered in the PBG barrel socket...noisier than the switchcraft standard socket...but all things work.

The body is done now.....maybe a couple more coats of carnauba wax polish to come....but otherwise she is done.

(***I have not got the dremel out to deepen the wiring channel yet. I will wait and see what happens when the bridge goes on with the neck and strings.***)

(****Oops, I hate the plastic coated wire, and due to the inability to get any sound, I stripped out the kit wiring as much as possible, started again, and substituted vintage push back wire. Went in so easy and solders so well and holds with strength. Love that stuff.

So only changes at this stage.....vintage wire instead of kit wires...two orange drop caps.****)

[ozzbike]

I always add some insulating tape on top of the copper where the pots lugs will sit, just in case.


That way if it stops working when you install it you know it can’t be a lug shorting.

Also, if it is the stock barrel socket they can be a little tricky, the lugs don’t typically connect the expected way. There are a couple of threads on it from a ways back.

That internal cavity is smooth.....mine has four recesses for the pots....not wide enough....so the pots hit the wood.....but tape and positioning may have things going well now.