2nd Build SHB-4

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Okay, thanks! Smart! I will steal this method

[blinddrew]

Well today has been a mixture of progress and complete PITA.
Having tidied up the finish from yesterday I pulled it all together, and initially it looked ok:

But then I noticed a little mark between the bridge and the pick-up. "No worries," I thought, "I'll just give a quick polish." And, it turns out, go straight through the bloody finish.

So I've sanded it back a bit and now trying to rebuild it to sand smooth again.

Cracking on, because I'm now just sick of this build, I took it inside for the soldering and realised I wasn't quite sure how to proceed.
Simon B kindly found me this wiring diagram a while back: https://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-co...pot%202017.pdf
So I've soldered the basics on the pots, output and bridge cable and checked connectivity, but I'm looking at the wires from the pick-up and not sure how to combine these?

Unfortunately that's a rather naff photo but each pickup has a red and white wire twisted together, a single black wire, then a green wire and an unshielded wire twisted together.
I'm guessing I need to solder the green and unshielded and the black to the ground and then the red and white to the middle tab on the pot?

Oh yes, and because I haven't ballsed things up enough I manage to spat hot solder onto the front.

it appears to have melted itself into the finish and I have no flippin' idea how I'm going to deal with that.

[Simon Barden]

Red and white aren't connected unless you want a coil tap, so ideally heatshrink the end or wrap it in insulating tape. Black = signal hot and goes to the pot middle tab, bare and green are ground and go to the back of a pot. As the bare wire is wrapped around the green, and so exposed along its length, best to heatshrink or tape up most of it to stop it touching a signal wire or connection.

You'll probably find that the solder will fall off after a while. I've done that before and it seems to stick at first, but releases itself after a while, probably leaving just the barest mark that only needs a polish to remove. Otherwise still wait a few hours, and then use a small sharp blade to prise it off, something like a scalpel.

[blinddrew]

Thank you and thank you.

[ozzbike]

Well today has been a mixture of progress and complete PITA.
Having tidied up the finish from yesterday I pulled it all together, and initially it looked ok:

But then I noticed a little mark between the bridge and the pick-up. "No worries," I thought, "I'll just give a quick polish." And, it turns out, go straight through the bloody finish.

So I've sanded it back a bit and now trying to rebuild it to sand smooth again.

Cracking on, because I'm now just sick of this build, I took it inside for the soldering and realised I wasn't quite sure how to proceed.
Simon B kindly found me this wiring diagram a while back: https://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-co...pot%202017.pdf
So I've soldered the basics on the pots, output and bridge cable and checked connectivity, but I'm looking at the wires from the pick-up and not sure how to combine these?

Unfortunately that's a rather naff photo but each pickup has a red and white wire twisted together, a single black wire, then a green wire and an unshielded wire twisted together.
I'm guessing I need to solder the green and unshielded and the black to the ground and then the red and white to the middle tab on the pot?

Oh yes, and because I haven't ballsed things up enough I manage to spat hot solder onto the front.

it appears to have melted itself into the finish and I have no flippin' idea how I'm going to deal with that.

Don't give up on this build. Well all have issues with each build...and sometimes something that you hate but can't fix or work around appears. I can think of something on nearly all of mine. We always mark ourselves the hardest.

Trim your work expectation for each day. Sometimes we try to get too much done in each session.....and you can't hurry this stuff unless you have industrial dryers/heaters, spray tools etc.

You however can do two things at once.....sanding and pore-fill the body....then let it hang....and at the same time solder up the wiring harness.

I always make my harness external to the guitar...usually using a piece of cardboard that I have either held over the body and pushed holes into.....or measured and orientated the holes to roughly meet those on the body.

Then when ready to attach jack socket and pickups....I lay a number of rags around the surface of the guitar.

I clear clutter between the soldering iron rest and the work space...and anything that could catch the soldering iron lead from machine to the hot tip.

Since I did exactly the same and dropped hot lead onto a surface, I have used these two processes and have had no issue since.

Use at least two layers of rag or cloth if using microfibre or synthetic cloths. I use the bum and legs of a cut up old pair of jeans. No tears but....just the seams cut.

Also each time you solder clean the tip before you bring it over to the work space.....and repeat the process as you put the iron back on the rest. Less chance of excess solder on the tip and this dropping off.

[blinddrew]

Picked the guitar up this evening to finish the soldering and felt a slight sucking as it came off the stand.
Thought this kind of thing only happened with nitro finishes:




And to cap it all I'm getting no signal at all.
Ho hum.

[McCreed]

Whoa, that sucks. I've not encountered that with poly.

What kind of stand do you have, and what kind of rubber are the pads made out of?

How long did the clear coat set before wet sanding?

Sorry for all the questions. Just trying to understand what might have happened.

ADD:
I'm sure the finish and wiring issues are both an easy fix. Just unfortunate and frustrating.

Any photos of the wiring?

[Simon Barden]

Ho no hum surely?

[McCreed]

Ho no hum surely?

I thought it, but wasn't going to say it...

[Simon Barden]

I have no self-restraint in matters like these.

As you may have guessed by now!