I have my new Pit Bull guitar ready to be wired but I am a bit lost. The wiring diagram seems relatively straight forward but the pots and switch plate seem to already have some wires attached and solder points completed. So, I'm unsure if part of my work is done or if this is work that would be needed for different models.
If you can help, please zoom in to the photo and let me know what my next steps are. Very grateful for any assistance.
Thanks
Ryan
It looks like you need to connect the red and yellow wires to the switch and the black wires to the output jack. The rest appears to be completed for you.
The yellow wire from the middle tab of the volume pot goes to the tip connection on the output jack. One of the black wires on the back of the volume pot goes to the sleeve connection on the output jack (the one that is connected to the central part of the jack socket). The other black wire is the ground wire for the bridge and should be tucked underneath it with some bare ends of the wire making contact with the underside of the bridge when it's screwed down. It doesn't matter which of the two black wires goes to the bridge of the jack socket.
Just check that the third tab on the volume pot (shown folded back in the wiring diagram is soldered to the back of the pot. It looks it, but it's slightly hidden in the photograph.
If the selector switch provided has 8 connections instead of the 7 shown in the diagram, then let us know. It doesn't look like it, but if it does, then take a photo and post it for us.connections will need to be soldered together. It'll need a link adding (a 7 connection switch is the more common 8 connection switch with the linking already done internally) and it's easier to mark it up on a photo.
You can unscrew the jack socket from the jack mounting plate if it makes it easier to solder. It should pass through the hole in the side of the guitar from the inside, then you can remount it on the plate and screw the plate on when you're ready.
Thanks for the detailed response, Simon. I will follow your advice and report back. Many thanks, kind sir.
No problem.
If you look at the wiring diagram, it does say at the bottom that the bits pre-wired at the factory aren't shown for clarity. But the factories do keep changing the pickup supplier, wire colours and sometimes type of wire, so you may get two singles instead of a screened wire, or a screened wire instead of two singles. It's almost impossible for PBG to keep up with all the changes, especially when there may be a mix of kits with slightly different wiring being built at the same time.
Simon,
So let me get this straight. Here are the steps as I understand them….
1. The yellow wire from the NECK pickup has one end sodered to the sixth AND seventh holes of the switch plate. The earth/ground wire gets sodered to the back of the VOLUME pot.
2. The red wire from the BRIDGE pickup has one end sodered to the first AND second holes of the switch plate. The earth/ground wire gets sodered to the back of the VOLUME pot.
3. The yellow wire from the middle tab of the VOLUME pot goes to the tip connection on the output jack. (as per your note)
4. One/either of the black wires on the back of the volume pot goes to the sleeve connection on the output jack. (as per your note)
5. “The other black wire is the ground wire for the bridge and should be tucked underneath it with some bare ends of the wire making contact with the underside of the bridge when it’s screwed down.” - I’m a bit confused here. Can you rephrase? Tucked underneath what? The bridge? If so, just soder it down? Clarify if you can.
6. The selector switch DOES have seven connections so….all good there.
7. The third tab on the VOLUME pot is folded back and sodered down. So….all good there.
If I can get some further explanation to note 5 then I should be okay. Is that it? Am I missing anything else?
i.e. The bridge only has to make contact with the bare wire when it's screwed down.Originally Posted by rkells
So you strip a cm or two from the end of the wire that emerges from the hole under the bridge plate.
cheers, Mark.
No need to solder that end of the wire. There should be a hole running from the control cavity to where the bridge plate sits. Push the wire through this, then strip it so that there are some bare ends poking out. Splay them out in a fan (to reduce the overall height of the wire) and spread them on top of the body so that the bridge plate sandwiches them in place. You really want to avoid having any of the wire insulation on top of the body as this could hold the bridge off the bare wires and also stop the bridge sitting as flush with the body as possible.
If your bridge pickup has a metal base plate (most Telecaster bridge pickups do), then the bridge ground wire is not strictly needed as the pickup mounting screws should contact the base plate and ground the bridge, as the base plate is also connected to the ground wire of the pickup (black if 2-wire, or the screen if a screened single conductor cable). But I prefer belt-and-braces here.
An alternative (if there is no under-bridge hole for the ground wire) is to run the ground wire to the bridge pickup rout and run the splayed ends over the edge of the rout so the bridge sits on top of it. Use a bit of tape to hold the wire in place against the side of the rout so it stays in place. A modification of this is to solder a small washer on the end, then position the washer so that it sits around a pickup mounting screw with the mounting spring holding the washer against the underside of the bridge plate.
But all that is ultimately necessary is for the bridge to have a connection to ground.
Otherwise, you're good to go.
Thanks to all that responded. I appreciate it. I'm up and running!!!
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