Hi all,
I am having issues with wiring up my guitar, I had it wired up last night and everything seemed to be working correctly, but the twisted wire on the pickup switch came unattached today and I haven't had any luck with anything working since I reattached it.
Any help would be much appreciated, as I have limited experience wiring a guitar.
Hi.
I'd look at the output jack first. You've screened the inside of the jack socket hole, and this is a classic place for the signal to get grounded. You should be able to move the jack plate away from the body with a jack still in it, so if you get your signal back, then you know that's the cause. If you've got any insulation tape, then try and stick it over the copper tape in the hole.
Otherwise look for any stray strands of wire touching the copper screening. It only takes a single strand to ground all the output.
But if all the output is lost regardless of switch position, then the signal must be grounded between the switch output and the jack socket, which makes the jack socket tip prong touching the shielding the most likely suspect.
Good eye Simon!
I completely missed that when I looked at it, and I reckon you've guessed right too!
Another trick to prevent the jack from shorting is use a piece large diameter heat-shrink tubing over the jack after the wires are soldered to the lugs. It will insulate both lugs and the tip contact all at once.
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
Heat shrink is good. I wish I'd discovered it a long time before I did.
Thank you Simon and McCreed for your input and suggestions. I have some insulation tape so I will give that a try later today and hopefully it will work.
Is there any other things to try out if I have no luck with the output jack?
If there is another issue, it's hard to see from that first pic (of pots). If the jack thing doesn't fix it, post another photo of the pots from more directly above so it's easier to visually trace the connections.Originally Posted by BenWill
But my money's on Simon and the shorting jack!
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
If the switch position makes no difference, then it's either the switch, or something shorting on the output from the switch. If there was a short say on a volume pot wire, then you'd still get sound from the other pickup if that was selected on its own. So unless both pickup circuits have developed shorts in the meantime, then the favourite is definitely something shorting the signal on the output wire or jack.
There is a short length of exposed braided cable screen shown on the output jack picture. and there is a small possibility that the tip of the jack could touch that if the cable bunched up in a certain way, so I'd wrap some tape around that as well to be on the safe side. Or you could resolder it so there's no spare length of exposed braid.
I spent this evening doing what you had suggested to try and get my wiring to work, but I have yet to have success. If there are any other parts of it you want a picture of, I can add more, but here's a above view of the pots.
I have a question about the switch picture. It looks a lot like the middle wire and 'lower' wire are blobbed together with solder.
That should only give you two effective selector positions, but not the no-output thing you're fighting.
Don't mean to be a pedantic PITA, but the last photo posted is not very helpful either. It needs to be larger/closer so the wiring and connections are clearly visible. Maybe separate close ups of the pots and the switch from a birds-eye view. We pretty much already know what's happening through the middle of the pickguard.
edit: pix can be up to 1500 x 1500 pixels square. (or 1500 at the longest edge)
Last edited by McCreed; 03-06-2021 at 09:47 AM.
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
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