Members Clinically Deaf Posted January 5, 2011 Members Share Posted January 5, 2011 I'm sure this is likely a routine fix, but I'm not sure exactly where to begin. I have some experience with wiring guitars but I can't seem to put my finger on this problem. I had some Pure 90's in an Epi LP (shielded and star grounded) but I took them out and replaced them with the stock HB's because I'm selling the guitar. There were only four connections changed. Hot and ground for each pickup. I connected the hot of both stock pickups to each volume pot and then the ground of each to the central star ground. Neck pickup works fine, but I'm only getting a barely audible sound from the bridge pickup. What could my issue be? Thanks fellas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mike42 Posted January 5, 2011 Members Share Posted January 5, 2011 I would guess; A) a bad solder joint on the bridge connections, B) you somehow fried the bridge pot when you soldered, or C) some issue with the switch that's coincidental with the work you did. I would just make a small test lead, hook one end to the bridge hot lead, and then jump across the other connections in that line and see if you can't locate the problem. Might just try a wiggle test first; just wiggle all the wiring you worked on with the guitar plugged in to see if you get an intermittent signal. Also, be sure you don't have a broken lead coming off the bridge pup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Clinically Deaf Posted January 5, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 5, 2011 I would guess; A) a bad solder joint on the bridge connections, B) you somehow fried the bridge pot when you soldered, or C) some issue with the switch that's coincidental with the work you did. I would just make a small test lead, hook one end to the bridge hot lead, and then jump across the other connections in that line and see if you can't locate the problem. Might just try a wiggle test first; just wiggle all the wiring you worked on with the guitar plugged in to see if you get an intermittent signal. Also, be sure you don't have a broken lead coming off the bridge pup. Thank you for your help. I'll try that wiggle test first Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Belva Posted January 5, 2011 Members Share Posted January 5, 2011 What's resistance across the bridge pup wires? It's possible the pup demon destroyed this one while it was sitting in your pack rat stash. I've had this happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted January 5, 2011 Members Share Posted January 5, 2011 If you have an ohm meter you can turn the volume controls all the way up, then measure the resistance between the hot lead and the ground of each pickup. The resistances should be in the 8-12K range. If the bridge pickup resistance reads very low then you may have inadvertently shorted the wire by overheating the insulation. It is important to turn the volume and tone controls all the way up to effectively eliminate their effect on the measurement. It is possible that the control is at fault so the next step, if you read an unusually low resistance, would be to disconnect the pickup from the control and measure them separately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Clinically Deaf Posted January 5, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 5, 2011 If you have an ohm meter you can turn the volume controls all the way up, then measure the resistance between the hot lead and the ground of each pickup. The resistances should be in the 8-12K range. If the bridge pickup resistance reads very low then you may have inadvertently shorted the wire by overheating the insulation.It is important to turn the volume and tone controls all the way up to effectively eliminate their effect on the measurement.It is possible that the control is at fault so the next step, if you read an unusually low resistance, would be to disconnect the pickup from the control and measure them separately. How can you short a wire by overheating the insulation? A part of the wire (between the pot and where it goes into the guitar) accidentally came into contact with the iron and melted the plastic. Could this be the issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Clinically Deaf Posted January 5, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 5, 2011 What's resistance across the bridge pup wires? It's possible the pup demon destroyed this one while it was sitting in your pack rat stash. I've had this happen. I've often thought of this too. Is it actually possible for a pickup to break just sitting in a box with odds and ends? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarman_nebr Posted January 5, 2011 Members Share Posted January 5, 2011 try switching the wires on the pickup. hot to ground and ground to hot. that usually fixes that issue. this cures a phasing issue with pickups. it has worked for me in the past. try it as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members photon9 Posted January 5, 2011 Members Share Posted January 5, 2011 What's resistance across the bridge pup wires? It's possible the pup demon destroyed this one while it was sitting in your pack rat stash. I've had this happen. Me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted January 5, 2011 Members Share Posted January 5, 2011 How can you short a wire by overheating the insulation? A part of the wire (between the pot and where it goes into the guitar) accidentally came into contact with the iron and melted the plastic. Could this be the issue? If a soldering iron is not hot enough for the job it may need to be held on the connection for too long. This is sometimes the case when connecting the ground wire of a pickup to the case of the volume pot - the pot acts a a heat sink. If this occurs then the prolonged exposure to the heat may be enough to melt the insulation between the hot wire and the shield. It is possible that a short occurred when the iron accidently contacted the wire. If you determine that the pickup resistance is too low and you have eliminated the other possibilities - in other words, if you are desperate - you can cut the wire, eliminating the suspect area, and reconnect. I would only do this if I was sure that was the problem because you may end up with a wire that is too short - but it is better than not having the pickup work properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted January 5, 2011 Members Share Posted January 5, 2011 I just reread the initial post and would like to suggest you verify that the ground from the volume control is connected to the 'central star ground'. This would be the simple fix and hopefully it is the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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