Jupiter Posted June 9, 2003 Report Share Posted June 9, 2003 Well, i was having some problems out of the Duncan Design humbucker pickups in my mongrel Schecter C-7... They weren't as hot as they should have been. It wasn't wired properly according to the diagrams you guys supplied me with. So, i attempted { for the second or so time } to rewire the thing last night using those same diagrams, and it's actually worse now! There's zero output!!! I just don't get what's going on... i'll explain what i have wired to what. I'm almost positive i've that i've made some kind of dumb mistakes here { hey, it's my first time really wiring anything }, so please point anything out... From the neck pickup, i have 5 wires : red, white, green, loose bare wire, and black. Red and white have their tips soldered together and aren't touching anything. The green and bare and twisted around each other and soldered to the side of the toggle switch { a 3-way toggle, btw}. The black wire is soldered to the right lug on the toggle. From the bridge pickup is the same thing, only the black wire is soldered to the left lug on the pickup. From the middle lug of the selector switch, i have a blue wire... the blue wire has a white wire inside of it, and some bare wire. The bare wire is soldered to the side of the toggle switch, and the white wire is soldered to the middle lug. Now, i have the white wire running to the right lug on the volume pot, with the other end of the bare wire being soldered to the back of the volume pot. This connection is iffy... see, the white section of wire that connects to to volume pot wasn't long enough, so i got another little piece of copper wire, and fused it to the end of the wire coming out of the white piece. I think this is probably a mistake. The volume pot has the left lug occupied my a wire or rod of some type that runs from the lug onto the back of the volume pot. The middle lug is connected to the output jack of the guitar. The right lug has the wire from the toggle switch on it, and one end of a dark green cap. The other end of the green cap is connected to the middle lug of the tone pot. The tone pot's left lug has a wire/rod that runs from the lug to the top of the tone pot. The right lug has nothing. The output jack has a black wire running from it. This contains a white wire and some bare wire. The white is connected to the middle lug on the volume pot, and the bare is soldered to the top of the pot. There is one odd wire that i'm pretty sure is part of the problem... That's the wire that runs from under the bridge. This is soldered to the side of the toggle. I'm nearly positve that should not be there... And that is all! PLEASE help!!! I really want to play this guitar... If i need to replace and wires { like that blue one }, could i use speaker wire? I also have some kind of gray wire that's divided into two sections and has a white stripe on one side. I'm sorry for my primitve terminology, i really don't know much about this stuff. If someone could even explain in layman's terms what all those different wires do, that would help me understand what's going on. I commend ANYONE who actually took the time to read all this stuff! Thanks for your time! Anyway, please help!!! Thanks again! Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted June 9, 2003 Report Share Posted June 9, 2003 There is one odd wire that i'm pretty sure is part of the problem... That's the wire that runs from under the bridge. This is soldered to the side of the toggle. I'm nearly positve that should not be there... Thats your common ground wire which usually goes to the top of a pot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted June 9, 2003 Report Share Posted June 9, 2003 RG 570- here are all the ground wires we were talking about and that wire from the bridge to the top of the pot. Same area on a Strat style setup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jupiter Posted June 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2003 Aargh { again... }..... i redid everything this morning, and it's still not working. Everything is wired exactly like it looks in the diagram. There's only one or two things about it that are questionable... let me tell you what it looks like now... Neck pickup has the black wire connected to the same lug on the toggle as before. Red and white have their tips soldered together. The green and bare wires are twisted together with the green and bare from the bridge pickup and soldered to the back of the volume pot. I'm suspicious about this, should the green and bares from each pickup be seperated instead of twisting them together like i did? Bridge pickup is the same, only with the black wire on a different lug { same one as before, though}. The middle lug of the toggle has a piece of copper wire in black tubing that goes to the right lug on the volume pot. The volume pot has it's left lug occupied by a piece of copper wire in red tubing that goes from the lug to the top of the volume pot. Middle lug is the white wire from the output jack { the bare wire from the output jack is soldered to the top of the pot }. The right lug has the wire from the toggle attatched to it, as well as one wire from the little green cap. The tone pot's left lug has a piece of copper wire in white tubing going from the lug to the top of the volume pot. The middle lug has the other end of the green cap. The right lug has a little blob of solder on it, but is otherwise empty. The main ground wire to the bridge is soldered to the back of the volume pot. All of the things that are soldered to the back of the volume pot are seperated { except for the green and bare wires from the pickups, which are twisted together }. Are they perhaps all supposed to be touching? PLEASE help!!! I've missed playing this guitar.... Thanks again, Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 10, 2003 Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 it is best to solder each ground wire seperately.they can all be connected to the same spot but it is alot harder to get a good solder join on such a big lump of wires.do them one at a time so that you are sure each one has a good ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 10, 2003 Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 also make sure that the ground under the bridge has good contact and that no pieces of solder bridge across any of the contacts or ground out to something they shouldn't.follow your diagram precisely.it's easy to miss something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jupiter Posted June 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 Hmm, okay, i'll try that. I just noticed another thing.... Why is it on the diagram it has 4 solder points on the toggle switch ? You have one lug for each pickup, and the one in the middle that runs to the volume knob. Where and what is this elusive 4th solder point? Thanks for the help! Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 10, 2003 Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 i think that's what you're missing.the two solder points in the middle of the toggle are actually going to the same place on the volume pot.just make the bare end of that wire long enough to solder to both contact points.i think you already have this. but this one is especially clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jupiter Posted June 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 Doggone it, i'm really getting frustrated now... As per Wes and Brian's suggestions, i jumped the wire from the middle lug on the toggle to the other small middle lug. No change... Brian said that maybe my wires were swapped on my output jack. The wire thats on the lug on the volume pot should be connected to the longer post on the output jack. So, i removed the jack... my output jack has three shafts; the long one that your guitar cable touches, and two smaller ones that are the same size on either side of that one. I figured 'what the heck', so i switched the wires. No change, no signal... What in the world is going on here???? This is tough because this is the only tech job that i've had serious problems out of. Huge thanks to all the people on this site who have helped me, i've learned a lot from this site! Any other ideas? Please help, Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the third eye Posted June 10, 2003 Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 post a few pictures if you can i'm sure someone here would notice the problem if they could see it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted June 10, 2003 Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 my output jack has three shafts; the long one that your guitar cable touches, and two smaller ones that are the same size on either side of that one. I figured 'what the heck', so i switched the wires. No change, no signal... sounds like a stereo jack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted June 10, 2003 Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 my output jack has three shafts; the long one that your guitar cable touches, and two smaller ones that are the same size on either side of that one. I figured 'what the heck', so i switched the wires. No change, no signal... sounds like a stereo jack. its not a stereo jack, it's normal. the third lug is for a battery harness for active pickups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrk~ Posted June 10, 2003 Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 if its possible you may have blown the pickups so that anything u do wont work :-/ though dont ever trust me i know nothing about wiring. Is it possible to blow EMG81 pickups when wiring (just so i know wether i should crap my pants when wiring my new guitar) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jupiter Posted June 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 its not a stereo jack, it's normal. the third lug is for a battery harness for active pickups. So does that mean that the wire that goes to the lug on my volume knob should go on the long post that the guitar cable touches, and the wire that goes to the top of the volume pot should go on one of the smaller posts on the jack? And i would post pics, but i don't have a scanner of digital camera.... Thanks! Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 10, 2003 Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 it is a stereo jack.stereo jacks can be used mono or for active pickups.if you use it mono you just don't hook up the third one.and no you can't blow up your emgs.the worst you can do is burn the wiring.ibanez uses stereo jacks in their guitars even though they only use them mono. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 10, 2003 Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 i feel for you man,i wish i could just wire it up for you ^_^where are you located anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jupiter Posted June 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 it is a stereo jack.stereo jacks can be used mono or for active pickups.if you use it mono you just don't hook up the third one.and no you can't blow up your emgs.the worst you can do is burn the wiring.ibanez uses stereo jacks in their guitars even though they only use them mono. Alright, so should i wire the one that's touching the lug on the pot to the longest shaft { the one that the guitar cable touches }? I'll try it out and let you know the results... I'm in Eastern Tennessee, BTW. Thanks, keep the help coming! Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 10, 2003 Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 suggestion.leave the wire unhooked,plug your guitar in with the volume knob all the way up,and experiment by touching the wire to each contact on the jack.that's what i do when i get confused.when you get noise you got it right.(if everything else is right.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jupiter Posted June 11, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2003 Thanks for the tip, Wes! That was a great idea. I tried it out, and i got a signal when i put the white wire on the back of the long post, and the bare wire on one of the smaller posts. So, i soldered them down, and plugged the guitar up. I have a signal now, but it's extremely weak... the volume and tone knobs don't work at all for some reason. The toggle works, though. This is really crazy, do you think my volume and tone pots have been fried? Maybe the cap, too? Aaargh, i say, aargh.... Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 11, 2003 Report Share Posted June 11, 2003 possibly with all the heat during the many rewirings they did fry.i don't know.try new ones they are cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jupiter Posted June 12, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 Update! Well, as per the suggestion of someone from another forum, i called Schecter's toll free line a moment ago. The tech, Derek, was very helpful! I told him how i had it wired up, and he said i have everything exactly right... He thought maybe the volume or tone knobs were shot, too. SO, he's sending me new ones for free!!! Yay! Let's hope this fixes it. I think i'll go ahead and replace the cap while i'm at it. It's a little dark green rectangular thing. Can i buy a new one at Radio Shack? Thanks, Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 hold your horses it may come with the pots(they always do with emg)if not make sure you get one with the same value(the number written on it.)the reason they usually include it is because it is so inexpensive and they are easy to burn up so reusing them is not a good option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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