JoJo T. Magnifficent Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 I just got my saga kit all together, with no help from sagas "colour coding" and im pretty sure its all right, givin my limited knowledge of guitar wiring ( im guessin all the black wires connected to the selector switches frame were grounds, and the two red ones on either side were the bridge/neck positions, and their use of male/female type connectors means i couldnt have gotten the ground/live wrong way round). Only problem is the signal im getting out of the guitar is so increadibly weak that i cant get a readin on my tuner. its definately there though, becasue i can hear something if i turn my little Marshal MG10( it was the closest amp) right up ont he distortion channel, then i get some relatively clean sounds commin out, and the clean channel i cnat hear anything unless i rest my head against the amp, and then its still really quiet. I went through trying all the different combinations of ground to see if it made a difference, and, as i thoughtm it didnt. Then i noticed that one of the red pickup wires on the switch had just fallen off, so perhaps bad soldiering is the problem My 3 guesses as to what is wrong are: 1/ Im a moron and Ive set it up completely wrong, and/or the solution is blatantly obvious and I havnt figured it out yet (1/ is quite likely) 2/ the soldiering is REALLY bad, and that is causeing lotsa resistance, which is killing the signal to the output jack ( this is supported by the wire that fell off) 3/ the pickups are extraordinarily weak and they are just too far away from the strings (havnt adjusted them yet, they are bout 1/2 an inch or less away from the strings) I havnt had a chance to adjust them since the wiring went bung. If anyone has any better ideas of what could be wrong, or even worse ones, id apretiate the help, and suggestions of how to fix it would be even better cheers Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 Yes ...I would recomend taking the electronics appart and rewiring it as per the schematics. If you're hesitant to go that far, break out a multimeter and start testing everything first. My first though was "adjust pickup height," but you should be getting an acceptable siganl at 1/2 an inch. They should be closer to the strings none the less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feylya Posted August 9, 2005 Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 Reverse the connections on the output jack. Just a guess... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo T. Magnifficent Posted August 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 thanks for the replies, i tried soldiering the broken wire today at he electronics lab at uni, and more just fell off. So im gonna try and redo the whole thing, and replace the wires while im at it, there isnt a wiring diagram (one hats accurate atleast) with the saga kit, so ill just go off the 2 hum 1 vol, 1 tone, 3-way switch schemtic from the seymour duncan website, i can figure which is live and which is ground on the saga kit no sweat. and if that doesnt help ill just put some EMGs in it, there should be enough room in the control cavity for everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo T. Magnifficent Posted August 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 (edited) all the wiring was redone today, and i plugged it all up and there is the same output as before . put the pickups right up to the strings and no change. i dont think theres a problem with the wiring now, so pehaps the pickups are the problem? im gona take one to uni tomorrow and have look at it on a multimeter, see how that goes. in the meantime any more guesses as to whats wrong would be welcome. cheers nick Edited August 11, 2005 by JoJo T. Magnifficent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo T. Magnifficent Posted August 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 ok... all wiring has been completely redone. the wires have all been replaced, and it was wired according to the seymour duncan wiring diagram for 2 humbucker, 1 vol, 1 tone ( and I ignored the extra 2 wires soldierd together from the 4 conductor pickups in the diagram, i think thats the right thing to do, as the saga is only 2 conductor, but sd only had a 2vo, 2 tone diagram for 2 conductor ). the volume problem is pretty much gone now .... but I have a horrible buzzing in its place I think the volume pot is busted ( may be my fault from soldiering, is a 45watt iron to much? ) as if i tap the volume knob fairly hard the sound sometimes cuts out, and goes back to being really really quite, liek before. the buzzing is REALLY bad too, it makes my squier sound silent. It gets much worse again aswel if i touch the strings or bridge, so it may be that theres a problem with the grounding on the pot. thats my guess atleast. If anyone has any better ideas, can you let me know? cheers nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 Did you groudn the bridge? If it gets louder when you touch the strings than the bridge is most likely not grounded. if i tap the volume knob fairly hard the sound sometimes cuts out, and goes back to being really really quite, liek before. I would deffinitly replace the pot. In fact I would replace all the electronics (thats everything but the pickups). Even if stuff works now in just a few months you'll start having problems with things going bad due to sub standard parts. the buzzing is REALLY bad too, it makes my squier sound silent. you should be getting -almost- no noise with humbuckers so you have some serius grounding issues. Try grounding the bridge and see if that works. If not you need to start ground everything. That is, you need to take the ground wires from everywhere (pickup ground, the groudn tab of pots and switch, the shell of the pots and switch) and solder all these wires to a washer. Than run one wire from the washer to the ground side of the output jack. Also make sure you take your time when you solder. You need to pre tin everything (heat up the tap on the pot and put a little solder on it and let it cool down before you touch the wire to it. also do it to the wire) Before you start soldering everything together. make sure you let your soldering iron heat the area up before you add solder. Or else you could have a cold solder joint which is probably why all your wires are falling off. If the joint looks messy and has a big clump of solder on it, redo it. If you get the joint the right temperature the solder should stick nicely and make a nice little neat looking joint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo T. Magnifficent Posted August 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 make sure you let your soldering iron heat the area up before you add solder. Or else you could have a cold solder joint which is probably why all your wires are falling off.← I think the wires were falling off becasue they were all made of strands about a hair thick. all wire has now been replaced, and most of my soldier joints are pretty good ( im not too fussed bout noise so i havnt deen making them uber tidy, just aslong as its playable). I tihnk it may be something to do with the pots grounding ( mayb a short inside it), as ive grounded to the bridge, and all my grounds are on the pot cases and the switch case ( pickups grounds and the bridge ground are on the switch, and pots are grounded on themselves, and the output jack is grounded to a pot). I might try your idea of the washer to the ground of the jack. Im getting new pots for it neway, i need some good 500k pots for my schecter (If music123 ever gives it to me or my money back so i can buy it elsewere). cheers for the help Godin nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidnightLamp Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 Off topic I know...but I've had my schecter C1 classic and it's the most gorgeous guitar I've played on, and that says a lot because I had a $2500 budget, and it blew the crap outa the prs's in that range (and it was only $1300). The only Issue I had with it was the pots too...they make such great guitars but all of their pots seem to be cheap crap...blah. Just a bit of advice though, if you do have a heavy carved top, be warned that nrmal pots don't always fit. Make sure to check to see if the bushing (thread) on the pot is long enough. Sorry for sidetrackin', good luck with the kit and guitar Cheers, Nish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 You paid $1300 for a C1 Classic? I'm so sorry...you must not live in the States. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo T. Magnifficent Posted August 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 Off topic I know...but I've had my schecter C1 classic and it's the most gorgeous guitar I've played on, and that says a lot because I had a $2500 budget, and it blew the crap outa the prs's in that range (and it was only $1300). The only Issue I had with it was the pots too...they make such great guitars but all of their pots seem to be cheap crap...blah. Just a bit of advice though, if you do have a heavy carved top, be warned that nrmal pots don't always fit. Make sure to check to see if the bushing (thread) on the pot is long enough. Sorry for sidetrackin', good luck with the kit and guitar Cheers, Nish ← yea, it seems to be common concensus that everything on the c-1 classic is great, except for the pots, i was gonna get them changed, and probly put some locking tuners on it aswell (altho the locking tuners may be a bit overkill). had a look yesterday for pots, and it seems nobody has any the main electronics supplier in town, spectron, only had up to 250k, and those things were monstrous, and had shafts about 4 inches long. im gonna keep looking, but im not liking my chances, might have to buy off the net, and after my experiences with music123, im not lookin foward to that . would any of you think its unreasonale to expect a response from them within a week? Ive even sent them emails reminding them ive sent them an email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 I've had nothing but bad experiences with music123. I'm not sure if they ship to new zealand but musicians friend is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borge Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 had a look yesterday for pots, and it seems nobody has any the main electronics supplier in town, spectron, only had up to 250k, and those things were monstrous, and had shafts about 4 inches long. im gonna keep looking, but im not liking my chances, might have to buy off the net, and after my experiences with music123, im not lookin foward to that . would any of you think its unreasonale to expect a response from them within a week? Ive even sent them emails reminding them ive sent them an email. ← www.dbmmusic.com has pots ect, and is the best parts supplier ive found in nz. still quite expensive for somethings though. hes a friendly guy, you can chat to him on the nzguitars.com forum if you need to ask him anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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