Curtis P Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 OK, i just put my Seymour Duncan 59's into my explorer, all i did was splice the wires together, the SD's where sheilded wire, the old ones where not, do i have to ground the sheilded wire? If so, how? Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 Can you give us a better description of how they "don't work?" Are you getting any noise at all, like humming? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted November 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 i can go to the 3 way switch, and move it back and forth, and it will switch between the pickups, but, no hum, no static, nothing, it just, it sounds like a grounding problem to me, but i dont know if they have to be grounded, or how to ground them, there was only one wire that came off the pickup and it was sheilded wire Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 You have the wire that's meant for the pickup's ground, grounded...but not the shielding? If that's the case, I don't think grounding is your problem. Is this a 4 or 2 conductor humbucker? Can you give us a picture of your wiring or anything we can work off of? I think you're getting a lack of responses because, at this point, we're shooting in the dark. peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted November 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 no no no. There is one wire coming from the pickup, i spliced the wires together from the old pickups. Starting at the neck pickup: I removed the pickguard and pickup ring, there was a yellow wire comming from the pickup, it went from the pickup to the pots and then the jack. I cut the pick up wire and spliced in the new pickup wire (this pickup wire was sheilded, the other one wasnt) and put the pickup back into the rout. I did the very same to the bridge, only it was a red wire instead of a yellow one, the pickup wire on the new one (the seymour duncan) was sheilded, the stock pickup was not. I think i have to ground the pickup wire too, to like, the bridge, or the jack, i do not know Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 I'm still not totally clear. If you only attached one wire for each pickup, there's no continuity across your pickups. You have to ground one end of the pickup, and attach the output to your volume pot. Sorry if I'm missing something here. peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted November 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 ok, this is confusin me alot, i will say it in the best way i know how. I took the pickguard off, there was about 4 wires, 1 yellow for the neck pickup, it went to the neck volume knob, there was a red wire coming from the bridge pickup, it went to the bridge volume knob, i am assuming that they both were fused together later towards the jack at the tone knob to change the tone, and then it went to the jack, the other wires were for the 3 way selector. There was only 1 wire coming from the pickups, no ground wire, no nothing, they were not grounded to anything, i found that strange... I really dont want to put my old ones back in, they sounded like poop, and i dont want to take it to a tech guy, he will make me pay alot... Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 Ok, yeah, you need to ground the shielding. If it's a 1 wire pickup w/ shielding, the shielding is also the ground signal to the pickup. You shouldn't be getting any signal at all right now. Hook up the shielding from the two humbuckers to your ground signal, and you should be in business. I'm sorry it took so long to get that out of me, I just wasn't getting the jist of what you were saying. Please tell me how it goes for you. peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted November 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 ok, tommorow night i will hook in a ground wire Thanks Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 Okay, if you want the least amount of noise in your system, run the pickup wires all the way to the pots. Solder the center conductor of the bridge pickup to the same lug the red wire was soldered to. Repeat the procedure for the neck pickup, only solder that one to the lug the yellow wire was soldered to. Solder the ground braids, the shiny outer jacket of the pickup wires, to the back of the pots. Make sure all of the pots are soldered to a common ground. If you do not know how to solder, take the instrument to a pro for installation or sack up and learn how to solder on your own instrument. It's only plastic and metal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodBlessTexas Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 Just a bit of advice, but it's never advisable to splice in pickups, especially when going from shield grounded wire to non-shield grounded wire. Always wire directly to the switch or pots they will terminate to. It decreases the chances of wiring incorrectly, introducing noise into the signal chain, or other gremlins that will bug you until you fix it. You also end up diminishing or destroying the ability to go back to stock, putting the replaced pickups in a new project, or sell the other pickups should you so choose, and I personally like having those options open. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodBlessTexas Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 If you do not know how to solder, take the instrument to a pro for installation or sack up and learn how to solder on your own instrument. It's only plastic and metal. ← And soldering, even without practice, is not really hard. Radio Shack will sell you a nice dual-mode 20/40 watt iron with stand for around $20. That, some solder, and a desoldering bulb are all you need to re-wire a guitar. You might want to buy some flux to help solder the grounds to the outside of the pots, but I usually just scuff them with sandpaper or a file. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted November 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 I can solder, but the actual wire wasnt long enough to reach from the pickup to the pot, it was cut shorter from when i used it in my guitar project... I still couldnt get it to go, so i am just bitting the bullet and taking it to a guitar shop this week, i was going to take it friday but the roads were really icy Thanks for all the help, and sorry for the confusion Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 Just solder on wires to extend the lead and ground wires on the pickup. Use shrink wrap tubing to cover your joints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted November 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 the splicing i did was i used shrinkable connectors, you strip the wire ends, and then put on the connector, crimp it (its a conductive steel on the inside) on both wires, then you heat it up and it shrinks so moisture stays out Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 That works for cars, but for guitars, most people(including myself) stick to soldered joints covered with heatshrink tubing. So is it the shielding that isn't reaching? If you're training to be a mechanic, there's no doubt in my mind that you can certainly replace a pickup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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