Damn It!

[!!METAL MATT!!]

Ok Ive Just spent 40 bucks haveing my Impaler rewired only to find out that my pickup it TOAST and thats why its been sounding airie and flat with no balls at all, Ive been wanting to play this DAMN thing for over a year now BAHHHHHHHHH CRUD

We are going to do some more testing and every thing make sure that Its not something else meseing with the output (I HOPE ITS SOMETHING ELSE) but this guitar has been rewired 6 times now and every time it comes out worse and worse

!!METAL MATT!!

[ibanez_crazy]

Man these past couple of weeks haven't been kind to you. Sorry to hear that.

[Daniel Sorbera]

I've seen brand new pickups that are faulty. I've heard of a guy that got 3 pickups in a row that all we're toast.

[Digideus]

Whats different about this guitar thats not hapening on the others? If its just you havent swapped out the pickup, thats understandable.

You did earth it right?

[!!METAL MATT!!]

I just really hope its not the pickup!!! my funds are tight and the last thing I need on top of every thing else is to have to buy a new pickup than have to rewire the guitar

Man these past couple of weeks haven't been kind to you. Sorry to hear that.

Ya Im starting to feel a bit run down

!!METAL MATT!!

[Southpa]

Do you know what output that particular pickup is rated at? Check the resistance with a multimeter and compare with known values. Then peel back the cloth covering the coil to check for broken windings. I had a similar problem with one of my Golden Age overwound HB's. I thought it was a bad connection in the switch, swapped that and the output was still not even close to its mate in the bridge position. When I took it apart I found about a dozen windings were broken and frayed. No idea how it got that way, but sh*t happens.

[erikbojerik]

Unless I'm mistaken, this one is just a humbucker and a volume knob, right? Or is there a tone knob in there somewhere?

How many wires on the humbucker?

I would break it down piece by piece. First, just wire the pickup straight to the output jack with nothing in between to confuse the issue. Make sure there's a good ground connection to your strings. Then, if you have no output, the pickup IS toast.

If it actually works, then you can either leave it like that, or tempt fate and add a volume pot.

You see what I'm driving at...just add one thing at a time and you should be able to find the problem. I'd also borrow another pickup (one that certifiably works) to test the rest of your harness.

[rhoads56]

Matt, why are you paying for rewires when you're advertising yourself as a custom guitar maker?? Why havent you verified the pickup output with a multimeter??

[!!METAL MATT!!]

Matt, why are you paying for rewires when you're advertising yourself as a custom guitar maker?? Why havent you verified the pickup output with a multimeter??

Well with this Impaler Ive tryed and I still could not get it right AT ALL not even Jeremy could get it working

Im no wireing god in fact I suck at it so when I started I had My friend at Rok Dog amps do my wireing BUT now that Ive moved I have to get dave a panic Music to help out

and the Multimeter reads the pickup at 18Kohms but that was the first time we tested it now Im not sure what its reading since the last crap out, this is why I still have Hopes that the pickup is ok

[Drak]

Dude, you need to PM with LoveKraft, he'll get you straightened out.

On a sidenote: You know, every single guitar I've ever built, from day one, all worked perfectly right off the bat, even with all the EMG preamps and specialty tone pots, and I'm no electronics expert, so I'm just shaking my head in disbelief as to what could possibly be SO wrong with one simple guitar that 6 shots can come up empty-handed. It makes no sense at all.

And I agree with Perry (not to be too tough on you Matt) but if you're advertising yourself as a custom guitar builder and you can't figure out a simple wiring problem, well, I got some issues with that, because it ain't that hard, and all the information is free for the asking out on the 'net.

Go study until you learn how to do it and then be able to troubleshoot your own work.

...At least if you want to advertise yourself as a custom guitar builder.

[!!METAL MATT!!]

Ok first off let me clear ONE thing up how I learn what Ive leard and how I put that knloge to use is up to me and really has NO effect on any one, at this Point yes I need help with wireing thats part of why Im hear BUT Im not going to drop evey thing because of that, my designs are gaining Huge amounts of momentum

and My name is building in to a platforum that I can really build a future off of, and I dont offer any custom work thats out of my reach, If I cant do it I dont If theres no way I can get it down with the resorsecs I have than nothing moves ahead, I do respect what you guys are saying but Im doing this for me

I dont see most CUSTOM builders makeing there own parts like bridges and pickups and tuneing pegs! now true there are a few that can but you pay WAY more money for that guitar. every thing works on levels of knloge and capabilities, me I never plan to stop learning and I hope that I'll not end up thinking that I know all there is to know because I never will!!

END OF RANT no more on that please

On a sidenote: You know, every single guitar I've ever built, from day one, all worked perfectly right off the bat, even with all the EMG preamps and specialty tone pots, and I'm no electronics expert, so I'm just shaking my head in disbelief as to what could possibly be SO wrong with one simple guitar that 6 shots can come up empty-handed. It makes no sense at all.

Well at first is was my lack of time but my friend he really over thought every thing and made a simple job in to a big mess and I tryed fixing his overdone wireing but he mucked it up realy good so I took it back and forth to him and each time was more over doing it and it came out worse thats where the 6 times came from

and really it was more like 4 I was exaggerating

!!METAL MATT!!

[Thoughtless 7]

Have you tried what erik has suggested? When i had a crap load of trouble wiring my LP up, i did each part seperately first to make sure it all works.

[!!METAL MATT!!]

Have you tried what erik has suggested? When i had a crap load of trouble wiring my LP up, i did each part seperately first to make sure it all works.

Well Im going to head down today and see what I can do and I'll tear the thing apart and give every thing a try until it up and runing

!!METAL MATT!!

[Supernova9]

Ok first off let me clear ONE thing up how I learn what Ive leard and how I put that knloge to use is up to me and really has NO effect on any one, at this Point yes I need help with wireing thats part of why Im hear BUT Im not going to drop evey thing because of that, my designs are gaining Huge amounts of momentum

and My name is building in to a platforum that I can really build a future off of, and I dont offer any custom work thats out of my reach, If I cant do it I dont If theres no way I can get it down with the resorsecs I have than nothing moves ahead, I do respect what you guys are saying but Im doing this for me

I dont see most CUSTOM builders makeing there own parts like bridges and pickups and tuneing pegs! now true there are a few that can but you pay WAY more money for that guitar. every thing works on levels of knloge and capabilities, me I never plan to stop learning and I hope that I'll not end up thinking that I know all there is to know because I never will!!

Custom builder to me means someone who builds a complete guitar. While they may use parts such as the bridge, they are responsible for the whole assembly, and they produce a completed guitar. I'm not trying to annoy you or be excessively harsh, but I do not think that is what you're doing.

If I went to Ron Thorn, or Tom Anderson, or Bob Taylor, and got them to build me a guitar, but they farmed out the finishing and electronics wiring to someone else, that's not a Ron Thorn custom, or a Tom Anderson custom. in my opinion.

[!!METAL MATT!!]

Im not wanting a debate hear ok, look I see nothing worung with me geting on my feet first and moveing forward, NEXT do any of you know ho many guitars Ive sold as BRUTALIZER GUITARS? ONE

Ive only just started this and Im not about to stop, I'll learn as I go like we all do and have done thats what Im doing thats all there is to say so I'll stop ranting on and on

EDIT: ok this is really buging!! the words CUSTOM BUILDER are being tossed around and thats not really true or fare I dont tell people im a {custom builder} I build basic guitars as far as set up goes

hears what I offer

6,7or 8 string guitars my own designs, no wild wireing or odd set ups single humbucker volume tone and jack I build Bare Bones metal axes simple and extream mixed in to my kind of cool

the only custom thing I would offer is body design if some one wants a coold design just for them

I would try and work with that person and come up with something cool that I know that I could do

!!METAL MATT!!

[chunkielad]

Sod to the whole 'what's a custom builder bullsheet!' Matt, you do good work. If you want to pay for your electrics to be done, hell, why not. Does one person in PRS make the whole guitar, finish it, wire it and set it up. Sheet no! Does it make it any less of a machine? No! Giv it up fellas.

Matt - when they have rewired, what have they actually done, rewired or replaced components?

If they replaced components, did they replace tone capacitors etc too? Break down the circuit into parts and see what hasn't been changed yet. You could also just try another pickup off another guitar onto the circuit and hold it over the strings or maybe do th same with this pick up over another guitar.

It may be worth taking the pick up out, wiring a jack socket to it direct and just trying that through an amp.

[Drak]

Sod to the whole 'what's a custom builder bullsheet!' Matt, you do good work. If you want to pay for your electrics to be done, hell, why not. Does one person in PRS make the whole guitar, finish it, wire it and set it up. Sheet no! Does it make it any less of a machine? No! Giv it up fellas.

This is very poor and sad advice, and really, a cop-out in the end. And it's a copout to yourself moreso even than to a potential client.

I'll tell you what separates the custom builder from some guy who's maybe nothing more than a 'master class hobbyist', and that is that they have the DISCIPLINE to discipline themselves to go past the areas where they want to stop and call it a day or let someone else do it for them. They have the guts to train themselves in the areas they don't particularly want to go, but need to go anyway, and they DO it.

They realize that they have more to learn, and set about learning those things, even when they may be great already at 20 other parts of guitar building, but no, they see it thru until they can do ALL of it. It's their own internal drive that tells them to keep learning, to keep moving forward even if it's hard, they don't back down and make excuses, they move forward and learn something new, and you should always be moving forward like that. It certainly doesn't come overnight, it's a process, but any real custom builder will have that mindset inside themselves, that 95% (or less) just isn't good enough to pass muster, and you either have this inside yourself, or you don't, it's an attitude of life let us say.

The words 'custom builder' get bandied about these days like a McDonalds double-cheesburger, but really, those guys are few and far between, and when you meet one of them, you know that you will not find them coming up short in any area, they have taken the time to learn every function, even if it wasn't easy at first.

That says more about you as a man than as a guitar builder in the end, how much internal fortitude do you have inside yourself to push yourself past your own limitations, your own hurdles, and discipline yourself to see yourself thru the hard parts as well as the easy parts, there is a lot of milage between those two destinations, and it's called balls, balls to face the hard things and surmount them, then they are tamed and yours to control as you wish.

[Supernova9]

I concur with Drak completely. Matt, This isn't about you any more, this is a concept discussion, so don't feel offended, or take any of it personally.

Like you said Matt, only a few guys make their own hardware, but those are the little things, the little tricks that require just that bit extra expertise/knowledge/practise that sets those builders apart. I've seen tune-o-matic bridges carved purely from stabilised wood that matches the bookmatched top of the guitar. Really difficult to do, but I'll be damned if it isn't a mark of a great builder.

But it's the progression, the drive that makes it. If you can't/don't do your electrics, but you're looking to in the future, you're learning how to do it, then fair play to you, I respect that. On the flip side, if someone just says "I can't be bothered to do electrics, I'll pay a tech", then that's a cop out.

[Southpa]

Well, from my perspective you can't build good guitars without knowing how they work from every aspect possible. I've only built 3 from scratch but the number of other guitars I have modified, repaired, refinished and rebuilt is beyond count. Some people have more experience and ability with only certain aspects of "the build" and if they aren't sure about one aspect they farm the work out. Wiring a guitar is actually one of the easier aspects for me. I guess I have the head for it, my father has been an electronics hobbiest all his life and a little bit must have rubbed off on me.

Anyway Matt, good luck with finding out what the problem is, its all trial and error, troubleshooting step by step etc.

[Drak]

Yes, my post was not aimed at Matt, nor did I use his name in any of it, it is a concept discussion (good term btw )

I will say this: I have seen guys go thru here that wanted to call themselves luthiers or custom builders or whatever, and it has been obvious they were sadly lacking in a LOT of departments, but their deal was that they wanted to call themselves luthiers sooo bad, to be 'part of' the group of luthiers and not part of the group of give and take, to learn and then give back, that they completely overlooked the fact that all the help they needed to get where they wanted to go was right here in front of them in the forums if they just asked, but their egos were already so overblown and out of proportion with their talent (or lack of as the case may have been), that they could not humble themselves any further to ask for help or guidance, they basically bitch-slapped themselves in the face with their own egos, and left here no better off than they were when they came, they could not ask for help or assistance because in their own eyes, they were 'all that' already, when any decent builder could see their story was shot totally full of holes, because any decent builder can tell by very few words if you really know your stuff or not, because they have already walked the path and they know what it looks like.

The only advice I would give Matt is to please not go down that path, and maybe go to the electronics section and throw up a thread asking for assistance to explain how guitar electronics works, and we'll all have a blast in the end, it'll be fun, and I'm sure I'll learn something as well along the way, 'cuz there are some real electronic gurus in diz' heyah joint just waiting to help us electronically challenged souls out.

Then by springtime, we'll -all- be wiring whiz-kids.

Maybe Santa will buy him a soldering iron and voltmeter for Christmas.

Matt, you rock, don't ever forget that.

[!!METAL MATT!!]

HAHA WOW GUYS!! its kinda cool that you have my best interests in mind, you will be glad to know that Im talking with dave about haveing him teach me how to do the wireing and the basics

!!METAL MATT!!

[WezV]

I dont see the problem really. At the end of the day if you ship processes out from your shop then you have to pay for it and it eats into your profit. If the builder is willing to except that extra cost then whats the problem.

I dont do most of my finishing anymore because it was becoming increasingly inpractical in my small workshop. I learnt a lot about finishes then decided it was best to focus on the building side of things and let someone else do that stage. I also taught myself how to build pickups but i still pay a lot of money for brand name ones all the time.

Matt definatly needs to learn how to wire his guitars, but if he has people who want his guitars right now whats the problem with him getting a bit of help with something he isnt as confident with? Surely that ensures a better guitar for the customer.

[Supernova9]

I dont see the problem really. At the end of the day if you ship processes out from your shop then you have to pay for it and it eats into your profit. If the builder is willing to except that extra cost then whats the problem.

I dont do most of my finishing anymore because it was becoming increasingly inpractical in my small workshop. I learnt a lot about finishes then decided it was best to focus on the building side of things and let someone else do that stage. I also taught myself how to build pickups but i still pay a lot of money for brand name ones all the time.

Matt definatly needs to learn how to wire his guitars, but if he has people who want his guitars right now whats the problem with him getting a bit of help with something he isnt as confident with? Surely that ensures a better guitar for the customer.

I don't disagree with shipping out stuff you CAN do, and do well. But shipping out stuff you can't do, I don't really agree with that. Sure, it creates a better guitar for the customer, but that's a short term fix, and I don't think it would truely be an <insert builder's name here> guitar if they do.

[chunkielad]

I suppose it's down to personal choice as to whether it's acceptible then. I personally want to do EVERYTHING on all my guitars. I can do it or I will learn to. I don't expect everyone out there to be the same.

If I bought a custom from any workshop, the actual person doing the work wouldn't bother me as long as the final result was what I had asked for. To a customer it's the product and service that matters not the logistics of making the item.

We also need to keep in mind that the phrases bantered around mean diffferent things to each of us. I build custom guitars but have only done 2 so I see myself as a Hobbyist Custom Guitar builder. I wouldn't however say I was a luthier! Someone else may see that they are making guitars so luthier is the coirrect term and technically they'd be right but morally to me it's wrong. Drak says custom guitar builder is wrong.

Everyone to their own.

[Drak]

Fair enough, fair enough.

OK, I will define what my interpretation is, as you said, other people will have varying ideas on the subject, and I know in my head what my boundary line is, and it is this:

If you are out on the internet advertising yourself in ANY way as a guitar builder, if you are in ANY way outwardly promoting yourself or your talents or your 'company' (and I use that term very loosely these days) for the sake of profit made off of your talents as a guitar builder, THEN you better know your stuff or I will feel free to take as many pot shots at you as I feel like.

Basically, if you are misrepresenting yourself to the public at large who may know nothing about what a real builder is from a hack, and you are accepting money for things you really cannot do, that's when I have a problem with it.

If you're just a hobbyist builder like me, just doing it for fun or for yourself, you can call yourself a master luthier all day long for all I care, you're not in a position to hurt anyone or rip anyone off, you are in a completely safe environment to call yourself whatever you please, but as soon as you start promoting yourself for money, at that moment, you better know what you're doing, because innocent people can get hurt or ripped off from your overblown ego, ineptitude, or greed.