avengers63 Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 Something is all monkeyed up with the wiring I did today. I triple-checked the wiring, and it all looks right, but it isn't making a sound. Here's a couple of pics of the wiring cavity. PLEASE tell me what you think it might be. Hardware right angle 3-position switch 1 volume pot 1 tone pot mono output jack 2 P-90 pickups From the angle of the pics, here's what's going on: Hot Wires Bridge pup wire runs around perimeter of control cavity. Lead wire to bridge pole of 3P switch. Neck pup wire runs behind 3P switch. Lead wire to neck pole of 3P switch. Both pup wires are held down with black electrical tape. Interior poles of 3P switch soldered together. Attached wire connected to pole 3 of volume pot. Pole 3 of volume pot to pole 1 of tone pot. Pole 2 of tone pot to cap to back of pot. Pole 2 of volume pot to outer ring of jack. Ground Wires Outside braid of both pup wires to volume pot case. Ground pole of 3P switch to volume pot case. Pole 1 of volume pot to volume pot case. Volume pot case to tone pot case. Bridge to tone pot case. Tone pot case to inner sleeve of input jack. So.... what's wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 Tricky to see...it looks like a xmas gift box in there...very neat though, well done... From the description it seems ok, but what looks suspicious to me is the black ground wire going to the 3 way switch. It is not common for this to be mis wired to creat these symptoms... Try this...cut the black ground wire to the switch (it will probably be grounded via the shielding anyway)...let me know if that fixes it as this would cause a no sound symptom. Other comon problem, check the hot is going to the tip of the jack and not the other way around, easy to get those tags mixed...again a no sound symptom. Otherwise, before that, check both the volume and controls by turning them in case you have them wired backwards and so full on is full off...it looks ok though tell me how it goes and if none of this seems to work we may have to do a bit more fiddling about... pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted December 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Try this...cut the black ground wire to the switch (it will probably be grounded via the shielding anyway)...let me know if that fixes it as this would cause a no sound symptom. Other comon problem, check the hot is going to the tip of the jack and not the other way around, easy to get those tags mixed...again a no sound symptom. The ground from the switch is cut, but still no sound. The ground runs to the inner sleeve of the jack, the hot to the tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Hmm...time for some diagnostics then...disconnect the leads to the volume and tone controls and run a wire driect from the switch to the jack...this should isolate the problem as to if it is the controls... Honestly...it's tricky because it is simple and so neatly done...generally if there is no sound it will be short...if it were in the pickups or their leads, one would likely work when selected...so it is likely to be something to do with the controls... Do you have a multi meter? How about this...plug into an amp...if you touch the hot is should give a buzz...like touching the hot tip...touch the hot's all along to see if there is some kind of short... Have a good look to be sure there is nothing shorting on the cavity shielding...maybe even take out the controls to see if that might be the cause of some short... As I say though...it is so neat in there and I can't see anything obvious...but likely it will be something obvious so don't discount anything... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted December 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Alright - I'll connect the switch directly to the jack and work my way through the controls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpcrash Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 I suspect a bad switch - just personal experience. Can always test by jumping the lead from a pup to the lead from the jack, if that works - the pup is good. Next, jump from the pole on the vol pot to the jack - should get sound. If not - poss. bad pot. Same test for tone if vol works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted December 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 FOUND IT!!! You mentioned grounding out a number of times, possibly a hot wire touching the shielding. The jack hole is pretty tight. I have a habit of shielding the poo out of the cavity, including the jack hole. Some foil was wedged between the hot lead to the jack and the wall of the hole. After digging that out, presto - sound. Thanks for the help. It might not have been what you were meaning, but your words helped anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 (edited) yes...exactly what i was meaning...when wiring like this is done this neatly and it is not too "ambitious"...it is almost always something simple...but these are the hardest things to locate some times... if there is no sound, it is almost always a short...as you discovered...and it is good to poke around and look for it rather than take the whole thing apart in the hope of the same short not happening again or a different one because you changed the wiring that was ok in the first place... Anyway...congratulations on a very neat and professional job and getting back with the solution...hopefully others will see from the pics how it should be done ...glad if I was any help or encouragement...and great to persevere to find the fault...it is a good example to others who might have similar problems....and how the most simple things can seem catastrophic or at least inexplicable. BTW...I almost always have and anticipate such problems even after all this time...backwards volume controls, all the usual things...all I have really learned is to expect them and how to trouble shoot around them, not avoiding them...hehehe pete ps...you can join the ground wire back tot he switch if you like... Edited December 16, 2008 by psw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted December 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Anyway...congratulations on a very neat and professional job and getting back with the solution...hopefully others will see from the pics how it should be done That's very kind, and very encouraging. I HATE doing the wiring. I don't feel that I'm good at it and I don't understand electronics as well as I'd like. All I'm doing is following the diagram and using as little wire as possible. It's good to know that I appear to be doing it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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