Rudi

Hello friends. Finished my build - I'm pleased with the woodwork and fit/finish, but have failed to wire the thing correctly. I'm getting a weak signal from the pickups and all kinds of staticky noise and hum. I have some woodworking experience, but I will certainly admit to being an absolute novice at electronics and wiring. What I'm hoping is that you guys might tell me the right order to troubleshoot this problem and get this thing wired up and running. I went down to Harbor Freight and bought an inexpensive multimeter, so I have that if needed. I think my soldering is adequate - a little messy but nothing seems to be loose or poorly connected. Pickups are Duncan P-Rails (with triple shot rings); the four leads from each pickup are soldered to the correct (color coded) four terminals on the triple shot rings, then the two leads from each triple shot ring are soldered to the pots, selector switch, and output jack, according to a wiring diagram from Duncan's website. To ground the bridge, I ran a wire up from across the bodies of both pots and fanned out the strands so that they are being squeezed between the top of the guitar and the bridge. I scraped the paint off the bottom of the bridge plate so there would be a fresh metal contact, but I don't know if the strings are making contact with the metal of the saddles or just the black paint. Is that an issue? And how can I use the meter to see if it is indeed grounding? Do I have to scrape the paint off the saddles? The bottoms of the height adjusting allen screws? And how can i test this with my meter? It's a little depressing to have built this solid and relatively pretty guitar and not be able to use it...but I need to get it right, and sure could use help deciding what to test and how to test it. A logical order of steps. Rank Amateur with the electronics - thanks in advance for your patience! As I said, I'm getting a weak signal from the pickups with the volume pot turned all the way up. Touching the strings increases the hum slightly...touching the metal around the selector switch increases the hum a lot, and touching the metal of the output jack and the tip of the cord inside the body cavity increases hum. If anyone can tell me what to try and the order to try things, I'd be most grateful. Thank you! I'm sorry I can't show any better photos. Nothing is going right. Boo hoo.

Thanks, Andy. I just put it on my bathroom scale: 6.4 pounds. I don't have a reference, though. Sure feels light.

Hi everyone. Just saying hello and the site looks great. First thing I noticed was the civility and mutual support vibe. My kind of people...and some serious luthiers here. I'm 59 and just getting my bachelor's after 3+ years at Capella. Story of my life: a day late and a dollar short! Nah, that's not true at all. My life has never been better. Slowly working on a new custom for myself. This thing has been marinating in my head for years, even changing details over time as my tastes and wants change. The little yellow is a "rescue dog" Epi Jr that I bought in a parking lot for $75. Brand new, still had hang tags. I threw everything away but the neck and body and installed better hardware and wiring, topped off with a Duncan Phat Cat; a hot P-90 in a HB case. This little guitar is lightweight and the neck so thin and flexible that I'm really surprised it ain't snapped yet. It's a blast to play: light and fast and that Phat cat just screams and moans with the raunchiest tones. Enough to give you a jones, homes. Ouch. Enough. Here's the yellow rescue dog and the back of my new body, as well as the headstock, which I cut into the neck from a paddle-shaped raw headstock. A 24" scale neck, mind you. Love the short scale. Rock on, everyone Rudi