wiring help needed

r40f · Post by **r40f** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 4:13 pm

hi guys - haven't posted in a while! i'm building a guitar for someone as a gift and forgot the right way to wire it up, so it's a bit of a mess in there already. please point me to a wiring pic?

i have two humbuckers with coil-splitting (two push-pull vol pots, no tone) and want it to go through a three-way switch to select the pups. i know this should be easy but it's not working and i think i've missed something obvious.

thanks in advance!

cur · Post by **cur** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 4:15 pm

Look here.

r40f · Post by **r40f** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 5:02 pm

ah, i already see the problem! thanks a lot!

r40f · Post by **r40f** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:03 pm

i thought i knew what went wrong but i guess i can't get it working.

i'm really in a panic because i'm running out of time to build this thing.

the problem is that i have a weirdo 3-way from gfs: http://terrydownsmusic.com/Archive/wiri ... iagram.gif

and i just can't find a single schematic that has exactly what i need... the coil splitting is the easiest part, i've already got that down. but where do the wires go from the pots and from the switch?

if anybody has done one of these, please help me out! thanks!

kdanie · Post by **kdanie** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 8:33 pm

Try this without the tone pots/caps

http://www.guitarelectronics.com/produc ... -Taps.html

ken

Joey · Post by **Joey** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 8:41 pm

cur · Post by **cur** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:02 am

Take a picture or make a drawing of what you have done.

According to the diagram you show, I would go from vol bridge pup to where the jumpered bridge input is on the three way switch. Then go from the other volume out for the neck pup to where the jumpered neck input is on the three way switch. Finally the jumpered middle two from the three way switch to the output jack. You will also have to ground the thing properly.

r40f · Post by **r40f** » Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:01 pm

i've backed up and here's exactly what i have now.

cur · Post by **cur** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 3:33 pm

Joey · Post by **Joey** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 3:44 pm

What cur posted is what I would do. Don't forget to ground the switch casing. If you are not certain of how to wire something you can always use alligator jumper cable clips and a tuning fork to test out a circuit before you reassemble.

cur · Post by **cur** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 4:25 pm

I like to wire it all up and then use my tv remote to see if the pup is selected. Plug into an amp then point the remote close the pickup and hit some buttons. You should hear clicking in the amp.

r40f · Post by **r40f** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 4:39 pm

i can't thank you enough, cur! so awesome. i'm going to try this out.

mixtape · Post by **mixtape** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 5:06 pm

Joey wrote:What cur posted is what I would do. Don't forget to ground the switch casing. If you are not certain of how to wire something you can always use alligator jumper cable clips and a tuning fork to test out a circuit before you reassemble.

cur wrote:I like to wire it all up and then use my tv remote to see if the pup is selected. Plug into an amp then point the remote close the pickup and hit some buttons. You should hear clicking in the amp.

I will file these ideas away for my next wiring project. They sound much easier than reassembling, restringing, unstringing, and disassembling. Thanks, guys.

r40f · Post by **r40f** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 6:04 pm

i wired everything up according to the diagram except for the ground to bridge. i tested it with a string. the pickup switching works 100% but there are two problems: super quiet output and the volume pots drop off very quickly.

cur · Post by **cur** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 7:07 pm

r40f wrote:i wired everything up according to the diagram except for the ground to bridge. i tested it with a string. the pickup switching works 100% but there are two problems: super quiet output and the volume pots drop off very quickly.

Ground the bridge and selector switch. You can just use a test jumper patch for the test. I forgot to ground connect everything one time and had very low volume. Also make sure there are no bad solder spots or solder accidentally touching something it should not.

r40f · Post by **r40f** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 7:47 pm

unfortunately, doesn't help. i wonder what the problem could be. i'm thinking about just scrapping these pots and starting from scratch. very annoying.

Joey · Post by **Joey** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 8:23 pm

mixtape wrote:
Joey wrote:What cur posted is what I would do. Don't forget to ground the switch casing. If you are not certain of how to wire something you can always use alligator jumper cable clips and a tuning fork to test out a circuit before you reassemble.

cur wrote:I like to wire it all up and then use my tv remote to see if the pup is selected. Plug into an amp then point the remote close the pickup and hit some buttons. You should hear clicking in the amp.
I will file these ideas away for my next wiring project. They sound much easier than reassembling, restringing, unstringing, and disassembling. Thanks, guys.

To keep from restringing... I detune all the strings, put a capo on the neck and just unbolt the neck. I absolutely hate restringing guitars

Do you know if you bough Audio or Log pots... the difference is in the way the pot drops off and humans perceive volume. Do you have a multimeter? I'd test the pickups first without any electronics on it. Then test the output at the jack.

r40f · Post by **r40f** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:00 pm

well... i am a fucking idiot. you know how on seymour duncan wiring diagrams, green is ground? it's black on gfs.

cur · Post by **cur** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:43 pm

And it does now rock out?

r40f · Post by **r40f** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:13 pm

i thought for sure that was the solution but i just tried it again and it still doesn't work. this thing is cursed. and five more days until xmas and i kind of can't afford to have the shop do it. i don't know what to do. i would post a pic but my cell phone doesn't do up-close photos. am i fucked or what?