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I just bought a Japan 62 RI Jag. I knew it had electronic problems because the first owner put a single coil size humbucker in the bridge pick up and wired it all wrong the lead/rhythm switch was scratchy and needed replaced because sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.

I ordered a bridge pick up from an American RI and wired it just like the schematic said and in the rhythm section everything works exactly as it should. Cool. Then I notice the bridge pickup isn't working at all in this position. If I touch the neck pickup I hear that little pop. When I touch the bridge pickup, nothing. In the rhythm circuit is the bridge pickup turned off?

I switch to the lead circuit and nothing. The volume knob is working. The only reason I know this is because if I turn my amp up loud enough to hear the hum I can hear it go away when I turn the volume down. I'm almost positive I have everything wired correctly and have good connections; I've rewired everything 3 times now. But just to make sure, does anyone have pictures of their Jag's wiring.

Anyone have any guess as to why this would be happening?

the bridge pickup is deactivated in the rhythm circuit. you get no sound in the lead circuit? not even neck pickup? sounds like a faulty/miswired switch.

I don't get ANY sound out of the lead circuit.

I've replaced the switch and rewired it several times. I guess if the switch I got was bad it could be a bad switch but everything seemed okay.

check all your grounds. is yours an older one with the brass plates? make sure they are all wired together. if not, make sure all the black wires have a common point somewhere. you can check continuity on the switch if you have a multimeter to rule out whether it's bad or not. double-check all your wiring. if the switch is good, chances are there's a short or broken connection somewhere.

Yes, it's a 62 RI, so it has the brass plates. I don't know why but I never thought about checking the switch, I'll do that when I get home tonight. Hopefully after one more night of work I can finally get my Jag working as it should.

portugalwillie wrote:Yes, it's a 62 RI, so it has the brass plates. I don't know why but I never thought about checking the switch, I'll do that when I get home tonight. Hopefully after one more night of work I can finally get my Jag working as it should.

Well, jap jags don't exclusively have brass plates. I '95s and earlier (?) have them. The newer ones have shielding paint if i'm not mistaken.

yeah, i had a mid '90s one with brass plates and an early '00s one with black shielding paint.

Huh. I just assumed they all had brass plates.

Anyways, I took the switch out last night and it checked good. So, I looked at a more clear wiring diagram and realized I did in fact have the three switches wired wrong. Fixed that and now it just needs some work with the tone knob and everything will work exactly as it should!