Wiring first guitar - check my diagram!!!

[mlherbe]

Hi, I am wiring my first guitar which I built from scratch. I have tried to make as simple
as I can but I want to make sure that I get the wiring right before I start.

I shielded the cavities with stewmac paint and I plan on using a solder lug for star ground.
I don't have a bridge ground but I have a new amp, so I could add it later.

1) Is the switch wired correctly? It is a simple double pole double throw switch.

2) I have braided shielded wire coming out of the pickups and they are not
ground to anything. Do I have to ground these wires and how would I since
they are so far away from the Solder Lug I am using as the common ground.

3) Also, the wire labeled 3 is a braided shielded wire that is not ground to anything.
Should this wire be grounded somehow too? I could run it near the Solder Lug (common ground) and then run it to the volume lug.



Thanks,

Matt

[ashcatlt]

Looks fine. I don't think too many folks around here would be able to live with just Neck or Bridge without any combination of the two. If it works for you, though...

Shielded wire inside of a shielded cavity is kind of redundant. Probably wouldn't hurt anything to ground them, but shouldn't be necessary unless they connect to something (like a metal pickup cover) meant to shield something which sits outside the cavity.

Oh, BTW, welcome aboard.

[mlherbe]

ashcatlt said:

Looks fine. I don't think too many folks around here would be able to live with just Neck or Bridge without any combination of the two. If it works for you, though...

Shielded wire inside of a shielded cavity is kind of redundant. Probably wouldn't hurt anything to ground them, but shouldn't be necessary unless they connect to something (like a metal pickup cover) meant to shield something which sits outside the cavity.


Oh, BTW, welcome aboard.

Thanks!

yes, I agree, neck and bridge is very limited but I want to start slow.
I only have a 2 position switch so I would have to get a 3 position switch to blend
the bridge and neck pickups, correct? I don't think there is any other way since
I only have 2 options on the switch.

I have read that at least one end of the shielded braid must be grounded.
However, I don't think the switch needs any grounding correct? The pickups
are outside the cavities but I painted their cavities with shielded paint too.
I think the braided shield coming out of the pickups is soldered to the metal plate of
the pickups itself.

[pete12345]

See if you can get a DPDT switch (though you only need a single pole double throw) with a 'center on' position. The wiring is the same, and it looks the same, but there is a third position in the middle where both pickups are on in parallel. Les Paul's have these switches, so you should be able to find one.

Pete

[mlherbe]

Help!

I wired up my guitar and it doesn't work properly.

When plugged into my amp, it just buzzes. The volume
control will go from no buzzing to loud buzzing and the tone
control will add more treble to the buzzing. So they seem
to work fine. When I play the strings, it just buzzes and no
notes come out. uggh!

I tested the pots with a multimeter and they work fine.
However, when I test the switch with the multimeter, I get 0 ohms
resistance, no matter which position and when I move the switch.
All are 0.

Am I reading this wrong, or do I have a bad switch?

Is the output jack working properly since there is an audible buzzing sound?

Could I wire the pickups directly to the master volume to test without
the switch?

[ashcatlt]

I guess that kind of my fault. Nobody came by to correct me, though. Re-reading your initial post I see that your pickups each have one wire inside a braided shield. That means the braid is the negative lead for the pickup. You'll need to find some way of connecting these to ground.

Sorry about that.

One way to do this might be to strip back part of the braid, twist it together, and solder it to a wire which will reach your star ground.

Another might be to solder them to the shield of cable 3, and connect that to the star ground. Just make sure none of these contact the lugs on the switch.

[mlherbe]

Thanks for the prompt reply!

Ok. I will ground the pickup wires and see what happens.
Now I wish I had made the cavities bigger!

Thanks again!

[mlherbe]

Thanks ashcatlt! That did the trick! Guitar is working solidly now. Many thanks!!!!