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Post by Double Yoi on Jan 6, 2010 18:18:34 GMT -5
I have a MIM strat and had problem with the middle pup tone pot, when i turned it down to 1 it would turn the pick ups off. with no taper in volume just off...so i lift the hood and see the tiny pots and weird 5 way..replace all of it..american made fender 5 way..500k volume and 250k tones i use this diagram: and now both tone pots are doin it to all pups(stock fenders) any help will be great ... thank you in advance.. looked at stewmac and think i might have it...NOPE (EDITed by sumgai to make the image appear, as if by magic!)
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Post by newey on Jan 6, 2010 20:05:26 GMT -5
CL-
Hello and Welcome!
Unfortunately, the link you posted doesn't work. The Board's software can't deal with those abbreviated urls like you get with the "tiny url" app. I tried to correct it for you but there were several wiring diagrams at the Miller Guitar site and I don't know which one was the one you meant to link to.
Let me get this straight. The stock guitar had a problem with the mid tone control such that, when rotated full CCW, it turned off all the pickups? Was this wired as a stock MIM Strat before, or had it been modified?
And this condition happened regardless of the position of the 5-way switch? Whatever pickups were selected went completely dead when the mid tone pot was turned to "0"?
All other operations of the guitar are normal, so long as the tone control is not at "0"?
Now, you have replaced all the electronics, and now you have the same issue with both tone pots? Is it either/or, in the sense that, if one of the 2 is at full-on, and the other turned down, you get the same result as the reverse of that operation?
Is there any noise at all at the moment when the pickups cut out, like a pop or click? Or any hum when the control is left at at "0"?
This is highly anomalous behavior, and I think we're going to need that link fixed (for starters) and some questions answered. The only condition that I can imagine that would cut all pups off completely is a dead short to ground from the main signal hot line- but turning a tone control shouldn't cause that. 'Ol Man Murphy appears to have taken up residence in your guitar, bringing his Law along with him!
More questions:
What value tone cap is used? Did you replace it during your rewiring? And do the 2 tone pots share a capacitor, as in std Strat wiring?
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Post by sumgai on Jan 6, 2010 21:32:30 GMT -5
CL, Hi, and to the NutzHouse! Sadly, I must tell you that if you followed the Miller Guitars diagram faithfully, then you applied to much heat while soldering the cap to the Neck's tone pot, and it is now shorted. That's the only thing that can explain the behavior you've described. HTH sumgai
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Post by newey on Jan 6, 2010 22:39:41 GMT -5
SG- That doesn't, however, explain the problem he was having before he rewired it- unless the cap was shorted to begin with and he re-used it. That's why I asked about the cap at the end of my soliloquy above! And, if both the before and after tone pots shared a bad cap, and he reused it, then why would only the mid pup tone pot have given this behavior previously, and not both tone pots? And CL- Since it's easy enough to replace the cap, and fairly cheap, you should do that first and see if it fixes the problem. While I have trouble seeing how all the symptoms, before and after, can be attributed to a bad cap, both SG and I were leaning towards "cap" as an answer. So it's a logical step to take.
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Post by sumgai on Jan 7, 2010 0:09:39 GMT -5
newey,
A bad solder joint could also mar the perfection here, but it points to a bad cap first. You and I don't know, but I suspect that in the previous incarnation (a priori the RnR (remove and replace) job), there may well have been two caps. Lacking further testimony to the contrary, that seems a good operating hypothesis.
But as you so amply pointed out, Señor Murphy could also be partying down in Craigs-ville!
sumgai
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Post by Double Yoi on Jan 7, 2010 5:49:45 GMT -5
First off, thank you both for the input, i will pick up a new cap on the home from work today..to try to answer your questions..it is standard strat wiring...i did not replace the cap because the salesman said he'd never seen one go bad..???the 2 tone pots do share the same cap. its is both tone controls that are creating the problem now(after rewire)...there was only one cap before the R-n-R
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Post by newey on Jan 7, 2010 6:23:41 GMT -5
Yeah. Just like they told Custer they'd never seen any Indians around the Little Bighorn River. ;D
Let us know if replacing it solves the problem. I'm curious to know. As pointed out previously, if the cap was shared all along, there may have been some other gremlin in the original wiring. But if replacing the cap fixes the problem, we can leave that in the realm of speculation.
And go easy with the iron on the new one!
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Post by Double Yoi on Jan 7, 2010 15:55:18 GMT -5
guitar center has no .02 or .05 cap in stock big surprise..the local shop here is fresh out as well, the best i can find is a radio shack and the are .047's any thoughts or warnings would be fantastic.. again you guys are great...
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Post by cynical1 on Jan 7, 2010 16:29:06 GMT -5
Those should be fine.
HTC1
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Post by Double Yoi on Jan 7, 2010 20:31:16 GMT -5
first off gentlemen thank you for the advice and humor..I have installed a new cap value.047 and it has returned tone control to my strat. when i see the gentleman that suggested it couldnt be the cap i will politely let him know about this forum and the expertise within..thank you all...
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Post by sumgai on Jan 8, 2010 3:30:22 GMT -5
CL, Thanks for the kind words. If you find that the 0.047µf is too "dark" when you turn down the tone knob, you can use a lower cap value instead. But if all you can get are those larger values out of Radio Shack, then you can put two of them in series, and you'll have a 0.0235µf cap instead. That''s close enough to 0.022µf that no one would notice. All kinds of values can be arranged by putting caps in either series or parallel, depending on what one wants, and what one has on hand (or can buy locally). Just remember that cap values add in parallel, and divide in series, and you're all set. HTH sumgai
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Post by ashcatlt on Jan 8, 2010 14:26:45 GMT -5
...when i see the gentleman that suggested it couldnt be the cap i will politely let him know about this forum and the expertise within... To be fair, these types of caps very rarely "go bad" all on their own. They aren't really stressed much once installed in a guitar circuit. It's usually the installation process that fungs 'em up. You could invite him anyway. The more the merrier! We still can't be completely sure what the problem was before your multiple transplant operation, for the reasons newey pointed out above.
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