dreamert
Rookie Solder Flinger
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Post by dreamert on Feb 12, 2011 19:25:24 GMT -5
Hey guys, I just finished wiring my Strat with a few more options than OEM ones and I have 3 annoyances. I'm posting my schematic in the hopes that someone can help me figure out what I did wrong. Here is the wiring (double checked against real life wiring of course, every wire is consistent with this diagram). NOTE: I'm using a Schaller S Megaswitch. Switching works just fine though so I have to assume I'm wired on the right lugs, EDIT: diagram is here, can't get it to show for any reason. Here are the annoyances: 1) Volume pot does not shut the guitar up completely when rolled down, it keeps feeding a bit of volume to the amp.... 2) The neck pickup tone pot is a push/pull (like every other), when pulled, it turns the neck pickup on to allow bridge-neck and bridge-middle-neck combos. When pulled, the volume output of the pickup combo (any combo) is very slim and thin (like an out-of-phase combo or something), how come ? I want the output just as any other... 3) The humbucker (DiMarzio - Fred), when the switch is on position 4 (coil split bridge + middle) everything works fine, when I pull the switch to the 5th position to play with the bridge pup alone in humbucker mode, all I hear is a loud hum and I have absolutely no output to the amp, how come... I really appreciate any help you guys can give me. Regards, YParadis (EDITed by sumgai to make the image display correctly.)
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Post by newey on Feb 12, 2011 22:44:11 GMT -5
Dreamert- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2! I can't answer your problems- yet- this will take a bit of study. But I do have your image so we can discuss this: To post images, you have to use a hosting site like Photobucket or ImageShack. Image Posting
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Post by newey on Feb 12, 2011 23:03:19 GMT -5
Check that the green wire has a good connection to ground. If in doubt, run a separate duplicate ground to another grounded point.
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Post by sumgai on Feb 13, 2011 0:57:50 GMT -5
DreamerT, Hi, and to the NutzHouse! First, in order to post images, you need to use the [img] tag, not the [url] tag. And it never hurts to link to a site that uses standard HTTP instead of HTTPS. Picasa in particular is a sunuvabeetch about deep-linking into their servers, and hence the issue with your first link. Fortunately your second link was fixable. Next, I see a whole passle of issues with your diagram. In keeping with my usual brevity (HAH!), I'll list only the first three that I found. Fix these, and then we'll move on. (In this way, we Nutz have found that many, if not most, new members here have found their own problems, while fixing the ones we pointed out, and thus have not only saved themselves some time, but also learned "by doing" - something we all value here in the NutzHouse. ) So: 1) The Volume pot's P-P switch - the wiper is switched between either the hot output of the jack, or the Ring Washer of the safety ground. I hope that's not your intent, unless this is meant as a kill switch. In which case I'd wonder how you meant to operate it in a "stutter" fashion.... 2) The safety cap (0.1µfd, 400vDC) is connected between a pot shell and the Ring Washer - the shielding element on the underside of the pickguard is therefore isolated from the output ground, so that's a good thing. But look at that ring terminal washer in the corner of the pickguard, right next to the bridge. That's doing the same thing, connecting the shielding element directly to that same Ring Washer. In effect, this bypasses the safety cap. You might want to re-visit this area of your "desired wiring connections". 3) The Neck and Middle pickups appear to be connected to incorrect terminals on your 5-way switch - I think they're backwards. Not to mention that the labeling is at odds between the switch and the notes, as well as your textual description. To answer your questions, I'll be brief here too. a) Chances are excellent that you have a bad ground somewhere. Do as newey suggests, and clip a temporary ground wire to various places, and see if you can find the culprit that way. b) Same thing. If a bad ground prevents a proper pickups-in-parallel connection, then things might end up being in some form of series, which loads the pickups unexpectedly. This is hard to troubleshoot easily, but then again, if you have one bad solder joing in your whole mess, then you might have others as well. Try re-heating all of them, and see if that helps. c) I won't try this one, not until you've both straightened out the labeling, and wired the switch correctly. HTH sumgai
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dreamert
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Post by dreamert on Feb 13, 2011 4:50:20 GMT -5
So: 1) The Volume pot's P-P switch - the wiper is switched between either the hot output of the jack, or the Ring Washer of the safety ground. I hope that's not your intent, unless this is meant as a kill switch. In which case I'd wonder how you meant to operate it in a "stutter" fashion.... That's a killswitch, you are right on that but only when the pot is pulled. When it's pushed it's supposed to perform any other volume switch but it does not, it doesnt shut the volume down completely.....any idea? Good find I'll correct that. Yeah I hear you, notes are for a regular 5-way, this a Schaller S Megasitch, they do have a bit a diffrent layout and flipped lugs comapred to a regular switch but that wiring is correct, the 5 position are working as expected so far apart from the 5th position. I don't think the wiring on the switch is faulty at this moment. To answer your questions, I'll be brief here too. Will do that. I'll get to that. Thanks a whole lot for your time bending your head around my mess, really appreciate that, sumgai [/quote]
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Post by newey on Feb 13, 2011 8:32:13 GMT -5
dreamert-
As far as the Vol. control is concerned, a faulty pot is the only explanation I can think of. The wiring looks fine from the diagram.
I don't know if this is your first build or not, but it pays to check every component before installing. Every now and then, you get a bad apple.
Similarly, a broken coil on the HB would explain why it would operate in split coil mode but not with both coils in series, if the break was on the non-operational coil when split.
But a bad ground is much more likely, so I suggested that first.
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Post by sumgai on Feb 13, 2011 12:21:33 GMT -5
Dreamer, OK, I'll let you off the hook on that MegaSwitch.... sorry I didn't recognize it right away. One of the things you omitted is to tell us what each P-P switch does. I can easily guess the Vol pot's switch function, you confirmed it as a kill switch. (I only questioned it as a "stutter" operation, where you make it sound like the output is off-on-off-on-off-on, very quickly. Several "name" players use the effect, though I'm hanged if I could name any of 'em. ) The Neck's Tone pot is also somewhat obvious, a Neck-always-on switch. Handy thing to have, and a nice way to connect it up. But that Middle pup's Tone pot P-P, that's a bit unusual. Is it supposed to let you control the tone of the Bridge (single coil) when you've selected that position? Amazingly enough, when I google for this Schaller switch, I get no results that show an actual diagram of what pins are connected in which positions. I get a lot of "If you want this combo, then put your wires here" type of things, but those don't help. In fact, Google showed me pages with both a seven-pin and an eight-pin version of the "S" model. That was enough to stop me right there. If you'd care to post a diagram of exactly which pins connect to each other, for each position, I'd be happy to help you further. Or at least try to. HTH sumgai
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Post by newey on Feb 13, 2011 14:36:46 GMT -5
sg- The Megaswitch "S" simply replicates a std Strat 5-way switch, including the "notch" positions. Lugs 4 and 5 are common; lugs 1-2-3 connect to lug 4, while 6-7-8 connect to lug 5. The lugs correspond to the regular Strat wiring with the "import" style switches.
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dreamert
Rookie Solder Flinger
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Post by dreamert on Feb 13, 2011 15:44:49 GMT -5
sg- The Megaswitch "S" simply replicates a std Strat 5-way switch, including the "notch" positions. Lugs 4 and 5 are common; lugs 1-2-3 connect to lug 4, while 6-7-8 connect to lug 5. The lugs correspond to the regular Strat wiring with the "import" style switches. Unfortunately it's not that quite easy, it's a bit backward.... I was puzzled when I got it as well so I tested continuity on every lug in every switch position so I can tell you that much, here is how it works: Sw.Pos | Pinout (lugs activated and on which output lug they go) | | In -> Out | 5 | 3 4 | | 7 8 | 4 | 1 4 | | 3 4 | | 5 8 | | 7 8 | 3 | 1 4 | | 5 8 | 2 | 1 4 | | 2 4 | | 5 8 | | 6 8 | 1 | 2 4 | | 6 8 |
Now, the lugs are labeled, can't go wrong there or reverse wire it or anything. I know it's wired right by the fact my pups are activated by the right switch position. Commons are lug 4 (for primary bank) and 8 for secondary bank). The 2nd tone pot switches the tone control to the middle pup (when pushed) and to the bridge pup (when pulled), it's that easy really. Not sure I'll have a use for it but and an extra switch to use so I'll try it and see if it's any good.
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dreamert
Rookie Solder Flinger
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Post by dreamert on Feb 15, 2011 7:35:24 GMT -5
UPDATE: I updated the diagram to make it clearer in regard to the switch.
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Post by sumgai on Feb 15, 2011 14:36:08 GMT -5
dreamer, OK, that's a good chart! In fact, why don't you make a separate post with just that chart (and a line or two of explanation), and stick it into the Modules sub-forum. That way we don't have to search all over hellngone for the thing, when we next need it again. BTW, did anyone else cotton on to the fact that this thing does nothing more than invert the first and second lug (terminal) assignments? Even a Rookie Solder Flinger can see that this does nothing more than force you to hook up the Neck and Middle pups backwards (compared to a regular switch). Are other combos possible with this thing, that can't be had with a regular switch? Not that I can divine. Check that chart closely, and you'll see that the little man behind the curtain is clothed exactly the same as the Emperor! Makes me wonder, if he wasn't actually solving any real-world problem, just what was G. Eyb thinking when he dreamed up this thing? (Of course, that kind of thought could get me thrown out of the Engineers Club, whose motto is "if it ain't broke, add some more features!".) ~!~!~!~!~!~ Now, as to your problem with no sound in Pos 5. I don't know what's wrong, but if you're correct in your wiring, then the fault pretty much has to lie with one of the components (besides the switch) or else a soldering error of some kind. You've already re-heated the solder joints, so they should be good. And you had the foresight to "test out" the switch with a meter before installing it (+1 right there), but did you test out the pickup itself? If not, then I suggest you do so now. After that, it's a matter of starting over, doing things one at a time, and testing at each step along the way. Hook up just the pickup (both coils active) to the output jack, and test for sound. Hook up the vol and tone pots, and test for sound. Lather, rinse and repeat for each component in the path, until you've made sure that each part you added worked with all the other parts, one by one by one, right down the line. This is the slowest, but the surest method of getting results. Shotgunning is not forbidden, but it's also not guaranteed to give quick results, either. HTH sumgai
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dreamert
Rookie Solder Flinger
Posts: 14
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Post by dreamert on Feb 15, 2011 15:34:02 GMT -5
EDIT: Volume bleed to ground fixed... bad ground connection on the volume pot. One down, 2 more to go...stay tuned. EDIT (2): Humbucker now bucking Cheesy one wire was cut all fine now Only one to figure out..... why is this damned 'neck-on' switch bleeding out so much volume and thickness out of the sounds ?!
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