damo
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Post by damo on Jun 20, 2024 3:55:08 GMT -5
Hi all, I've searched online and cant find a wiring diagram for the s66. It has a unique set up of 3 separate volume pots for each of the single coil pickups so different to a standard 335 wiring. My problem is that the volume for the bridge pickup (circled) came loose/wobbly and in transit I think a wire has come loose as that pick up now no longer works. I undid the volume with a 2mm hex key and then fed the pot through the f-hole. Lugs 1 and 3 were still wired (Green and White?) but the middle wasnt and with it being a semi hollow I cant see which wire has fallen off? I'm assuming the middle lug is connected to the output jack as per other single coils but with the S66 setup Im not so sure? Or how to access the output jack on the side of this particular semi hollow Can anyone help!? Thanks in advance guys  |
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Post by newey on Jun 20, 2024 5:13:36 GMT -5
damo- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!I didn't try looking for a diagram, I'll take your word that none is out there on the 'ol web. I also assume the 4th pot is a master tone? If you could see a disconnected wire in there that you could fish out, yes, it would presumably go to the middle lug of the bridge volume. If you can't see a disconnected wire (or can't reach it through the hole), then you're looking at more of a teardown anyway. Rewiring a semi-hollow bodied guitar is a major PITA, so first decide if this is something you'll take on yourself, or perhaps turn over to the ministrations of your friendly local guitar tech. The equation has cost on one side and your time and frustration level on the other.  As for the wiring, I would suspect that, rather than going to the output, the wire from the center of the volume pot would go to the switch. Typically, with three individual volume controls, I would expect each pickup's volume pot would be wired "first in line" after the pickup and before the switch. Then from the switch to the tone pot, and from there to the output jack. I could be off on that, though. What type of pickup switching does this have? Is it just one pickup at a time? I'm sure there are more of these in the UK than in the US- I'd not seen one before this- and we have quite a number of UK-based members here, so perhaps someone with more familiarity with this guitar will be along.
EDIT: When I said "one pickup at a time", I had in mind those 3-pickup Les Pauls that have a 3-way toggle giving only a single pickup, but multiple volume controls would make no sense if that were the case. What then is the pickup switching on this?
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damo
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Post by damo on Jun 20, 2024 6:17:50 GMT -5
Thanks for reply.
Yes the 4th pot is a master tone and the switch is 3 positions.
(I think the the middle pickup is always `on' so the 3 positions are neck+middle, middle, middle+bridge with the separate volume pots for each pickup to dial in configurations)
Im guessing that because the other 3 pots (master tone and neck, middle volume) are all working then its just a case of finding the wire thats fell off Bridge Pot lug 2 that needs re-soldering and all should then work?
If anyone has seen a schematic or best place online to find then that would be great! (Ive seen SG diagrams with 3 single coils/3 volume but cant be unsure if this is same setup?)
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Post by newey on Jun 20, 2024 7:50:06 GMT -5
(I think the the middle pickup is always `on' so the 3 positions are neck+middle, middle, middle+bridge with the separate volume pots for each pickup to dial in configurations) A "screwdriver tap test" would tell you for sure which pickups are on in a given switch position; easy to do as a first step so we know what we're dealing with here. Gibson uses a special 3-way toggle for their 3-pickup guitars but if you're correct about the switching then it doesn't sound like that's the type of switch that you have. Again, if you can't see a disconnected wire through the hole for the bridge pot, then the other end of that wire is probably connected to the switch. The likelihood that you can just drop the switch out of its hole and access that wire are slim- there probably isn't enough slack in the wiring harness to do much of anything without dropping the entire harness out of the guitar. If you can't see the end of the wire, then, you're probably looking at a complete disassembly. There are YouTube videos to show how this is done if you've never done it before. As I said, it's a pain. You have to disconnect all the pots and the switches and unscrew the pickup mounting screws, drop the whole harness into the guitar body, and then fish the whole shebang out of either one of the pickup holes or through one of the F holes. That's the easy part- the tough part is reassembly, which involves tying strings around each component and fishing the strings through the holes from underneath. Study how to do this thorioughly if you've never done it before. (I'm also assuming this guitar doesn't have an access panel on the back to allow access to the controls- if it did, you'd have already sussed it out.) It does occur to me that you may be able to do a sort of "down and dirty" repair- not sure how viable this may be without seeing the guitar. But if you can drop the switch down to the point where you can access the wiring (Tie a string around the switch before you undo it so you can fish it back up into the hole when you're done), then you may be able to find which wire has the loose end by (gently) tugging at it with a tweezers or forceps. Once you identify the culprit, you would then desolder it at the switch, remove the wire in question, and just run a whole new wire, long enough to make it easy to fish through. You'd solder the new wire to the bridge pot first, then fish the wire through to the switch. But again, I doubt there's enough slack to then allow you to resolder the other end to the switch. The likelihood is that the whole harness will need to come out. EDIT:If you can't see the loose wire through the hole, try turning the guitar upside down and shake it a bit, the wire may move into your field of vision (Same as if you drop a pick through the F hole, which everyone who plays a semi-hollow body has probably done at one time or another  ). |
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damo
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Post by damo on Jun 20, 2024 10:24:22 GMT -5
Appreciate your help. I'll do the screwdriver tap test when home.
(I'm assuming if I select what I think is the middle+bridge switch selection and the bridge isn't connected to the relevant potentiometer then only the poles tapped on the middle pickup will sound)
I had the guitar upside down when initially removed the pot and couldn't see an unconnected wire with my phone flashlight but it was still dark in there! I *think* from peering through the F-Holes one of the black wires isn't connected at one end and it may be possible to fish it and the relevant pot out for soldering but obviously don't want to pull too hard.
I've seen the videos showing removal of all pots etc. and it looks like a game of Operation! These semi-hollows can look/sound great but didn't realize the work needed to access without a back panel!
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Post by stevewf on Jun 20, 2024 11:30:35 GMT -5
This YouTube review shows that yes, the middle pickup is controlled solely by its volume knob - the selector switch doesn't affect the middle pickup.
Further, the video says that the selector switch affects the bridge and neck pickups, and it seems that it does this in the usual way: 1=bridge, 2=bridge+neck, 3=neck.
BUT: since the middle volume knob can be turned "off" without killing the entire sound, it means that either the middle pickup is in series, or at least one pickup's output goes to its volume pot's middle lug (or both serial and "backwards" pots). The review above didn't sound like a serial sound to me, so I'm guessing that there's a backwards-wired pot in there, and maybe all three are backwards.
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Post by stevewf on Jun 20, 2024 23:15:07 GMT -5
So I was also listening to this video and now I can't decide whether I hear a serial sound or not. This second video makes me think maybe yes, serial. But now I'm doing too much guessing to be sure. damo, do you have a multimeter? |
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damo
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Post by damo on Jun 21, 2024 3:10:15 GMT -5
Hi Steve,
I don't I'm afraid.
I'm a relative newb to all this so will have a read on the difference between series & parallel.
If I can locate the loose wire & can pull throught to re-solder to Bridge Pot Lug 2 then all is well.
However this will probably entail taking everything out at which point I'll take a picture and post to show you guys!
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Post by mikecg on Jun 21, 2024 8:09:41 GMT -5
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Post by unreg on Jun 21, 2024 23:10:50 GMT -5
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Post by mikecg on Jun 22, 2024 5:36:07 GMT -5
Hello unreg, Thanks for that - I will edit my previous links, to save space. |
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damo
Rookie Solder Flinger
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Post by damo on Jun 22, 2024 5:44:39 GMT -5
Ok thanks for that guys will check them out
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).
+The link I used is WAY shorter.