First Guitar Rewire, nightmare! HELP!!

[makeluv247]

Hi people

I have an Aria STG003, pretty much a basic Strat, with 3 single coils. I recently purchased a Hot Rail for the bridge position, as well as an on-on-on DPDT switch. I then opened up and rewired, as in on:

www.1728.com/guitar.htm
just ctrl+F 'Still, if you have a humbucker with 4 conductors' to find the diagrams. I worked out which wires go where as of course the wire colouring was different.

It worked perfectly (with pickguard back on guitar, 2 screws to secure it), so I added more solder and checked for shorts, then put it back together. Not a sound. next I opened it up, put in the original coil and restored everything to how it was befire I touched it, ignoring my new switch, still no sound. Today I resoldered all the bits I touched with a decent iron as the first iron I used was cheap. Still nothing.

PLEASE HELP!!!

Thanks in advance

P.S. Will add some pics soon, might help?

[D2o]

Sept 18, 2008 12:23:40 GMT -5 makeluv247 said:

Hi people

I have an Aria STG003, pretty much a basic Strat, with 3 single coils. I recently purchased a Hot Rail for the bridge position, as well as an on-on-on DPDT switch. I then opened up and rewired, as in on:

www.1728.com/guitar.htm
just ctrl+F 'Still, if you have a humbucker with 4 conductors' to find the diagrams. I worked out which wires go where as of course the wire colouring was different.

It worked perfectly, so I added more solder and checked for shorts, then put it back together. Not a sound. next I opened it up, put in the original coil and restored everything, ignoring the switch, still no sound. Today I resoldered all the bits I touched with a decent iron as the first iron I used was cheap. Still nothing.

PLEASE HELP!!!

Thanks in advance

P.S. Will add some pics soon, might help?

Hi, Don Juan , and Welcome! to GN2.

Did it work perfectly with the pickguard off (i.e. just testing the pickups for output) and then crap out upon assembly ; or did it ever work perfectly as an assembled guitar?

If it was the former, I have had this happen ... an unidentifiable short only when you put everything together.

Something touches something and you get nothing.

Pics would be helpful.

In the meantime, what do you mean by "restored everything"? Restored to what - stock? or the diagram at 1728.com? (by the way, that is the site of Wolf, one of our most senior members).

With a little clarification and pics we can likely get it sorted out.

D2o

[makeluv247]

worked with the pickguard on, held in palce by 2 of the screws

restored to how it was before I touched it

and ye, wolf refered me here =D



thanks

[D2o]

worked with the pickguard on, held in palce by 2 of the screws

restored to how it was before I touched it

and ye, wolf refered me here =D

thanks

I see, so wolf creates the problem and sends you over here for us to deal with it, eh? He's always doing stuff like that. ;D

No, not really ... in reality, I bet I know about 1/10th of what he knows about electronics and such.

I see you have posted some pictures. Good - I don't actually have time to review them until later tonight. Someone else may be able to sooner, but in the meantime if you can take some pickup readings, that would help:

Read ChrisK's tutorial:

I won't go into the meaning of the numbers here. This is a summary of the physical steps involved in getting the measurements of your pickups using a multimeter:

- connect the probes to the “COM” and the “Volt/Ohms” or “Volt/Ohms/mA” inputs of your multimeter

- set your multimeter to 20k ohms

- touch the tips of the probes together and you should see a "0" on the display.

- plug one end of your cord into your guitar.

- connect either one of the probes to the tip of the loose end of the guitar cord, and connect the other probe to the sleeve of the guitar cord.

- with the volume control at minimum, you should have a reading of "0".

- next, with the volume at maximum, you should have a higher reading – it may be as high as 8000 ohms with a single coil (in which case your display would say "8.00").

- then set the meter to 2000k ohms.

- with the probes still attached, slowly rotate the volume knob from 0 to 10 and record the highest level of resistance (it should be 125 – 250, depending on your pot) – it should occur somewhere near the middle volume.

I would also be inclined to take a close look at this diagram and compare it to what you have done. I bet you've just missed some little thing here or there.

EDIT: I see you have an import type switch, so you will need to translate it in order for the schematic to make sense.

Report your results back to us.

D2o

[ChrisK]

Hi, welcome a'board.

First things first. Only the first pic is usable due to focus issues.

Second, the pics are twice the horizontal resolution that can be tolerated by humans and any LCD monitor under 30".

I have significant broadband so I'm not dissuaded by load times However, I generally do not carry my 1920 by 1200 pixel LCD monitor with me (which these won't even fit on).

You need to reduce the resolution by a factor of two to make reading tolerable. The first pic is 2048 by 1536. If it were 1024 by 768 I would have no issue with it, but many that are on dial-up would even then.

I will send via PM a half-sized first pic If I can.

[newey]

Pretty basic suggestion, but did you remove the output jack and check the wiring to it? I had a similar issue on my last rewiring job, and found that when I reinstalled the jack, one of the wires looped up around the tip contact, so the plug tip was only contacting insulation. It's also possible to dislodge one of the solder joints to the output while rewiring.

[ashcatlt]

Boy, I had to search for the reply button!

The wire from the common of the switch goes directly to the grounded lug of the volume pot, thereby shunting across the entire circuit to ground. Move it to the other lug. It will work fine, but if the volume pot works backwards from where you expect it, swap 'em around.

[pete12345]

Yeah, I think those 2 black wires currently attached to the right-hand lug of the volume pot should be removed and attached to the left one. Thatshould make the volume work in the correct direction, but if it's backwards, swap over the white and black wires on the outer terminals.

Pete

[D2o]

Am I seeing a ground wire from the back of the tone pot that seems like it may go to a lug on the volume pot and then to the back of the volume pot? I can't tell if it's actually connected to the lug, but should that not go directly to the back of the volume pot?

If so, that may also solve the grounded lug issue, as the other lug appears (again, can't quite tell) to be folded over onto the pot, as it should be.

I'm not sure what the wire from the switch to the back of the tone pot is for, either. Should that be there?

Should the two poles be connected by a jumper? or not?

I have followed the SD diagram and put the the cap on the other tone to see if I can avoid confusing myself, but it may confuse everyone else ... sorry if it does.

The back of the volume pot has a lot of solder on it, which may or may not be contributing (i.e. the possibility of a cold solder may be). Probably not an issue, but ... ?? Last resort, I'd say.

Anyway, I think I have more questions than answers, so I'll put them in picture form: what do you guys think of this, is there any issue here that may be buggering up the guitar?

D2o

[makeluv247]

Ok pics fixed.

little confused, it all seems like a lot to change, but that's how it was as stock. here's any changes made:

[/URL]

so what should I actually try?

will do the multimeter thing in the next couple of hours though if i can

[D2o]

Hang tight - I'd like to have some input from others before you do anything other than take readings.

D2o

[makeluv247]

ammeter results

ok tried the readings. You mean to connect to the 2 parts of the jack, right? on the end of the guitar lead? the meter is at 1 when its doing nothing, 0 when the tips touch, and 1 no matter what I do when they're touching the 2 parts of the guitar jack

thanks

[D2o]

Sept 19, 2008 12:11:47 GMT -5 makeluv247 said:

ammeter results

ok tried the readings. You mean to connect to the 2 parts of the jack, right? on the end of the guitar lead? the meter is at 1 when its doing nothing, 0 when the tips touch, and 1 no matter what I do when they're touching the 2 parts of the guitar jack

thanks

[makeluv247]

yup, what i did, but no change in reading

[D2o]

Sept 19, 2008 12:34:42 GMT -5 makeluv247 said:

yup, what i did, but no change in reading

Okay. No need to worry just yet, you've confirmed that your guitar doesn't work ... I think you knew that already

The readings will come in handy again so that you can test results as you get input from others on what things you can try to make it work.

Hang tight.

D2o

[ashcatlt]

okay, sorry, that sure does look tike the wire connects at that volume lug. You're sure that wire is insulated well at that point and not making contact?

For now, I'd leave D2o's suggested changes alone. Should work his way, but it should also work as is. Once you get it working, maybe we can look into eliminating "ground loops" and etc.

The one thing I would check though is the common points on the switch. That should be the 2 centermost terminals. 1 of them currently has your white wire coming out of it. In some of these import switches they are connected internally, and I guess I assumed that to be the case. If it's not (the meter could tell you) then you will need a jumper there.

[makeluv247]

if it helps, the switch is labeled Ming Shi 5L-P

[ChrisK]

You apparently have a digital multi-meter. You refer to it as an ammeter, but your stated reading seem to indicate a resistance range in use.

While this is a digital multi-meter, we need more than a binary indication of what is afoot.

As a result, we need to know the resistance range in use for these readings, and if indeed a "1" indicates over range.

Please take new readings with the range set to 20K ohms and then 2,000 K ohms. Please record all displayed digits. We need to use a range that encompasses the expected range of pickup resistance (20K/40K) and the volume pot (400K/2,000K/4,000K ohms). Use the ranges applicable to your meter.

If the is an auto-ranging multi-meter, please indicate so and confirm that "1" indicates over range.

If the selected range is too low (such as 2K ohms) ALL valid readings will indicate "1", nullifying the test.

[makeluv247]

sorry chrisk, but I don't really understand any of that, I stopped electronics after GCSE...

NEW REVELATION, however: there is stupidly low output. It works with a nice big amp on max with the guitar on max, but isn't very loud at all. Does that change anything?

Thanks

[newey]

Yes, that changes things. Is the ridiculously low output present in all possible switch or pot settings? (I understand you get nothing unless the V is at 10, but what of the tone?) Does the output vary in any way?

Now, more than ever, ChrisK's brain scan procedure is needed, he's already described it above, but if the shorthand version doesn't cut it, a fuller explanation can be found in his original "Brain Scanning through a Nostril" post which is "sticky noted" on the Reference Board. Post your results in tabular form as shown.

Rather than trying to hold meter probes to a phone plug, I found it very helpful to make a dedicated test plug. Simply take an old plug with a length of wire attached, strip the wires and test for continuity thereof, and solder an alligator clip (good-sized one, not the mini ones) to each wire. Attach your meter to the clips, plug the plug into your guitar, and test away.

EDIT Just like the scene from so many disaster movies, where the rookie Cessna pilot has to land the crippled 747 in a blinding snowstorm because both pilots ate the Lobster Newburg:

"Hang in there! We'll talk you down, kid!"

[wolf]

Hi,

Yes, it's wolf (finally).

Not that I'm the message board fink/tattletale, but I believe one thing makeluv247 did not mention is that he is using an old soldering iron. That might be the source of some (if not all) of the problems.

And welcome to the board makeluv247

[pete12345]

Low output generally implies a high resistance somewhere in the circuit. Could well be a 'dry' solder joint that is giving the grief.

[makeluv247]

ye i went with that, it sounded like the easiest thing to fix, so i resoldered again, making sure everything was very, very hot first, and it worked! so i tried installing the humbucker, all still working! just screwin it all back together

but thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions, I'll be back, no doubt, for more

[wolf]

Congratulations makeluv247 !!!

[D2o]

Wolf,

Thank you for jumping in with the unmentioned info about the soldering iron. That was paramount in creating, and then solving, ml's problem. +1

D2o

[wolf]

D2o
Well thank you very much.

[ChrisK]

Hmmm, this is the first that I've heard of a "dry" solder joint.

I've certainly heard of "cold" solder joints.

While I fully believe that a "cold" solder(ing) joint could exist in the UK, I seriously doubt that a "dry" one could...... ;D ;D

[warmstrat]

In South Africa, I hear that bad thing that happens when you fail at soldering referred to by either name.

Clearly it's a dialect thing.