HSS wiring troubles

[mitchschaft]

Hello, I'm new. I have a frankenstrat that I used to have EMG's in. Now I have 2 dimarzio H3's and a bill&becky L500XL in the bridge that's coil-tapped. I have everything hooked up but it doesn't sound right. Sounds weak and distorted. Also one of the volume controls doesn't even work. I'm trying to do 2 volumes and the tone only for the middle/neck. Can anyone go over this and see if you have any ideas?























Let me know if you need anymore info.

[newey]

mitchschaft-

Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!

Does it sound weak and distorted regardless of switch positions, pot settings- in other words, is it the same across the board?

Two things to check/try- and no guarantees this is the answer, but try these first:

1) Check that the wiring to the jack is not reversed. This is an easy mistake to make, we've all probably done it, since it can be tough to tell which lug is for the barrel.

2) I would not trust simply grounding the jack to the cavity shielding. A shield is to ground out noise signals, it shouldn't be used to carry a signal. Now, if the ground is good, and assuming the cavity shielding is adequately grounded elsewhere, it ought to work OK the way you have it. But if that ground is dodgy, that could be the cause of your problems.

Run a separate wire from the output jack sleeve lug to the star grounding point.

3) This last point wouldn't cause your symptoms, but just for completeness (since your diagram doesn't show this) but I assume there is a bridge/string ground as well, and also that the shielding is grounded to the star ground point.

As far as only one Vol. pot working, that sounds like a separate problem. Which volume control doesn't work?

[mitchschaft]

Thanks for the reply. It sounds the same across the board. Nothing pops like it should. The single coils sound blah and the humbucker sounds weak, too. I have a few of the same humbuckers wired into other guitars (although no other strats) and they sound fantastic.

The bridge/string ground is screwed into the body/shielding. You can see it in the second pic. I don't think I have the shielding connected to the star ground at all.

And I forgot which volume pot gives me troubles. I'll have to string it back up to check.

[mitchschaft]

Update:
I followed your advice and ran another wire off the guitar jack ground to the star ground. everything works perfectly and there is almost zero noise. Thanks a lot!