Help with a Coil Split harness

[frets]

Hi Guys😸, I hope you can help me with this one.

I built a Solderless harness for an ES335 that has:
- Bridge Volume
- Bridge Tone
- Neck Volume Push-Pull Coil Split to Neck
- Neck Tone
I tested it here in my workshop and it worked fine. It’s a very simple harness. But the guy reports that he gets no sound when the push pull is in the down position at all. But when he pulls up, he gets sound and the coil split. I can’t figure it out. Like I said, this is a simple mod. Any thoughts?

[newey]

Something shorting something somewhere*. Odd that he gets no sound with the P/P down, I could see it more readily if it just affected the neck pickup, but odd that it is apparently shorting all output.

I've never looked inside a ES335 (I used to have an ES125 many moons ago, only Gibby I've ever had). Does this perhaps have a piece of shielding mounted insiee, where the pots and controls go through the body?

*Not being very helpful, I'm afraid.

[unreg]

This troubleshooting may be pointless… idk, but:


Did the guy get to install the harness himself? If so, is he sure the Neck push pull vol pot is grounded?


From www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1505434
lumberjack writes,

If you're volume pot is "stuck" on full output, the lead that's supposed to connect the signal to ground as you turn the pot isn't sending any of the signal to ground, i.e. it's not connected to ground. It's either that or the pot's fried.

Can an ungrounded volume pot also cause it to be stuck on nothing output? 🤔🙂


EDIT: but, this is ? bc the bridge volume pot would have to be connected through the neck vol pot, if ungrounded neck vol would be source of silence… I think at least.

[Yogi B]

Sept 23, 2021 15:25:53 GMT -5 frets said:

I built a Solderless harness for an ES335

Solderless? As in the customer has to be trusted to 100% know the wire colour code(s) of their specific pickups when connecting them? (I'm implying this may not be the case, even if they think so.)

Also depending on if their pickups have 4-conductor wiring and that the series link wasn't pre-soldered, placing two loose wires in a single screw terminal (which is what I'm assuming is the setup) is more or less asking for the fates to waggle one of those wires free.

Sept 23, 2021 15:25:53 GMT -5 frets said:

But the guy reports that he gets no sound when the push pull is in the down position at all.

In any position? Even when switched to the bridge only setting?

If it is truly silence, and it happens in the bridge or bridge & neck settings then as newey stated, but how're doing the splitting in the circuit? By shorting the unused coil? Because that wouldn't make sense with that diagnosis, you can't un-short something by shorting something else (at least when restricted to mechanical switches). Unless the short is via the switches other throw... tell me, what did you connect to the common of the push-pull: ground or the pickup's series link (the solderless connector to which the series link should be connected)?

[frets]

The guy is being real vague and says he does not need my help. I assume he had something not connected right on the Solderless. He made me use these janky terminals. Not the terminals I normally use. I’m sorry for bothering everyone with this. Seems it was a false alarm.

But more and more guys are wanting Solderless harnesses. It’s become a trend.

[unreg]

Sigh, sry, my troubleshooting WAS pointless bc if the volume is present for half of the push/pull, then the volume pot IS grounded.


—-
Solderless is a a trend? Why? Solder does take time learn, but once learned, it’s so much better! IMO.