Return of: Guitar Wiring Issues

**RFR** · 03-09-2019

Originally Posted by RFR

Bottom line. Rewire it.

That was posted two weeks ago. Still applies.

**HRmusic90** · 03-10-2019

...though it's damn hard to see what's going on in that rats' nest.

Yeah, another thing contributing to the mess is the lack of space. The original guitar had smaller, 1/4 inch pots. These are the larger 3/8 inch.

The pots I'm using are Dimarzio "custom taper" pots. They're supposed to be 500 k-Ohm ±10% but I had a couple that have been a little out of spec (~437 k-Ohm).

What tips do you have for neatening up the wiring? I always cut my pieces too long because of course, better than too short. But it does leave a lot of slack.

**keith.rogers** · 03-10-2019

Originally Posted by HRmusic90

Yeah, another thing contributing to the mess is the lack of space. The original guitar had smaller, 1/4 inch pots. These are the larger 3/8 inch.

The pots I'm using are Dimarzio "custom taper" pots. They're supposed to be 500 k-Ohm ±10% but I had a couple that have been a little out of spec (~437 k-Ohm).

What tips do you have for neatening up the wiring? I always cut my pieces too long because of course, better than too short. But it does leave a lot of slack.

Well, the larger pots would make it easier for some folks, even though the space is tighter, but you're not connecting wires on the side of the pickups, so the tightness really just means making sure the lugs on the pots are oriented so they don't interfere with each other.

I'd just disconnect everything and pull it out. Get some solder-sucking tool, maybe canned air and/or copper braid and clean off the pots as best as possible, without frying them of course. Lay them out in the cavity, or if it's easier, get a thin piece of plywood/masonite and drill holes to match your guitar and orient and wire up the connecting wires and caps with the pots on that, then drop that into the cavity.

Make sure you are keeping the "hot" wires fully insulated as close to the lugs as possible. You can use much smaller wire for these distances. I like solid copper, which you can unsheath and run a solid wire around all the pots for grounding, instead of a bunch of separate wires.

Tin the lugs and just enough stripped wire ends, pre-bent to fit into the lugs cleanly and just touch them with the hot iron to quickly melt a tiny bit of solder making sure nothing moves and you get a good, solid (not "cold") joint. trim off excess wire ends.

**RFR** · 03-10-2019

Originally Posted by HRmusic90

What tips do you have for neatening up the wiring? .

Take the pots out of the guitar and mount them on a board with the holes drilled to the same spacing of the guitar.
Do all your pot to pot grounds and soldering lugs to the casing outside of the istrument.
Pull the switch out, and rewire it with a braided shield wire. Being a little longer is fine, you can trim excess later.
Mark all the wires coming off the switch. A bit of tape and a sharpie can help. N (neck) B (bridge) J (jack)
Install your switch and pull the wires out of the way. Now install your pots.
Start with connecting all your shield to the pots, then the hots. Trim to proper leangth at this stage.
Take your time and it should turn out neat.

**HRmusic90** · 03-21-2019

So here is my wiring, mostly redone...

The only wiring that's missing are the pickups themselves. But I thought, before I do that. Let me see if I get any noise with just the components so far... I do

**Steenamaroo** · 03-21-2019

Is there a wire missing?
I can account for Switch out 1+2 (red+white?), switch ground (green?), and switch out passing through the cavity (blue?).
That means bridge ground isn't coming in...or green is bridge ground and switch ground isn't coming in.

Looks much tidier now.

**HRmusic90** · 03-23-2019

So far as I can tell there isn't. The bridge ground is the black wire at the top, grounded to the top-left pot. That's the only original wire left from the original hardware.
Given that fact, it might be tempting to focus on that as the culprit, but I very much doubt it. That same wire was once originally connected to the old pots and I did not have this issue.

**mr average** · 03-23-2019

Sounds like a grounding problem.

Rip it ALL out. Use NEW smaller components.

Ground all Grounds to GROUND not another pot case.

Better yet make a board to hold everything that will fit in easily so you can solder neat outside and then only add a couple of solder joints when you put it in.

---------- Update ----------

Originally Posted by HRmusic90

It doesn't? That's what the green wire coming off the top of the toggle switch and going to the neck-volume pot is supposed to be. Did I get that wrong?

You got something wrong. The grounds look iffy the way you did it.

**Steenamaroo** · 03-23-2019

Originally Posted by HRmusic90

So far as I can tell there isn't. The bridge ground is the black wire at the top, grounded to the top-left pot. That's the only original wire left from the original hardware.
Given that fact, it might be tempting to focus on that as the culprit, but I very much doubt it. That same wire was once originally connected to the old pots and I did not have this issue.

Ah, I didn't spot the black wire. Even now that you point it out I can't see where it's coming from. I guess it's own little hold obscured from view by the pot?
Either way, it's there. Looks good to me, so far.

**keith.rogers** · 03-23-2019

If you have nothing connected to the switch it’s just an open circuit. Bound to hum I’d think.

Just check continuity between the tailpiece and the sleeve of a guitar cable plugged in to the guitar. And that should also be open with infinite resistance when checked against the cable tip. (Unless you have wired up the pickups.)