Soldered my first pickup! Woo hoo! QUESTION!

surfaday · 08-31-2010, 03:58 AM

Soldered my first pickup tonight into my Squier Affinity Strat. For some reason there was a bridge pickup in the neck position and the low E string missed the pole by a hair, even though it still sounded right, it looked wrong.

So I picked up a 6.5k single pole neck pickup up and replaced it.

The neck position sounds GREAT!

Question: Why does the neck/mid selector position NOW sound muted and cold? All the other positions, 1, 3, 4 and 5 sound warm in comparison, and I swear it used to sound warm and hum-free in position 2, it was the position I used the most.

The pickup had only 2 wires, an insulated one I soldered to the selector switch in the same position I removed the other one from, and the bare wire I soldered to the pot with all the other wires.

Thanks for your help!

Walter

YeahDoIt · 08-31-2010, 06:56 AM

Is the middle pickup wired correctly? If it's wired backwards then you actually have the neck and middle pickups in series. That might lose high frequencies because the impedance is about twice that of a individual pickup.

edandis · 08-31-2010, 09:18 AM

I had the same problem with a GFS pup I won at Ebay, in the neck it sounded great but at the neck/mid position it sounded dull and lifeless. I wound up removing the pup and replacing it and that solved the problem, although I still question if the GFS pup is the culprit. With this in mind check out the solder connection for cold solder joints, that is, if the solder joint is not shiny, then redo it.

I would also check the pup heights and experiment with them as this will vary depending on the pup. Some will be better closer to the strings and vice-versa.

Lastly, what is the output of the new pup, is it hotter than the other two, if not this may play into the equation.

AllroyPA · 08-31-2010, 09:24 AM

yep usually indicates you need to reverse the hot and ground wires.

surfaday · 08-31-2010, 10:29 AM

Thanks! I think it is polarity too, I found a similar answer in a book I have borrowed from the library on electric guitar maintenance.

edandis: I think you might try that GFS pup again, with the wires switched...

Do you think I should put some heat-shrink tubing on the ground wire since I'm going to be switching them around and I can't have that bare ground wire touching anything but its specific terminal? Or maybe just black tape?

Walt

AllroyPA · 08-31-2010, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by surfaday

Thanks! I think it is polarity too, I found a similar answer in a book I have borrowed from the library on electric guitar maintenance.

edandis: I think you might try that GFS pup again, with the wires switched...

Do you think I should put some heat-shrink tubing on the ground wire since I'm going to be switching them around and I can't have that bare ground wire touching anything but its specific terminal? Or maybe just black tape?

Walt

I hav'nt seen heat shrink that would shrink enough to cover such a small wire, so tape it.

edandis · 08-31-2010, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by surfaday

Thanks! I think it is polarity too, I found a similar answer in a book I have borrowed from the library on electric guitar maintenance.

edandis: I think you might try that GFS pup again, with the wires switched...

Do you think I should put some heat-shrink tubing on the ground wire since I'm going to be switching them around and I can't have that bare ground wire touching anything but its specific terminal? Or maybe just black tape?

Walt

That will not work as the wires are coded black and white, I followed the standard wiring scheme, as black goes to gnd.

I am bidding on the pups as we speak. If I don't win the bid I'll either save for new pups or continue bidding for used.

peskypesky · 08-31-2010, 02:27 PM

congrats on your entry into the world of guitar soldering!

Teleblooz · 08-31-2010, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edandis

That will not work as the wires are coded black and white, I followed the standard wiring scheme, as black goes to gnd.

There's no law that says they have to be hooked up that way though. I had a similar problem when I recently installed a Tele neck pup into my HSS Strat. The two single-coils were 2/3 of a GFS set that was working fine. I got cancellation in position 4 (N/M) when I first put the Tele pup in. I knew the middle pickup was wired to operate correctly with the bridge 'bucker (a SD Custom), so I didn't want to mess with success. Instead, I reversed the Tele pup's leads, grounding the white wire instead of the black (and switching the ground jumper on the cover). Now it sounds the way it's supposed to.

motoman45 · 08-31-2010, 10:06 PM

I love the smell of solder in the morning......

AllroyPA · 08-31-2010, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motoman45

I love the smell of solder in the morning......

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motoman45 · 08-31-2010, 10:08 PM

smells like victory....

Sparkfire · 09-01-2010, 01:23 AM

This is getting intense. lol

surfaday · 09-01-2010, 02:49 AM

Got it! Instead of un-soldering the ground wire and hot wire then switching them around and insulating the ground wire, etc, etc, I just switched the wires at the pickup. Much easier than untangling all the wires I just so carefully wound together.

All positions of the pickup now sound warm and normal. All is well.

Thanks for the help and suggestions.

Walter.

Now... Do I spring for the Seymore Duncan JB Jr for the bridge???

YeahDoIt · 09-01-2010, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by surfaday

Now... Do I spring for the Seymore Duncan JB Jr for the bridge???

I would rock out for awhile first.

AllroyPA · 09-01-2010, 09:22 AM

Play with your pickup heights first, see if you can dial in what it's capable of.