ugh

[ross]

Is it possible to actually break a pot by pulling the speed knob off a les paul? I wired in my pickups a few days ago and the guitar plays great and most importantly, sounds good too. Today I got my new speedknobs in, and after I put them on I plugged up and nope. No sound at all. Chcked my solder joints, even resoldered them, no luck. Plugged directly into the amp to make sure. Tried the amp with another guitar, and it works. Ugh. Any ideas? I am going to be beyond pissed off if I have to get 4 new pots because I probably cant do all that myself.

[WackyT]

Have you checked the resistance of the pots with a multimeter?

[Spudman***]

If the whole guitar is dead then check the wires to the output jack. All the pots wouldn't die. Besides just tugging on them won't remove the wiper from the pan. Your problem is most likely a connection somewhere either the switch or jack.

[ross]

I have a multimeter in my hand. The it has a wheel on it where I can choose what I want. The settings are as follows:

Off
ACV - 250 (1kv), 100, 25, 10 (these numbers are red)
Ohm symbol - RX1k, RX100, RX10, RX1 (these are black)
DCmA - 5, 50, 500 (black)
DCuA - 50, 500 (black)
DCV - 250 (1kv), 100, 25 , 10, 2.5, 1, .25 (black)

I assume I need to check with the RX setting, but I am not sure which number.

I will tell you that if I need to do RX100 and touch red to the live section and black to the ground (pot), every single pot sweeps the needle over to the 0 setting.

Tell me what settings to try, and I will go measure it. To be honest I do not even know what I am looking for. I just use this thing to stick in a wall socket to see if there is power.

[ross]

If the whole guitar is dead then check the wires to the output jack. All the pots wouldn't die. Besides just tugging on them won't remove the wiper from the pan. Your problem is most likely a connection somewhere either the switch or jack.

All of those connections are fine. The guitar was working perfectly until today when I installed new knobs. When I went to play it, the amp is dead. Both amps, actually. And there is no effects of anything, straight guitar into amp.

[ross]

All of those connections are fine. The guitar was working perfectly until today when I installed new knobs. When I went to play it, the amp is dead. Both amps, actually. And there is no effects of anything, straight guitar into amp.

Well I say they are fine as in they do not look broken, all the wires are where they should be....I took the input jack out too just to make sure it was still soldered in.

[Spudman***]

IF you hook up the multimeter and turn a pot and see action on the meter then your pots are good.

If you unplug the cord and touch the end when the amp is on do you get a hum? If you do then the problem lies in getting signal out of the guitar.

You might have cracked a solder joint. You wouldn't see it but if you open up the back and start tracing connections you'll find out the issue in no time. You are probably going to be surprised at what it is. Otherwise you've got a broken wire somewhere.

[ross]

IF you hook up the multimeter and turn a pot and see action on the meter then your pots are good.

If you unplug the cord and touch the end when the amp is on do you get a hum? If you do then the problem lies in getting signal out of the guitar.

You might have cracked a solder joint. You wouldn't see it but if you open up the back and start tracing connections you'll find out the issue in no time. You are probably going to be surprised at what it is. Otherwise you've got a broken wire somewhere.

The tone pots dont move at all really. I dunno if thats normal.

The bridge volume works, it goes to 0 and then if i turn the vol down to 0 it goes back to 5. That is with the setting on RX1000

The neck switch never goes to 0, and stays around 5. Even if I turn it, it will not move.

Sound like a bad pot?

Yes the amp pops if I touch the cord.

[ross]

Than you guys for the suggestions!

I ended up just stripping the wire again, and resoldering. That iddnt work, so I got pissed off and just soldered all over the ground and the neutral wire. That fixed the problem,

The ohm meter thing was really cool!

[Spudman***]

(sigh) of relief.
Good thing you got it fixed, but guess what? One of my pickups went dead in my brand new guitar. It just opened up. No continuity through the windings at all. Bizarre. I'm trying to get a replacement for it. I wish my situation was as easy to solve as yours was.

[Plank_Spanker]

Than you guys for the suggestions!

I ended up just stripping the wire again, and resoldering. That iddnt work, so I got pissed off and just soldered all over the ground and the neutral wire. That fixed the problem,

The ohm meter thing was really cool!

Had me scared when I read this..................................whew!

[Rocket]

I ended up just stripping the wire again, and resoldering. That iddnt work, so I got pissed off and just soldered all over the ground and the neutral wire. That fixed the problem,

Throw that solder away and buy good quality silver solder... try Micro-Mark

[mrmudcat]

Ohhhhhhh nice:

Now if they made it for old men:

[ross]

Thanks for the Solder suggestion!

Actually what I did at around 8pm didnt fix it at all. It was temporary. It went out at about 1230 again. So I just un-soldered everything, cleaned it all up (with the braid) and steel wool, stripped the wires, got a new connection, and soldered the ground and the neutral wire in separate places on the pot instead of together. Its been playing great now.

I am going to do some replacing of pickups in my strat next, so Ill get me some better solder before I go through that ordeal.

Here is the finished product (well almost)



Changes:
- all black plastic parts (was cream)
- black knobs (was gold)
- dimarzio evo 158 neck (was gibson hb-r)
- dimarzio d sonic bridge (was gibson hb-l)
- dimarzio clip lock things for the strap (best strap out there imo)
- droped the action, set up guitar for CFBbEbGC

The only thing I cant do at this moment is the tuners. It has some .339 diameter holes, so I cant put sperzels because they are 10mm holes. So at this time I am kind of confused on the tuning situation. I do know that the tuners suck

[ross]

Rocket, do you have to use the flux with that solder? I thought solder usually had flux in it?

What about this stuff - http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares...oduct&ID=60664

seems easier to apply

[Rocket]

What about this stuff - http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares...oduct&ID=60664

Sorry, don't know... haven't used it.