well - I just redid everything after buying all new gear (solder sucker, adjustable wattage soldering iron, 60/40 .032) and cleaning up all the connections. Exact same problem.

I wonder if I could have fried the switch...I'm gonna take it off and see what I can see. The pickups do show good resistance when disconnected from the switch, so it's got to be something else.

Ugh...now I know why I paid someone to do this I'll learn something though - gotta learn something new everyday right??