Wiring gone wrong HELP BADLY NEEDED

[Carl17]

Yesterday i was swapping the pups from another LP into my SG and the wires of the pups wouldnt fit through the hold running through the body. I pulled thrugh with a guitar string, but i had to pull them quite hard. So now after wiring up the new pickup, theres no sound at all!. I tried re-soldering but no luck. Could the wire have stretched out of the actual pup itself?(when i pulled it through)
Both of my pups dont work now. They're from 1970's, old DiMarzio pups from a Hondo guitar. They were working so i know that something happened while installing them. Yesterday, there was a TINY little bit of sound coming from the amp, even at full volume. Now theres nothing.
I tried opening up the pup and seeing if there was anything wrong, but i wouldnt be able to notice anything.
Should the toggle switch make a bit of noise when pushed even without any pups? I turned it up full volume and messed with the switch but couldnt hear anything. Is it just a new switch i need?
Any help please?

[straybeat]

You could put an ohmmeter on the leads and see if there is a signal going through (Google it). If not and they are toast, you could take them to a shop in town and find someone who could fix them if they are that important to you.

[chrisobrien]

The switch shouldn't make any noise. Did you use a high E string to pull 'em through? If the string dug through the plastic covering and exposed a wire inside, that might be your issue. Check to see if the covering for the individual wires is still intact.

[River]

If you don't know how to use an ohmmeter, take it to someone who does.

[straybeat]

Here are some basic instructions;

How to Test a Guitar Pickup With a Multimeter | eHow.co.uk

If these don't make any sense to you, most definiitely follow River's advice!

[Carl17]

OK tested them with the ohmeter and they have a reading of around 8.5k.
So why is there no noise? Is it possible the heat from the soldering iron fried the pots?

[River]

Originally Posted by Carl17

OK tested them with the ohmeter and they have a reading of around 8.5k.
So why is there no noise? Is it possible the heat from the soldering iron fried the pots?

Don't check just the pickups. Check all of the connections.

[Carl17]

Originally Posted by chrisobrien

The switch shouldn't make any noise. Did you use a high E string to pull 'em through? If the string dug through the plastic covering and exposed a wire inside, that might be your issue. Check to see if the covering for the individual wires is still intact.

No i used the low E and put the 2 smaller wires through the little ring on the bottom of the string, then pulled them through so i doubt the plastic covering of the wire has been affected.

[River]

Originally Posted by Carl17

No i used the low E and put the 2 smaller wires through the little ring on the bottom of the string, then pulled them through so i doubt the plastic covering of the wire has been affected.

Yeah, but you said you pulled "hard". Never do that. Never pull, push, or turn "hard" until you have enough experience with whatever you're working on to know when to stop and regroup.

This is going to be frustrating for all of us without good pictures, more meter readings, etc. I strongly suggest you take it to someone.

[straybeat]

Originally Posted by Carl17

OK tested them with the ohmeter and they have a reading of around 8.5k.
So why is there no noise? Is it possible the heat from the soldering iron fried the pots?

You either soldered to the wrong lug on the pot or switch or you have a cold solder joint somewhere or both? Check your wiring again.

Here's a hunded diagrams to pick whatever type of setup you have;

guitar wiring diagrams - Google Search

[blamo]

is your amp broken?

just saying... is it possible you wired it up wrong?

as river said, photos will help.

[Carl17]

Originally Posted by blamo

is your amp broken?

just saying... is it possible you wired it up wrong?

as river said, photos will help.

It is POSSIBLE i wired it up wrong as im only new to re-wiring. I dont think its wrong though, but ill check on a diagram.
the braided and black wires are grounded to the pot and the othe white wire is soldered to the middle lug.
EDIT: I looked at a diagram and found that the pup wire should be one the outside/(right?) lug. Would it be the left or right lug? Just confused as it depends which way your viewing the pot.

[onehippie]

+1

everything from A to B

face the vol pups lugs to the right solder to the bottom lug or left
middle is to switch also the wiper
right or top is earthed

[LeftyF2003]

Pictures

[ShelbyDude]

I just had the EXACT same problem last night.

No sound from either pickup after rewiring. I found that the lugs on the pots were grounding themselves out against the wood. I installed a couple of extra washers on the pot before placing it in the cavity. This kept the lugs from sitting on the wood, which is covered with some kind of sheilding paint.

Also, if you removed the switch, make sure when you re-installed it, none of the tabs are touching the wood of the cavity.

[Carl17]

Originally Posted by ShelbyDude

I just had the EXACT same problem last night.

No sound from either pickup after rewiring. I found that the lugs on the pots were grounding themselves out against the wood. I installed a couple of extra washers on the pot before placing it in the cavity. This kept the lugs from sitting on the wood, which is covered with some kind of sheilding paint.

Also, if you removed the switch, make sure when you re-installed it, none of the tabs are touching the wood of the cavity.

Nope its not that

[Carl17]

OK so im quite bad at soldering but ive re-soldered it about 3 times now and its not too bad. But still have the problem, although there is a slight bit of sound.
The coating on the wires are burnt in some areas from trying to fit the soldering iron into a tight space. Could this be part of the problem?
Im going to try changing the pup tomorrow to see if the pups are the problem. If not, then ill just buy a wiring kit and completely re-wire it or have a tech do it for me. Although, i was already planning on getting a good electronics kit and GFS '59 for my Epi BB, ad i dont want to spend more money on another guitar (YET)
Any solutions? ****PICS WILL BE UP TOMORROW (but they arent the best quality)

[sg13]

Taking a long guess shot here. Is the dimarzio 4 conductor? If so did you solder the two wires together to complete the circuit? If not that could be your issue. I have done that before. If anything besides that, pictures are needed.

[straybeat]

How to solder;

‪How and WHY to Solder Correctly‬‏ - YouTube

‪How and WHY to Solder Correctly‬‏ - YouTube

[chrisobrien]

Keep in mind that the pickup wire colors vary from manufacturer to manufacturer too.

[Carl17]

Originally Posted by sg13

Taking a long guess shot here. Is the dimarzio 4 conductor? If so did you solder the two wires together to complete the circuit? If not that could be your issue. I have done that before. If anything besides that, pictures are needed.

No its 2? 3? conductor? Im not sure but when i opened the old Hondo, the braided shield + black wire were grouded to pot, and the white was soldered to the lug. So i did the same when re-installing them.

Originally Posted by sg13

If so did you solder the two wires together to complete the circuit?

On the bridge pup, the braided shield and black wire were soldered together when i took them out, and they still are. Im not sure if they were ever soldered together on the neck pup. Either way, the pups dont work even though they are wired properly.
**PICS ARE COMING LATER IN THE DAY (i uploaded them last night on imageshack, then java tells me nothing was uploaded! )

[onehippie]

"Never do that. Never pull, push, or turn "hard" until you have enough experience with whatever you're working on to know when to stop and regroup." very important

be sure to get a few pup leads shots where they leave the pup very tiny kids in that area concerned about that a bit

"OK so im quite bad at soldering but ive re-soldered it about 3 times now and its not too bad"

beware of overheating pots this can be a bad problem

same for the caps

when installing the jack/switch have minimal to no pressure as possible when you tighten down the securing nut

[Carl17]

OK GOOD NEWS (kinda..)
After taking out everything and re-wiring, the bridge pup now fully works!
But the neck pup is VERY low...when i turn it up full volume, its only as loud as the bridge on volume 2.
Think i need a new pot?
Also, i think the problem was damaged wiring or bad soldering.

[blamo]

a picture would help

[Carl17]

Originally Posted by blamo

a picture would help

Yep ill take 1 or 2 pics of the neck pot and pickup wire and upload them in a few mintues

[Carl17]

OK ive tried image shack and photo bucket but both are not allowing me to uplioad photos for some reason. I'll change the pot, and if that doesnt work ill try chaging the pup.

[Carl17]

ok so changing the pot did nothing. Tomorrow, ill swap the pup into another guitar and see if the pup itself is the problem

[Diocletian]

I think you have a grounding issue. Although that doesn't help much since you won't know what to look for to sort it, sorry.

If you're getting a reading of around 8.5K on both pickups they are working so I wouldnt bother taking the neck out, it's a problem with the wiring not the pickup. Just FYI it's probably a pair of old PAFs, excellent pickups!

[blamo]

you need to stop now....before you spend more time and money on this.

you then need to upload some good clear photos of the following:

3 way switch wiring
control cavity.

perhaps multiple shots of each so we can clearly see the wiring.

randomly swapping shit out isn't going to solve anything but waste time and potentially fry your caps/pots.

[Carl17]

OK chaging the pup still didnt work so i took everything out AGAIN, replaced the switch and pot and reconnected everything. Still didnt work, but while it was plugged in, i played with the wires a bit until i heard noise. (at this point the bridge was workin...kinda) And then i saw that two of the wires - one from tone pot, one from switch - were touching so i moved them apart and IT WORKED!
Its too late to properly test the guitar now but tomorrow (if its still hopefully working) ill try it.
Well Im still not %100 sure what the actual problem was, and i dont think i even needed to replace the switch or pot. Maybe it was wiring, although i did re-wire/re-solder it about 3 times so i couldnt make the same mistake every time.
Well at least its fixed
Thanks for the help everyone