Potential wiring issue? LP 60’s STD

[Snowdogyyz]

Looking for help from you experts in here! Last year I bought a 50’s and 60’s LP STD. I love both of them, although I do prefer the 60’s neck. Awhile back, I was getting static in the neck pickup- as soon as I switched to the bridge it would go away. A luthier looked at it but didn’t notice anything wrong, but he sprayed the switch and the static when playing the neck went away.
A couple weeks later I played it and now the bridge sounded bright, thin, tinny and “spanky”- almost Tele like. I loved the sound before but something seemed to change. I had found a deal on some custombuckers so decided to have the pups changed out. Got it today and the bridge still sounds bright, thin and spanky. The neck sounds nice and full. The bridge just sounds almost single coil like. Like country pickin” tele sounding. Chords don’t sound full, I never have the tone knob wide open but have it way down to try to tame the brightness but it sounds almost out of phase. The luthier never changed pup wiring, only sprayed the switch. Could I have a bad pot/cap or a bad solder maybe? Any ideas on what to check? Thanks!

 

[Snowdogyyz]

Also- when I play the 50’s right behind it through the same amp- it sounds awesome and full.

 

[BDW60]

For 100 bucks you can buy a nice harness wired 50s style and put this all behind you ...

That’s what I’d do but I’m not a patient problem solver.

 

[diogoguitar]

that's very odd. My STD 60's didn't sound like a tele at all. In fact, the bass response was thicker than my traditional 50's (which had alnico 2's).
Can you send a pic of the control cavity?
If it's braided wiring , I can't think about what could possible gone wrong with it

 

[Snowdogyyz]

One little update- I noticed a couple of the strings were touching the intonation screws on the bridge and after looking up pics, I believe it was backwards. Turned that around and some of the spankiness is gone. Still sounds thin to me though. Here are some pics-

 

[diogoguitar]

yeah nothing unusual for a 60's wiring that I can see

 

[Michael Matyas]

If this was my guitar I would check out the pickup selector before ripping into the control cavity. Make a short jumper by soldering a small alligator clip to both ends of a short piece of insulated single conductor wire. This wire only needs to be about four inches long. Remove the cover from the switch cavity and place the toggle in the bridge position. Attach one of the alligator clips to the center connection of the toggle switch and clip the other one onto the lug facing the bottom of the guitar. (If this is confusing, flip the switch down--bridge only--while looking at the back of the switch. Attach the a-clip to the lug of the switch blade that does not move.). Then plug the guitar into an amp and listen to the bridge pickup. You should be getting the full, hot sound of your bridge pickup. Turn the bridge volume to zero and remove the jumper wire. Turn up the volume and listen to the bridge pickup. If you are getting that weak, tinny sound then your toggle switch is dirty/defective and should be replaced. If the guitar sounds the same with and without the jumper wire, then the problem is somewhere else.

This little check takes only a few minutes and costs practically nothing. And if you find that your switch is bad, it will prevent you from the time and expense of rewiring a perfectly good control cavity.

 

[Snowdogyyz]

Thanks for that! Since the change in sound started after I noticed static in the neck position, I decided to go ahead and order a new toggle. I may try what you’re saying as well. Definitely worth $25 to start there before messing with the guts wiring!

 

[coreydm676]

If you have a multimeter I would crank everything up and plug in a guitar cable. Measure the resistance between the ring and the tip on the instrument cable. With all the knobs on 10 the bridge should read around 8k. If you are reading more than a couple kilo ohms off it's sign something is up.

 

[Snowdogyyz]

Just checked with the multimeter. Getting 7.86 bridge and 7.75 neck. That’s normal. Could this still be a toggle switch issue? I have one in route.