Pickup/output/potentiometer issue and guitar driving me nuts. I love the guitar but....

adamm82

The end may be near. 

It has a push pull knob. when it's normal position their is some output but it's very low volume and tinny sounding. it just has a clean tone. when I pull it to split it it works fine. I've looked around multiple times can't see any faults with the wiring I moved it around a bit still no luck. occasionally it fixes it self.


I have this Kramer the 84 I bought a couple of years ago. I really like playing it I have it on the classifieds looking to trade. But that aside. I like the neck and the build of the guitar. The things that drive me insane are the floyd rose which I wish would work like it was supposed to. and this new pick up problem. I am useless at setting up guitars so have no idea.  watched every video possible about floyd roses and stuff. 

I don't have much time to practice and when I do I just want to pick up a guitar and want to play it. but everytime I pick this guitar up I have just can't play there is always tuning issues. I tried so many different strings on it but it's always sharp or flat and now this pick up problem just makes me leave it unplayed most of the time. 

I love the guitar I was thinking to go to my local tech but he charges £75 for a floyd rose set up and i don't want to spend the money. 

it's a shame to keep it keep it around unplayed as it's just frustrating. i just pick up my les paul or strat everytime as it's simple without all this headache. would be nice to sit down and play it not get a screwdriver out everytime i want to play it.

i've thought about selling it often, but everytime i do i stop myself. i don't know why as i the past i've had no problem to sell guitars i've owned.

Alegree

Check you haven't got a dodgy push/pull or a grounding issue on one of the active lugs in the problematic position. Sounds like it would be a reasonably basic fix as your symptoms wouldn't be caused by a huge number of things.

I've never had a tech setup a guitar of mine - but £75 for a setup even with a floyd sounds extortionate to me. I learned how to setup myself in the space of about a week... it's really not difficult - if you don't have any reason to like the guitar, then you shouldn't fear to break it (although this is exceptionally difficult to do - or so I've heard, I've never damaged one of mine since the day I started twisting the various screws and rods with absolutely no clue what I was doing).

In fact I was planning on doing some video tutorials of various pickup mods and such, I'm sure I could squeeze a basic setup tutorial in if there's interest for it.

ICBM

The push-pull sounds like a faulty switch. How exactly do you have it wired? There are more reliable ways, and less reliable ways - sounds like you have it less reliable. (In the most reliable way, the full output of the pickup always works.) Do you have a pic of the wiring, if you can't easily describe it?

When the Floyd Rose goes out of tune, does it stick in the direction of the last arm movement, or the opposite direction? That will give a good clue as to where the problem is. A Floyd *should* be the most stable bridge there is, if it's working properly.

£75 is not unreasonable for a full set-up on a Floyd starting from scratch, but most set-ups don't need anything like that level of work - adjusting what's there should be simpler, unless you have to dismantle the whole thing for some reason. But you should be able to save that if you can work out what the problem is yourself.

adamm82

I will take a photo of it soon. I haven't adjusted anything since I bought it new. I am useless at setting up guitars. no matter how many instructional vids i've watched. 

Though I may have destroyed it learning Cathedral. 

Alegree

Useless how? What's going wrong?

adamm82

It's hard to explain. i had an old squier from years back and I wanted to try to set it up.

I tied to adjust the truss rod but couldn't really tell if it was moving or not. i adjusted the saddles too and the thing is now completely unplayable. i think maybe i am too nervous to mess around with more expensive guitars.

Alegree

Hold the string at the first and last frets and you can see the bow of the neck. Adjust truss rod from there. I like mine more or less entirely flat. Most people like a tiny gap in the middle under the string.

After that for someone such as myself who likes the action as low as possible, you just adjust the saddles down until they start to buzz on frets - then adjust them just above that point. Sometimes I move a few up a bit to get a little radius going.

With a floyd you'll probably need to adjust the spring claw tighter/looser after you've tuned to get it sitting flat.

If you've got any cheapies use them to practice. 

sweepy

Sounds as though the earth wire from the switch to the pot  isn't connected properly, not uncommon in push/pull and push/push switches

wackojacko

yep - what type of push pull pot is it? is it the classic shape or one of the modern black CTS ones with the printed circuit board? The CTS ones are easier to work with (though ironically a bit more annoying to ground)

As @sweepy says, sounds like a weak ground connection, probably a poor or cold/fractured solder joint.

Or if your soldering is nice, the pot is dodgy.

FelineGuitars

Adam - I see you are in London . Feel welcome to pop down to Feline and we'll have a thorough look at it and diagnose what is going wrong . The diagnosis bit is free and some problems are a quick fix after that and others may require more bench time if you decide to get it sorted (no obligation).

Floyd Roses don't phase me at all as I cut my teeth as a repairman in the late 80 when every guitar had a Floyd or suchlike, and there are common problems  that can put them out of whack.
Barettas or "84 model as they got called on the Music-Yo version are simple enough to sort out though.

We always explain the symptoms and what affects what on a guitar , so it'll be illuminating no matter what.

impmann

Dude, take Mr Feline up on that offer. 

He knows ya know

fandango

@adamm82 ;;  Sometimes, just sometimes, it really is worth paying for things. Like getting your guitar set up properly. I was in that position with a guitar fairly recently. I had a boutique guitar that lost tuning easily, and the electrics were a bit of a bodge from new. I discovered the bridge kept working loose. I was clueless about tinkering to fix it, and I eventually lost all faith in the guitar after spending half as much as it originally cost trying to fix it. I sold it a few weeks ago, and lost a bucket. Despite the great tone I managed to coax out of it on occasion, I don't miss it.

Maybe you are unemployed (don't know if you are) or your missus controls your wallet (why?) and finances are tight, but for goodness sake, you owe it to yourself to sort your guitar out and start enjoying life again.

Feline's offer sounds great, and as you live in London, surely a trip to see them might inspire you?

adamm82

I can afford to do it. just bought 2 guitars in the last month or so but there is something weird that stops me from getting this set up! I have no idea why. maybe i am looking for excuses to get rid of it.  

my other guitars are making up for it as they are all lovely. 

Feline where is your shop?  

FelineGuitars

Croydon - 20 mins south of Centre of London - trains from Victoria, London Bridge , Blackfriars or St Pancras (Thameslink)

Teyeplayer

adamm82 said:

I have no idea why. maybe i am looking for excuses to get rid of it.

If the guitar is badly set-up you are not going to have the easiest time selling it and you will do so at a loss. If you choose to sell, you want the instrument to sell itself and part of that is how easily it plays.

Either way you owe it to that instrument and to yourself to get it sorted, to help you make your mind up if nothing else.