Cheap solderless wiring harness kit SG? And further tails of woe, bonfire planned

thecolourbox

Hi all

I have a kit built SG that is pretty crappy and not suited to my playing preferences at all, but as the other half bought me the kit, I'd better make it usable and it'll be nice to actually use it.

It currently has no pickups or wiring fitted. I have two pickups, not sure if they are humbucker or single coils in a humbucker shape but it doesn't really matter too much, they will do. Two wires each. I can't solder and I can't be arsed to learn, I'd rather just pay for a cheapish solderless harness type thing and get the thing working quicker, spending time on some superficial visual changes to the front instead.

Can anybody recommend something that would work? It doesn't need to be great, it just needs to function adequately. Two pickups (which I have), 3 way switch, volume and tone for each ideally but if it's a shared volume and tone that's fine I can "dummy" the other two.

Thank you
Matt

Funkfingers

How deep is the control cavity in your kit guitar? Knowing this will help with choosing pots, a selector switch and an output jack socket that will fit.

The EMG Solderless™ pots tend to be the “dime” sized cases with a PCB and connector prongs mounted on their underside. These and the ready-made interconnect cables occupy a surprisingly large amount of space.

Your kit will require the EMG-HZ compatible 500k pots.

… 

I just looked at the prices for these parts! Forget it. It would be cheaper to pay a tech to solder standard hard-wired parts for you.

thecolourbox

Funkfingers said:

How deep is the control cavity in your kit guitar? Knowing this will help with choosing pots, a selector switch and an output jack socket that will fit.

The EMG Solderless™ pots tend to be the “dime” sized cases with a PCB and connector prongs mounted on their underside. These and the ready-made interconnect cables occupy a surprisingly large amount of space.

Your kit will require the EMG-HZ compatible 500k pots.

… 

I just looked at the prices for these parts! Forget it. It would be cheaper to pay a tech to solder standard hard-wired parts for you.

Thanks for the info as always. It did have the Hetfield EMG set in it before so I know that would fit, but I don't want anything of that high cost in such a dire instrument, that's why I sold them on.

I was hoping that something like this would do the job as I could just plug the existing pickups into the terminal thing:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/133516675957?ul_noapp=true

WezV

that will work.   Not as reliable as a soldered connection though, but it will do what you need

thecolourbox

WezV said:

that will work.   Not as reliable as a soldered connection though, but it will do what you need

Brilliant thank you. I don't need it to be brilliantly hardy and reliable, I'll only play it at home so hopefully it should cover that kind of usage. £35 seems reasonable, I've no chance to take it to a tech to sort it unfortunately

thecolourbox

I swear to god this guitar would be thrown out of my window if the window was big enough to do so.

I bought the above solderless harness thing, confusing diagram with it but got there in the end. Fine. £35.

In trying to get the rest sorted, ie attaching the pickups to the scratchplate, getting them the right height, etc, I've now gone through 3 packets of strings (say another £18 worth), I've broken my screwdriver when I threw it against the wall (no idea what they cost), damaged the wall with said screwdriver, knocked and dented my chest of drawers from swinging the bastard thing around so much. I've also got 5 scratches (one still bleeding) and three holes in my hand from catching them on the underside of the bastarding screws.

I don't have the right screws for the pickups. Tiny hole in the ears of the pickups, only four screws in my possession fit into the hole but they are not long enough so I can't get the pick ups low enough. So when the screws come out of the thing the strings and bridge have to come off again (hence breakages) to try and lift the plate up to reattach.

I was hoping to get it sorted quietly during my breaks working at home so I could show the mrs it was finally up and running etc but now I'm going to have to tell her I've been pissing about with it, have bleeding hands, have wasted YET ANOTHER £60 on this piece of shit and STILL HAVE NO WORKING GUITAR.

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

mart

thecolourbox said:

... I've broken my screwdriver when I threw it against the wall (no idea what they cost), damaged the wall with said screwdriver, knocked and dented my chest of drawers from swinging the bastard thing around so much. I've also got 5 scratches (one still bleeding) and three holes in my hand ....

And this is why people pay other people to do their relic jobs for them.

thecolourbox

mart said:

thecolourbox said:

... I've broken my screwdriver when I threw it against the wall (no idea what they cost), damaged the wall with said screwdriver, knocked and dented my chest of drawers from swinging the bastard thing around so much. I've also got 5 scratches (one still bleeding) and three holes in my hand ....

And this is why people pay other people to do their relic jobs for them.

They don't normally relic the wall though!

thecolourbox

Here's the POS after I threw it the same way as the screwdriver albeit with less success

MattNovak

I can drop you some HB screws in the post if it'll help?

thecolourbox

Thank you that is very kind, it really is, but I think it's past the point of Rescue now as the pickups (which aren't humbuckers, they are single coils in humbucker size) are really quite noisy in my set up so I need to sell them and replace them to get it working anyway. So I've dumped it in the loft and hope that the Mrs doesn't notice or ask me about where it is!

Thank you though, that is a very kind offer!

Funkfingers

Perhaps, if the future Mrs. Colourbox has witnessed the trail of destruction, she will accept that her well-intentioned gift is in terminal decline and can now be consigned to the attic? 

Q1: Are those pickups pukka Eastwood Airline units? 

Q2: Is a working SG something you would actually want?

ICBM

Surely the solution is to just buy a Gibson SG Faded in the same sort of brown finish and hope she doesn't notice...





More seriously, it sounds like it was a nice idea but I think you're just not cut out to do this... in the same way as I'm not cut out to do accountancy or something, I would end up on a roof with a rifle before too long.

Let someone who does this sort of thing for a living - or better, for fun - sort it out. It doesn't actually look like there's too much work (although these things have a habit of being deceptive...) and if I wasn't at the wrong end of the country I'd be happy to have a look at it.

mart

thecolourbox said:

mart said:

thecolourbox said:

... I've broken my screwdriver when I threw it against the wall (no idea what they cost), damaged the wall with said screwdriver, knocked and dented my chest of drawers from swinging the bastard thing around so much. I've also got 5 scratches (one still bleeding) and three holes in my hand ....

And this is why people pay other people to do their relic jobs for them.

They don't normally relic the wall though!

Future generations will praise your name for your innovative approach to relicing.

thecolourbox

Funkfingers said:

Perhaps, if the future Mrs. Colourbox has witnessed the trail of destruction, she will accept that her well-intentioned gift is in terminal decline and can now be consigned to the attic? 

Q1: Are those pickups pukka Eastwood Airline units? 

Q2: Is a working SG something you would actually want?

She's witnessed the damage to the wall this morning, I can tell you that! I have broached the subject though last night in something of a breakdown before Clubbercise (other stresses on at the moment as well).

Q1 - The back of the pickup says this:

Which according to the Eastwood website, the pickups on the Airline deluxe are "Vintage Voiced Single Coil" hence, I presume, the noise problems. That said I've not tried the guitar strung up without my laptop plugged in due to the various problems with adding the pickups so it might be reduced if i used it with the wireless system, though would still sound pants.

Q2 - no not particularly. To be honest I wanted the LP kit but that was more money so I had to settle for this one. I've no doubt the LP kit would have been terrible as well though so at least that is something.

thecolourbox

ICBM said:

 you're just not cut out to do this

Exactly this. It's not worth paying any more money or effort into it, hence the pickups will be removed and it's going in the far corner of the loft only to be seen when I get the Xmas decs out.

WezV

ICBM said:

It doesn't actually look like there's too much work (although these things have a habit of being deceptive...) 

i had a quick look at it a few years back, when @thecolourbox was dropping something else off.

The big issue  with the kit as far as I remember was it needed severe shimming to get the angle right for the TOM.  i

given more time i would have suggested a full pocket shim to correct this.. it was severe enough to justify the full shim.  instead we went with a quick fix of some stacked shims, which left me worried it might be less stable long term.

thecolourbox

WezV said:

ICBM said:

It doesn't actually look like there's too much work (although these things have a habit of being deceptive...) 

i had a quick look at it a few years back, when @thecolourbox was dropping something else off.

The big issue  with the kit as far as I remember was it needed severe shimming to get the angle right for the TOM.  i

given more time i would have suggested a full pocket shim to correct this.. it was severe enough to justify the full shim.  instead we went with a quick fix of some stacked shims, which left me worried it might be less stable long term.

I am grateful for that though as that did resolve that issue to be fair. You also did something with the nut

But since then, every set of pickups have buzzed like a bastard, even the EMGs buzzed, hence my idea to remove the element of my shit soldering by buying a solderless harness but it's still buzzing and I can't remove the bushing thing for the bridge to check the ground wire is in properly.

The neck is also not comfortable, that might be preference rather than it being crap but still, there's no incentive to get it fixed other than a moaning Mrs. The neck is too flat, feels long as the body is so far back, I can't find any of the screws for it and to be fair, an SG isn't an instrument that is of any use to the styles I play. I've just struggled to accept it's a pile of shit, to be honest

It'll be fine in the loft, hopefully the heat will warp it or the damp will rot it so at least then I have the "ahhh it's not salvageable now, what an awful shame" excuse

ICBM

WezV said:

The big issue  with the kit as far as I remember was it needed severe shimming to get the angle right for the TOM.  i

given more time i would have suggested a full pocket shim to correct this.. it was severe enough to justify the full shim.

That's a shame. That reminds me of one of those cheap Made In Hong Kong knock-offs of Airfix kits you could get in the 1970s - none of the parts really fitted properly, and to assemble one successfully needed about as much skill as to make the model from scratch.

thecolourbox said:

But since then, every set of pickups have buzzed like a bastard, even the EMGs buzzed, hence my idea to remove the element of my shit soldering by buying a solderless harness but it's still buzzing and I can't remove the bushing thing for the bridge to check the ground wire is in properly.

That won't have been the problem - you don't need a string ground with EMGs.

(There is an easy way to check if it's grounded, but no need to bother now.)

thecolourbox said:

The neck is also not comfortable, that might be preference rather than it being crap but still, there's no incentive to get it fixed other than a moaning Mrs. The neck is too flat, feels long as the body is so far back, I can't find any of the screws for it and to be fair, an SG isn't an instrument that is of any use to the styles I play.

The end.

Move on.

I don't like SGs either for the same reasons, to be honest .

It's unfortunate that it was a present, but it's clearly causing you frustration and annoyance rather than any pleasure at this point.

Take off any parts that are worth anything, sell them on here, and buy yourself a pedal or something useful with the proceeds...

Funkfingers

thecolourbox said:

She's witnessed … something of a breakdown before Clubbercise (other stresses on at the moment as well).

Does this mean that you are eminently clubbable?

thecolourbox said:

The back of the pickup says … Airline Deluxe are "Vintage Voiced Single Coil"

I have a possible use for those. 

thecolourbox

Funkfingers said:

thecolourbox said:

She's witnessed … something of a breakdown before Clubbercise (other stresses on at the moment as well).

Does this mean that you are eminently clubbable?

Yes, assuming the 2020 definition of clubbable is that I can jump around with glowsticks to to cheesy 90s dance music. Only love can set you free.

Funkfingers said:

thecolourbox said:
The back of the pickup says … Airline Deluxe are "Vintage Voiced Single Coil"

I have a possible use for those. 

If you PM me your address (not sure I still have it) I'll pop them in the post to you when I get chance