Please help me!

Bluesman1989

A somewhat tired and irritated guitarist in need of some trouble shooting please!

After fitting some new pickups to my Strat, I can only get the middle pickup to work - it works in positions 2, 3 and 4. 

I took the old pickups out. Put the new ones in. Was sure I wired it up properly. Looked at wiring diagrams. Consulted a YouTube video. Definitely done right...I've even tried putting them in the wrong places haha

Anybody out there experienced this? And before I order a new switch and have the same thing happen, do you know what I'm doing wrong/how to fix it?

drofluf

Have you some pictures of the wiring?

It won’t help me diagnose the problem but when I had a problem with my Tele some knowledgeable folk were able to help 

zedhex

I once got caught by something similar to this. It was caused by the conductive paint I used to shield the control cavity. I tested the pickups when they were on the scratchplate (this was on a Strat), and they worked fine. But when I fitted it, I had some wires that were shorted out against the control cavity, and the pickups didn't work. You can also get the same effect if you use conductive paint on the inside of the cable jack cavity - quite often on Strats, the tip of your jack actually touches the wood of the body. If there is conductive paint on it, it will also short out.

Funkfingers

Another request for photographs, please.

Bluesman1989 said:

After fitting some new pickups to my Strat, I can only get the middle pickup to work - it works in positions 2, 3 and 4. 

I took the old pickups out. Put the new ones in. Was sure I wired it up properly. Looked at wiring diagrams. Consulted a YouTube video. Definitely done right...I've even tried putting them in the wrong places haha

Anybody out there experienced this?

You might very well have followed schematic diagrams and video demonstrations perfectly BUT that only works if you have the same version of the switch as appears in the diagrams.

Fender USA almost always uses switches that follow the CRL contact layout. Some Japanese switches transpose the poles. This places the common/wiper terminals at the "wrong" ends as far as the diagrams are concerned.

TTony

1.  Just check that the pickups are working - use a multimeter.  Unlikely to be the problem, but then the cause so often is unlikely!

2.  Connect the first pickup to the switch lugs, and the switch output (and pickup earth) directly to the jack socket.  Does it work?  Do that outside the guitar (just tap the pole pieces with a screwdriver and listen for the "click" from the amp).

3.  If that simplest-of-simple connections doesn't work, then is your switch busted?  

4.  If it does work, then connect the second pickup to the switch & jack socket.  Test whether both pickups pass the tap/click test with the switch in the appropriate position.

5.  Time for pickup #3, repeat above.

Once you've proved that the simplest-of-simple wiring works, then you can add in the volume and tone pots (one at a time) and check after each addition.

Use test/jumper wires with crocodile clip ends if you don't want to be continually soldering/un-soldering/re-soldering each test connection - that'll also avoid risk of overheating the switch or pots.

Wiring is pure logic (with a bit of added solder), so just work through the circuit logically, one step/connection at a time.

Been there - many times - and that's worked for me

Bluesman1989

Thanks for the input gang! Sorry for the delay, its turned into a busy few days, but I'm hoping to get right into this tomorrow - photos up soon! Thanks again!

Bluesman1989

Sorry for the continued lack of photos. I don't have a URL for any of them and no Imgur or w/e BUT after finally getting the time to get it all apart I think I've found the problem! On the middle pickup the wire (the actual winds) are coming neatly over the sides and solderd underneath. For the bridge and neck, they're broken. 

Can I make myself a couple of dainty little link wires? Does it have to be the same 42awg fomvar blah blah blah stuff?

Funkfingers

If the ends of the copper coil reach the soldering eyelets and the joints are good, the signal should pass to the selector switch.

What model of Stratocaster do you have? The ones with plastic pickup bobbin forms can be problematic.

Bluesman1989

It's a Clapton Strat. The original electrics are long gone! And this will be it's 4th or 5th set of pickups. It's got a Northwest Guitars Gilmour inspired harness and I've just chucked some Slow Hand BKPs in. 

I can see a slight "indent" where the wire would have gone over the top and round to the soldered underneath and loose bits up top. 

Plugging the pickups direct into the jack, I get nothing with a screwdriver, but if I poke at the solder under the pickup I get a nice buzzing sound. I'm hopefull they're not dead and it's a semi simple-ish fix. Now to decide to do it the cheap way, or take the easy route and phone a professional