Strat tone control not working

Barney

IV just been rehearsing today and noticed that my strat tone control has stopped working ...it has been wired to work on the bridge pickup ....but both tone controls have stopped working just wondering iff any one knows what could be the problem....thanks 

borntohang

Interesting both of them have stopped working. Impossible to diagnose wiring faults without seeing it, but check it with a few other amps and cables just in case - I have a particular amp where some odd interaction of impedance and amp EQ means my tone control doesn't seem to do anything but still works fine on other setups.

PAL

It will probably be a bad solder joint on the switch or pot but you won't know until you have a look. Good Luck.

LionAquaLooper

Most likely a solder joint as PAL said. 

ICBM

Is the ground connection from the neck tone pot to the volume pot a soldered wire between the casings, or does it rely on the contact through the shielding foil? Through the foil is the standard method.

If both have stopped working it’s most likely either that, a bad connection between the two rotors of the switch, or a bad solder joint on the cap.

Barney

Thanks everyone...I will check all this when I change the strings

Funkfingers

Barney said:

 ...it has been wired to work on the bridge pickup 

Was this achieved by:
1) adding a jumper link to the previously unused terminal on the selector switch.
2) disconnecting the wire that previously carried the signal form the middle pickup and reconnecting it to the previously unused terminal?


Option 1 results in the lower tone pot being shared between the bridge and middle pickup.

Option 2 leaves the middle pickup with no tone control.


Fender now insists on configuring some of its "modern" Stratocasters with the lower tone pot dedicated to the bridge pickup and the upper pot governing the other two. If your guitar was originally wired this way and, now, you have altered it, it is possible that signals are being sent to the wrong destinations or not arriving at all.

It is difficult to comment further without seeing photographs of the wiring in your actual guitar.

Barney

Funkfingers said:

Barney said:

 ...it has been wired to work on the bridge pickup 

Was this achieved by:
1) adding a jumper link to the previously unused terminal on the selector switch.
2) disconnecting the wire that previously carried the signal form the middle pickup and reconnecting it to the previously unused terminal?


Option 1 results in the lower tone pot being shared between the bridge and middle pickup.

Option 2 leaves the middle pickup with no tone control.


Fender now insists on configuring some of its "modern" Stratocasters with the lower tone pot dedicated to the bridge pickup and the upper pot governing the other two. If your guitar was originally wired this way and, now, you have altered it, it is possible that signals are being sent to the wrong destinations or not arriving at all.

It is difficult to comment further without seeing photographs of the wiring in your actual guitar.

I just remember putting a link in ...the bridge pickup was working with the lower tone control and the neck with the middle one ...