Strat P/up wiring question. Unhappy customer

Lozboy

Sold a set of prewired strat pups recently. Buyer informs me
"Wire off from volume to switch , have soldered this correct to your picture. Front pick up doesn’t work , was this ok before?"
Everything was working before. Can some one advise on what the problem could be? 
I have asked him to check the wiring but there are so many variations on the net.
  Heres the original photos of pick ups in situ 
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zJ6Wi8D3AjwDgnc96

  Thanks
 

Funkfingers

Impossible to comment without seeing the wiring as it is now, with the buyer.

It would help to know which end of the wire between the volume pot and the selector switch had become detached. (Most probably at the switch.) This would restrict the number of ways in which the "repair" could have gone wrong. 

Most likely error would be connecting the wire to the wrong terminal on the selector switch.

If, as described, the front/neck position pickup produces no output when selected alone, does it contribute any signal to the neck/middle combination?

It occurs to me that the wiring circuit could be restored correctly but the pickup has been damaged. If the buyer chose to change the pickup covers, rough handling could damage the turns of the coil or the start/finish runs across the fibreboard baseplate. The buyer can test the offending pickup for coil continuity with a DC resistance meter.

Lozboy

Requested a photo ASAP. So lets see........but thanks

Lozboy

1

Lozboy

Lozboy

OK top photo is customers Vol pot - Switch resolder job.
Bottom photo original working Vol pot - Switch solder.
NB It is the front pup that is not working.
Position 2 on switch works but no noticeable difference in tone to Position 3.

Lozboy

Othher pups work so I assume the resolder was correct. 
Any suggestions on what to check next?
Resolder the front pup?
Take areading from the pup eylets? If he has a meter of course.
All suggestions welcome.

Funkfingers

Lozboy said:

Position 2 on switch works but no noticeable difference in tone to Position 3.

That suggests that the centre pickup is contributing but the "front" pickup is not.

•

PEDANTRY CORNER
We need to synchronise our terminology. 

#1 - When it comes to pickup positions, I consider the adjectives front and back to be Americanisms. The convention appears to be that front indicates neck/Rhythm position and back/rear indicates bridge/Treble position.

#2 - The most common numbering convention on five-way lever selector switches is 1 = bridge, 5 = neck. Forum magus, ICBM, prefers 1 = neck, 5 = bridge. i.e. The positions as they would be viewed from left to right on a right-handed guitar.

•

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I notice that the pickguard changes between the seller and buyer photographs. Somebody must have set to with screwdriver and spanner to shift all of the wiring assembly between the two 'guards.

Ample opportunity to sever a fine copper wire.

Lozboy

Pretty sure in this conversation position 1 is the neck position .
"Position 2 works but I can’t differentiate any sound change from middle position 3"
  I took the pups out. I checked the pups ,switch Vol, tone pots out of the pickguard before I sent it.
No strings used a screw. driver to tap pups.

ICBM

In the pic above it looks like the neck pickup wire is connected to the middle pickup terminal instead of to the correct one. This would produce exactly the result you're getting, no sound in the neck position and the same sound in the neck/middle and middle positions. A clearer view of the switch from the side might confirm that as it's not quite perfectly visible.

Or you can tap the pickup poles with a screwdriver while the guitar is connected to the amp to determine which are working in all of the switch positions. If it is this, you should get: none, neck and middle, neck and middle, all three, bridge.

Further pedantry corner: a thing in a guitar that produces a signal is a pickup, or if you *must* abbreviate it, a p/up. A "pup" is a young dog, or a maddeningly annoying Americanism .

fretfinder

Sorry, but in a sane world #1 is obviously bridge pickup and #5 neck! 





*Ymmv.

OilCityPickups

That wiring is  a mess - personally I'd totally re-do that. The pickup grounds are best twisted and soldered in one place - the soldering looks like pigeon poop, and all the wiring is left too long and messy -  sorry but  that's a bit of a dog's breakfast. 

Lozboy

Situation now resolved partial refund issued. 
No more help needed