Volume - tone control conflict.

musicalstash · April 2021

Can anyone give me some advice, just bought a 70s hohner Telecaster custom which has an issue electrics.

When either volume control is on full the tone controls don't work but if you roll off the volume slightly the tone controls then work as they should.

The previous owner swapped out the electrics so must have wired them up wrong but can't figure it out.

Any help would be appreciated.

ICBM · April 2021

Can you post a pic of the wiring?

Funkfingers · April 2021

+1 for photographs of the wiring as it currently stands. It would also help to know the values of the individual pots and any capacitors in the circuit.

The likeliest explanation is that the pickup and selector switch cables have been connected to the wrong terminals at the volume pots.

The terminal at which one end of the tone control capacitor is connected can make a difference to pickup loading.

Treble bypass networks across the terminals of each volume pot could partially negate the tone controls if inappropriate cap values have been chosen.

The original Fender circuit used 1 Meg Ohm pots. Forty five years old budget Japanese pots might be dying on their arses by now.

Final thought. Are either you or the guitar left handed?

musicalstash · April 2021

Funkfingers said:

+1 for photographs of the wiring as it currently stands. It would also help to know the values of the individual pots and any capacitors in the circuit.

The likeliest explanation is that the pickup and selector switch cables have been connected to the wrong terminals at the volume pots.

The terminal at which one end of the tone control capacitor is connected can make a difference to pickup loading.

Treble bypass networks across the terminals of each volume pot could partially negate the tone controls if inappropriate cap values have been chosen.

The original Fender circuit used 1 Meg Ohm pots. Forty five years old budget Japanese pots might be dying on their arses by now.

Final thought. Are either you or the guitar left handed?

thanks - will get some photos done tommorow , its a right handed guitar but the pickup controls are wired upside down ( neck pickup controlled by the bottom controls - bridge by top ones ) so may have been previously played upside down by a left handed guitarist .

Funkfingers · April 2021

More likely, the wiring alterations were performed by somebody who did not understand the conventions of guitar wiring diagrams - either representational drawings or proper electrical schematics.

If your photographs reveal a complete dog's dinner, there is a case for reassembling using all new parts.

musicalstash · April 2021

Hard to show in the photos

Tone control - cap 3rd leg - middle leg(white wire) wired to volume 1st eg

Volume

1st leg earthed to back of pot

2nd leg red wire to 3 way switch

3rd leg red wire from pickup - white wire to middle tone control

Pots are connected by an earth wire to the back.

https://ibb.co/jTRSfX3

https://ibb.co/MpJhdMv

Danny1969 · April 2021

Are the pot values and cap value correct ? That would be first thing I would check assuming pickup selection works correctly

ICBM · April 2021

It does appear to be wired correctly, and it looks like the volume control is probably a B500K (correct). I can’t see the tone pot and cap values but the cap looks the right size to be a typical guitar value.

What are you connecting it to?

musicalstash · April 2021

ICBM said:

It does appear to be wired correctly, and it looks like the volume control is probably a B500K (correct). I can’t see the tone pot and cap values but the cap looks the right size to be a typical guitar value.

What are you connecting it to?

Yes they are all 500k pots (b for volume a volumes , I have rechecked the wiring and cannot see anything touching.

Just strange as when either volume is rolled back even the slightest amount the tone controls work.

The 3 way works fine.

ICBM · April 2021

What are you connecting it to?

Just wondering if it’s some sort of load impedance issue, since the controls work when there’s a small amount of resistance between the tone pots and the output.

musicalstash · April 2021

ICBM said:

What are you connecting it to?

Just wondering if it’s some sort of load impedance issue, since the controls work when there’s a small amount of resistance between the tone pots and the output.

Just a small roland microcube, will try with another amp if I can borrow one.

musicalstash · April 2021

ICBM said:

What are you connecting it to?

Just wondering if it’s some sort of load impedance issue, since the controls work when there’s a small amount of resistance between the tone pots and the output.

Just tried the guitar through an acoustic amplifier and it all works as it should .

Never would have thought that it may have been the amp.

Thanks ICBM saved me alot if hassle as I was going to strip it all back and attempt a rewire.

ICBM · April 2021

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth" - Sherlock Holmes

I actually wondered if it was going to be a Pignose - those have a very low input impedance which does strange things to the way the guitar controls work.

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