Verne Bunsen
Hero Member
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- 2,472
Hi all,
I'm working on wiring up a guitar in the Les Paul fashion (2 Vol, 2 Tone, 3-way toggle), and I'm using 4-conductor shielded cable as follows:
Red: Neck volume pot output to switch
Green: Bridge volume pot output to switch
White: Switch output to jack tip
Black: Switch ground lug to output jack sleeve
Bare: Switch ground lug to common ground (pot case)
In function testing the harness, I find that I can hear tapping on the poles of the pickup that is not selected in addition to the pickup that is selected. So if the neck pickup is selected, tapping the neck pickup produces a loud pop as expected and tapping the bridge pickup produces a softer pop. Likewise if the bridge pickup is selected, tapping the bridge pickup produces a loud pop and tapping the neck pickup produces a softer pop. A couple of interesting points yielded by troubleshooting:
If both pickups are disconnected (desoldered and physically separated from the connection) at the switch, tapping either still produces a pop.
If the wires from the volume pot output to the switch are disconnected at both ends, touching either wire induces noise at the guitar output.
I can only gather that the 4-conductor bundle is cross talking? I have a Les Paul that is wired in the same way; I checked it an lo and behold, I can hear soft pops if I tap the unselected pickup. Checking my other Les Paul, which is wired in "vintage" fashion with single conductor braided wire, the unselected pickup is silent. The wirings are identical point-to-point, the only difference is the wire used. Has anyone else encountered this?
Thanks for any insight.
-VB-
I'm working on wiring up a guitar in the Les Paul fashion (2 Vol, 2 Tone, 3-way toggle), and I'm using 4-conductor shielded cable as follows:
Red: Neck volume pot output to switch
Green: Bridge volume pot output to switch
White: Switch output to jack tip
Black: Switch ground lug to output jack sleeve
Bare: Switch ground lug to common ground (pot case)
In function testing the harness, I find that I can hear tapping on the poles of the pickup that is not selected in addition to the pickup that is selected. So if the neck pickup is selected, tapping the neck pickup produces a loud pop as expected and tapping the bridge pickup produces a softer pop. Likewise if the bridge pickup is selected, tapping the bridge pickup produces a loud pop and tapping the neck pickup produces a softer pop. A couple of interesting points yielded by troubleshooting:
If both pickups are disconnected (desoldered and physically separated from the connection) at the switch, tapping either still produces a pop.
If the wires from the volume pot output to the switch are disconnected at both ends, touching either wire induces noise at the guitar output.
I can only gather that the 4-conductor bundle is cross talking? I have a Les Paul that is wired in the same way; I checked it an lo and behold, I can hear soft pops if I tap the unselected pickup. Checking my other Les Paul, which is wired in "vintage" fashion with single conductor braided wire, the unselected pickup is silent. The wirings are identical point-to-point, the only difference is the wire used. Has anyone else encountered this?
Thanks for any insight.
-VB-