Strat wiring help

[T89Rex]

Hi guys.

I'm in the process of replacing the pickups on an old Squier Strat with Lace Sensors. I believe I've followed the diagram correctly, and the bridge and middle pickups sound fine. The neck pickup however is a way, way weaker signal to the extent that initially I thought I'd somehow grounded the hot wire. But if I turn the amp up loud (loud enough that the middle and bridge pickups are uncomfortably loud) I can hear the neck pickup. The neck tone control also doesn't seem to do anything. I've tried replacing that pot and checking my connections but nothing seems to be working.

Any ideas?

 

[T89Rex]

I should clarify that the problem is the same for positions 1 and 2. Positions 3, 4 and 5 sound normal to my ears.

 

[bagman67]

Maybe try fooling with pickup heights?

 

[T89Rex]

Yeah, tried that. I've had the neck virtually against the strings and the bridge in a low ish height and I still need the amp on 8 for the neck to get what I get from the bridge and middle on 2.

 

[Logrinn]

You could try and measure the resistance of the pickup.
You'd have to desolder it and compare it to one of the (desoldered) working pickups.
The pickup could be faulty and need to be replaced (warranty?).

 

[Axkoa]

Another thing to think of would be your solder joints.

 

[T89Rex]

For anyone playing along at home, the pickup had a short. Back to the shop...

 

[Logrinn]

I hope they replace it.
And I hope we might get some thoughts on how you think they sound and perhaps some sound samples.

 

[T89Rex]

I hope so too. Once I get my recording setup re-established I'll see what I can do about sound samples.

First impression of the middle (silver sensor) and bridge (red sensor) is that they sound much fuller than the stock Squier pickups, which weren't terrible but were nothing special. The red in particular feels very hot. The fourth position doesn't quack as much as the Squier pickups did, which I'm not so sure about. I didn't often use the in-between settings but I feel like when you do, the quack is what you're looking for. I was sceptical about Lace's claim that the sensors increase sustain but my feeling so far is that they have made a difference. Never can tell if that's real or imagined though.