What am I doing wrong??? (4-way tele)

[runem]

What am I doing wrong!?!

So… I put together my new Tele (flash will come when it’s 100 percent done). Bought a set of 51’ nocaster pickups and a Fender 4-way switch and soldered everything according to the wiring diagram that came with the switch. http://deaf-eddie.net/tdpri-drawings/tele4way.jpg
I’m no luthier, but I have soldered my own guitars for years now, and my work might not be pretty, but it usually works. But for some reason I simply can’t figure out, the 4th position just won’t work as intended.

1st, 2nd and 3rd position works just fine and sounds great. No noise, perfect balance and everything. But when I set the switch for the 4th position it just sounds exactly like the 3rd with just the neck pickup activated.
I lifted the ground from the neck pickup and added a new ground from the pickupcover. That works just fine, so I presume the issue must somehow be related to the switch/wiring.
But I can’t figure this one out to be honest. Everything is working besides the bridge-pickup in the 4th position. So the pickups must be working just fine…
Of course I can play the guitar like this, but I want the damn 4th position to work when I paid extra for the bugger 

I’m without a proper camera at the moment, as I’m waiting for the new one to arrive. So the pictures are taken with a pocketcam. Hope someone can see something from them anyway.

I know the soldering looks like shit. But it all works and I went over every little point again…

I guess/hope a techie would know exactly what part of the wiring must be wrong or flawed when bridge aint working in 4th position?

 

[Dan025]

I'm posting from a phone right now so I can't look at everything but I think I know what's going on. Hard to describe but I will help you out tonight if someone else doesn't. Just be patient.

 

[runem]

I'm posting from a phone right now so I can't look at everything but I think I know what's going on. Hard to describe but I will help you out tonight if someone else doesn't. Just be patient.

Great. On my way to bed. (Midnight here).

I'll login first thing in the morning.

 

[runem]

Hmm... Seems a bit of soldering-tin has run into the switch without me notising it and messed things up good... Crap.

Gonna order a new switch and be more carefull. Hopefully that should do the job!...

 

[Dan025]

Sorry I didn't get to this last night. Glad you found the problem. I was gonna say either the pickups are switched or you have continuity from the black wire of the neck p/up to ground still.

 

[Cagey]

Hmm... Seems a bit of soldering-tin has run into the switch without me notising it and messed things up good... Crap.

Gonna order a new switch and be more carefull. Hopefully that should do the job!...

Most of those joints look cold, which sorta says you were feeding the solder to the iron instead of the joint. You need the joint to be hot enough to melt solder, not the iron. It also means you need an iron hot enough to do that in a hurry without your having to leave it on the part long enough to burn it. You touch the iron to the joint for a second or two, at which point you start feeding solder into the joint, not the iron. If it doesn't melt and flow, your iron is too cold, the joint is too cold, or you're not holding your mouth right. Solder will always melt on the iron, but it does no good there. It's just satisfying to see something happen, even while it does you no good.

If the joint is hot enough to behave, you'll see the solder flow like butter on a moderately hot pan, and you won't be tempted to overfeed it. Just be careful to get off the thing with iron lest you burn the part up. It all happens pretty fast, so put your beer down.

Also, be aware that a good solder joint begins with a good mechanical joint. Twist the wire up and bend it over through the solder tab as if you weren't going to solder it but still wanted to make a good connection. Then you don't need three hands to do what needs to be done, and you'll have a strong joint. Solder has little structural strength, and it's not glue. It's just there for insurance.

 

[Dan025]

^^ good advice. i recommend about a 45 watt iron. marginal soldering irons sometimes make things worse. but never solder to pots if you can avoid it. the factory does this to save literally about a penny(but they save that penny a few million times every year). but unless you get really good at soldering quicky you WILL burn up pots and why make it hard on yourself in the first place. use solder rings or even crimp on ring terminals for grounding.

 

[Cagey]

Right. I'm a big fan of 45 watt units. The 25 watters make you wait so long to heat the joint you burn things up waiting for them to get hot enough to melt solder. More than 45 watts doesn't give you enough time to do anything before they burn things up, even if you're good. Plus, the damn things practically vaporize flux. And soldering to pots is the worst thing you can do to the poor little buggers. They're not designed for it. Always use ground lugs.