Wiring lengths, Tone cap questions

[LushTone]

I've been informed that my wiring must have a mistake, since my tone knob cuts all volume when all the way down. Is this so?

Also, as seen in the picture, I used longer wire lengths to allow for my pickguard to be set alongside the body during removal. Does anyone think this added capacitance is substantial to tone loss?

I appreciate the feedback! :headbang:

 

[line6man]

Does anyone think this added capacitance is substantial to tone loss?

The capacitance is so low that you probably cannot even measure it without equipment that costs as much as a car. Capacitance is a concern with shielded wire, but you are using unshielded wire for your connections between pots. Even if you were using shielded wire, the capacitance of a few inches is negligible to this application. Even if you could manage to make the capacitance appreciable, then you would only hear the difference when analyzing the waveforms in recordings. Even if you could manage to make the capacitance so extreme that there was a noticeable difference, then it would be no different than rolling your tone control back a hair.

If you want a practical demonstration of this, to convince yourself more thouroughly, try an A/B test between two identical instrument cables that differ by a small length. How much of a difference do you hear when you make a cable six inches longer?

 

[LushTone]

Alright, that's good news. I figured as much, but the idea of wasting any of Fralin's pickup tone is worth looking into!

Thanks! ccasion14:

 

[Logrinn]

It looks right, but it's hard to be sure. I can't really see if there's a connection on the third lug on the second pot (behind the orange capacitor) to ground. If so, I'm guessing that would make it a volume control instead (or also).

But it looks like the wiring supplied by Seymour Duncan, which should work:

Maybe a short somewhere we're not seeing?

 

[Fat Pete]

Looks like the input lead of the leftmost cap might be touching the back of the pot.

 

[TroubledTreble]

What Fat Pete said. It's shorting out.

The wire lengths used to wire the controls is insignificant. Consider that each pickup has over a mile of wire of a very small gauge. The wire used to complete the controls is large and short by comparison. Very little resistance or capacitance.

I love your finish. Very nice. I like that it's not too shiny and you can see some grain. Very organic and comfy.

 

[LushTone]

Looks like the input lead of the leftmost cap might be touching the back of the pot.

Thanks, ccasion14: so this would cause the tone pot to cut all volume when at zero?

 

[LushTone]

What Fat Pete said. It's shorting out.

The wire lengths used to wire the controls is insignificant. Consider that each pickup has over a mile of wire of a very small gauge. The wire used to complete the controls is large and short by comparison. Very little resistance or capacitance.

I love your finish. Very nice. I like that it's not too shiny and you can see some grain. Very organic and comfy.

Thanks, the Minwax wipe on poly is really smooth. My goal was to have a really thin finish and this worked out great after some redos of the India ink (contains shellac), which drys really fast. I had to develop a technique to keep the ink thin, and used the same method for the Minwax. Basically I just used tshirt rags, but had to barely/slowly apply the finishes section by section to prevent bubbles. It was a slow process but worth it. The fingerprints in the cavity are from attempting an oil stain and not liking the look as much as I thought.

 

[line6man]

As for the tone control problem; does the tone control behave normally, when it isn't turned all the way down? It is possible that you have a shunted or leaky capacitor. There could also be a problem with the pot itself.