Wiring Question for Non-Warmoth guitar

[reluctant-builder]

Well, I did it.

I tested the pickups before restringing and it seemed that both were going at once regardless of in which position was the toggle. I was flipping the wrong toggle :tard: ... but rather than realizing it and just going to the correct toggle -- oh no, that would be too easy -- I desoldered the damned switch before it dawned on me it wasn't the pup toggle I was flicking.

I think I inhaled enough solder fumes to cause permanent retardation.

After the desoldering detour -- and needing to rather sloppily fix it because despite leaving enough slack to do the initial wiring job, I did not leave slack enough to pull out the switches for any after-the-fact work. Rookie mistake, I guess -- I had everything back in place and gave it a test, and everything works. No hum. Not even a peep. Crystal clear sound from one, the other and both pickups.

My one mistake is that I soldered the pickup switch (and likely the tone filter switch, since I applied the same misguided logic to that) in reverse. However, I am leaving it as it is; this was the most frustrating, difficult and annoying experience to which I've subjected myself in quite a long, long time ... and it was not nearly rewarding enough to make all the fumes I inhaled, all the curses I uttered, all the brain-cells I've killed, all the cancer I may develop ... worth it.

I did manage to avoid soldering to the backs of my potentiometers, though, so huh-frickin'-zah to that.

 

[Cagey]

Hehe! We all do dumb things, and you gotta wonder about fumes and nerves and such. For example, yesterday I was between clear coats on a body and had just finished level-sanding again, and went to grab the cleaner juice & a rag to clean the thing up. Thing is, I grabbed the lacquer thinner instead of the naptha without thinking. I had the cap off and was just about to soak the rag in it and start wiping before I finally realized what I was doing. That would have been tragic. I'm on the last coats, so that would have been a lot of work down the drain.

As for the wires being short on you, that's one of those things I mentioned before that you learn as you go and don't repeat on the next one. Always leave a bit of a "service loop" so you can move/add/repair things later if need be. Doesn't hurt anything, and can save you a ton of grief.

But, congratulations on gettin' 'er done! That's gotta be a relief. I know you've been agonizing over it for a long time.

 

[reluctant-builder]

Thanks. I'm so bummed that I took out that switch; the connections were so nice ... the solder joints were good ... there really wasn't a single problem with the guitar. But, since pulling it out and then having to force it back into its configuration in a really confined space, it pops when I use it. I suppose I should be thankful that I don't use it that often, but it's still disappointing. And the reversed switch thing ... I thought I'd divined how the toggle worked: flip the switch one way and the opposite tags were pressed together. I thought that meant a connection was made, completing a circuit, so when the lever was down, I affixed the bridge wire to the terminal on the switch opposite the toggle direction. Obviously, I over-thought it.

Glad you managed to avoid a travesty with your work. I feel exceedingly slow this morning, which doesn't bode well for the effect on me had by the fumes.

 

[Cagey]

Don't worry about the solder fumes. If they could affect you, I'd have been in trouble 100 years ago. I'd wager I've made tens of thousands of solder joints.

 

[reluctant-builder]

Holy Hell. I played her today and the difference is astounding. My Swede, stock, was a good guitar, capable, made some nice music, but it always felt like an axe with unrealized potential. Since I replaced the stock pots and rewired her with the vintage braided wire, I am absolutely blown away by the tone and character I can get from her. It's amazing. I haven't even wired up the tone pots, yet. No tone pots, no capacitors, just pure pickup output tempered only by the volume knobs, and the result is profound.

While rewiring the guitar was a @#$%^ and a crucible, I'm very happy with the results. I'm chagrined about the reverse toggle, but I'm going to have to put it out of my mind since I don't have enough slack to fix it and I'm nowhere near the mood for starting from scratch. But the sound ... my goodness, the sound. What a vindication.  :icon_biggrin:

 

[Corey P.]

Just think how glad you'll be for the practice when your Jazzmaster parts arrive.  :icon_thumright:

 

[reluctant-builder]

Just think how glad you'll be for the practice when your Jazzmaster parts arrive.  :icon_thumright:

And just in time, too! Due to arrive on Wednesday.  :toothy10: