Rewiring Tele (seeking advice)

[mybud]

Long story short, this gadget below arrived in today's mailbox. It's a genuine Fender 4 way Tele switch to address some problems with my Tele neck pickup.



Details follow: Of late, my Tele neck pickup doesn't function according to plan. There's a big discrepancy between signal levels between the bridge and neck pickups. Neck passes some audio but it's hardly there to speak of. Once in a while it functions ok but generally not.

I tried a temporary touchup on some suspect joints but this hasn't resolved the situation.

I assume (always risky) that the switch is shot. Hence the replacement as above.

The plan: I aim to replace all the offboard wiring (pots, selector switch, and so on). The current setup is two 250k pots and a 47nF cap. I have two B500k pots and would like to use these to avoid special ordering two pricey 250k replacements.




I'm following the four way selector wiring instructions as detailed by https://sixstringsupplies.co.uk/. They claim that 500k pots increase the guitar's brightness which TMM is undesirable. So I thought of increasing the cap's value, say to 56 or 68nF to compensate and start out with the darker sound which I myself prefer.

The alternative is to place two 510k resistors across the appropriate pot terminals, which would at least theoretically get me in the correct ballpark (nearer 250k) and keep the 47nF cap in place. I'm not overly concerned about the pots' taper, since I generally set volume to max and have a preferred tone setting (dark, as before).

Apologies for the lengthy post. Any advice, guidance, or public castigation (within reason) for jumping to conclusions on my part gladly received.

 

[BuddytheReow]

Have you tried just raising the pickup height so the volumes match? The simplest answer could also be the best answer instead of rewiring. Still, rewiring a guitar is pretty fun, lol

 

[mybud]

Have you tried just raising the pickup height so the volumes match? The simplest answer could also be the best answer instead of rewiring. Still, rewiring a guitar is pretty fun, lol

Thanks for the swift reply, Buddy.

True indeed, and no I haven't. It was working fine before on my much-abused (not by me) instrument.

Dings in the neck and fretboard, pots loose, switch doodad detached*, non-functional (intermittent) jack, and so on, suggesting the previous owner's treatment of the guitar was less than subtle or sedate.

*I'm surmising the switch is at fault because the little black doodad on top was detached from the assembly, suggesting (perhaps) that the guitar was dropped onto the switch at some point.

 

[andrewsrea]

Have you measured the ohms of the neck pickup with a DMM?

 

[mybud]

Have you measured the ohms of the neck pickup with a DMM?

No, but will do so asap. Thanks.

 

[mybud]

Bridge: 9k7
Neck: 9k8

Measured from hot to guitar ground in each case.

 

[gonzo]

The pickups are fine. Clean up the old pots if it's too bright. Clean up the wiring. 4 way switch? Do the parallel/series option in the middle two positions. Clean the jack plug.

 

[mybud]

The pickups are fine. Do the parallel/series option in the middle two positions.

Thanks, @gonzo. Good advice, gratefully received.

 

[Domingo L]

I believe the neck pickups ground wire that goes to the casing must be clipped, then wire according to the diagram. I would just use a 250k pots and a .047 cap. Keep it simple

 

[mybud]

I believe the neck pickups ground wire that goes to the casing must be clipped, then wire according to the diagram. I would just use a 250k pots and a .047 cap. Keep it simple

Thanks, noted.

 

[giovanni]

I would try temporarily wiring the neck pickup to the output to confirm that you do get signal. I agree with you that the switch is probably busted but better cover your bases. Keep in mind that changing the pot value, even with a different cap value, will change the guitar output impedance, which may or may not be desirable. If you use a fuzz right after the guitar and rely on the volume pot for cleanup, you may find that it works very differently with the 500K pot. Not to say it will be worse, that’s a matter of personal taste.

 

[mybud]

I would try temporarily wiring the neck pickup to the output to confirm that you do get signal. I agree with you that the switch is probably busted but better cover your bases. Keep in mind that changing the pot value, even with a different cap value, will change the guitar output impedance, which may or may not be desirable. If you use a fuzz right after the guitar and rely on the volume pot for cleanup, you may find that it works very differently with the 500K pot. Not to say it will be worse, that’s a matter of personal taste.

Thanks, good suggestions and noted. I'm hoping it's the switch but testing the pickup directly as you suggest is a called-for reality check on its health and functionality (or otherwise). Then returning a dysfunctional pickup will be the way forward but at least this wouldn't entail unwiring all the connections.

 

[spi]

It sounds like a good excuse to get new pickups.

Any idea what you got in there? >9K for a neck seems pretty rare for teles unless its a stacked humbucker.

 

[spi]

Also, pictures of the tele would help... not in solving the problem but just in spreading cheer.

 

[andrewsrea]

I agree with @gonzo that the pickups are good. I am guessing: pickup heights, or got the wiring out of phase, or other wiring error,or switch malfunction.

 

[mybud]

Thanks all for the considered responses.

Sorry for not mentioning that I did fix all the initial problems (funky jack sockets and so on) before replacing the original single coils with Fender ultra noiseless vintage Tele pickups ordered from Japan. Regarding cheer , will post pics in the morning.

Thanks again.

 

[mybud]

Ok, major progress to report and thanks once again to all those who chimed in on my issue.

Following @giovanni, I discovered that pressing down on the neck pickup (bottom E end) brings the signal back to life. So the pickup is functioning, which eliminates the hassle of returning it to the merchant, blah blah blah.

I'm assuming that the exposed poles at the back of the pickup are somehow shorting to the guitar's earth ground. I'm going to begin by heat shrinking the bare earth contact to eliminate this concern first of all.

In the meantime, I've disconnected the pickup's cover ground in preparation for the 4-way installation. Will report back on progress.



To accommodate @spi's need for cheer, please see pic of unsuspecting Tele before the new pickup installation.

Thanks again, y'all. You folks rock.

 

[Joben Magooch]

So if I'm tracking correctly, you already got the Fender Ultra Vintage Noiseless tele pickups?

If so, two things of note, perhaps....

First is - as I understand it - they already have a separate ground wire for the pickup cover. Double check this, but I'm pretty sure the green wire already connects directly to the cover. If that's the case you shouldn't have to remove/separate anything, you only need to do this with a two-wire neck pickup where the cover's jumpered to the pickup ground.

Second - in my experience (I have the same pickups currently in my tele) they are VERY low output compared to more "traditional" pickups. What you are describing sounds abnormal, but IMO even when functioning as intended they are much lower output than you might be expecting.

Regarding some of your other queries, I would personally rather use a resistor to change the pot value to roughly 250k than using 500k pots as-is with a larger capacitor. I won't claim to know the specific maths of it but I'm *preeeeetty* sure that at wide-open, 250k(ish) w/ 0.47uF is going to be less bright than 500k w/ 0.068uF or similar.

 

[mybud]

Thanks, @Joben Magooch. I think I've figured out the problem.

I noticed when checking the neck pickup that reinstalling the pickguard was tricky: IOW, experiencing some resistance in getting it to lie flush. So, it follows that this new one is deeper (or taller as you prefer) than the original one I replaced. I didn't notice this fact during the installation.

The intermittent disconnection (above) suggests that one of the coil wires has worked loose due to the pressure on the whole assembly. I did continuity test the wire from each pickup to the mounting board end and this was ok. In which case, it can surely only be the coil wire detaching as I suggested.

In any case, I think this is a job for a pro guitar tech because the cavity beneath the bridge pickup needs some routing (and I have no woodworking tools or skills to speak of).

At the same time I'll get the four way switch professionally installed. Whether or not the pots need replacing, I don't think that's necessary (which solves the adjusted cap value issue and keeps the whole process simple). I could probably do it at a push but would rather trust this task to specialist hands, not my own.

Thanks again, everyone, for your gracious help and advice.