Help -- I connected my new pickups, but ...
Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 12:11 pm
Hello everybody and thanks for any help you can provide. I bought some new Mosrite-style pickups for my MIJ Mosrite. I'm not very savvy when it comes to electronics and I don't have a multi-tester. When I received the new pickups and looked at the wiring, the MIJ wiring didn't seem to match the pictures of Mosrite pickup wiring that I had seen. So, I decided to attempt to wire the pickups to match the various pictures that I had collected over the years of vintage Mosrite wiring. Unfortunately, the pics that I have are all a bit murky in places, but I did my best. I had bought two new 500K audio taper pots, but the shafts were the wrong size. So, I kept the original pots and only replaced the capacitor with a .05 cap that I bought.
Anyway, when I first wired the new pickups, they sounded very dull with not a lot of twang. The volume and tone controls worked OK, though. I was surprised at the dull tone and I immediately suspected that it might have something to do with my wiring attempt. After studying the various pictures some more, I realized that I had connected the one end of the capacitor to ground on the tone pot, and then bridged over to the one end point on the volume pot; however, in some, but not all, of the pictures, the one end of the capacitor is grounded on the tone pot and then is bridged across the end points of both pots.
So, I did that and the pickups sounded much better with the twang that I had expected. Unfortunately, now, as soon as I back off the volume pot, the volume cuts out. The guitar sounds great if the volume pot is all the way on, but, as soon as I back it off even a smidgen, the volume is cut off altogether.
So, I took two pictures of the wiring as it is. I'm hoping that you can give me a suggestion. As you can see from the two pictures (you'll have to connect to them), basically, the positive line from the switch is bridged across two of the end points on each pot. The negative line from the switch is grounded on the volume pot. Then, one end of the capacitor goes to the middle point of the tone pot, and the other end of the capacitor is grounded on the tone pot and then bridged across the other two end points on each pot and continues on to ground on the volume pot.
Here are the two pics:
http://www.oberlin.edu/staff/thinders/w ... CF3604.JPG
http://www.oberlin.edu/staff/thinders/w ... CF3612.JPG
Thanks again very much for any help!
Tom
Anyway, when I first wired the new pickups, they sounded very dull with not a lot of twang. The volume and tone controls worked OK, though. I was surprised at the dull tone and I immediately suspected that it might have something to do with my wiring attempt. After studying the various pictures some more, I realized that I had connected the one end of the capacitor to ground on the tone pot, and then bridged over to the one end point on the volume pot; however, in some, but not all, of the pictures, the one end of the capacitor is grounded on the tone pot and then is bridged across the end points of both pots.
So, I did that and the pickups sounded much better with the twang that I had expected. Unfortunately, now, as soon as I back off the volume pot, the volume cuts out. The guitar sounds great if the volume pot is all the way on, but, as soon as I back it off even a smidgen, the volume is cut off altogether.
So, I took two pictures of the wiring as it is. I'm hoping that you can give me a suggestion. As you can see from the two pictures (you'll have to connect to them), basically, the positive line from the switch is bridged across two of the end points on each pot. The negative line from the switch is grounded on the volume pot. Then, one end of the capacitor goes to the middle point of the tone pot, and the other end of the capacitor is grounded on the tone pot and then bridged across the other two end points on each pot and continues on to ground on the volume pot.
Here are the two pics:
http://www.oberlin.edu/staff/thinders/w ... CF3604.JPG
http://www.oberlin.edu/staff/thinders/w ... CF3612.JPG
Thanks again very much for any help!
Tom