New Strat Problem

[boobtube21]

That didn't take long, did it? I've only had the thing a week...

Well, this strat has the typical volume, tone, tone knob setup on it. I'm assuming that's master vol, neck tone, middle tone. I would check the manual, but I can't read Japanese.

My problem is that the bottom tone knob (middle) does nothing. This is particularly odd considering I checked all the wiring with a multimeter and everything checks out as working properly; the pot goes from 0-245k ohms like it should, the wires all have continuity.

One thing I just thought about today at work though, is that the wire for the middle pickup goes from the pickup selector to one of the side terminals on the "middle tone" pot. This looked wrong to me when I first saw it, but I couldn't put my finger on why. Now I'm thinking it should to the middle, so that it always has continuity with the wiper. Right?

I drew this diagram up on Microsoft Paint, sorry it's little primitive, but you get the idea. This is how it is wired:



Am I missing something? Thanks in advance.

[boobtube21]

Thanks Fezz. I guess it is wired to spec, I had a hard time believing a guitar would leave the factory wired incorrectly anyway. It still doesn't work though!

Do you have any suggestions of what I should look for? Like I said, I get continuity through all the wiring, from pickup to selector to pot to cap, and the pot works as it should. The neck pickup's tone control works fine too. I don't understand why it isn't working.

That blender pot looks like it might be a good mod, except then if you want to go from all neck to all bridge, it looks like you would have to spin the knob and flip the selector switch. I custom wired my other strat my own special way, but I'm thinking I may want to keep this one stock. Maybe I'll give it a whirl though to see if I like it after I get this problem sorted out.

[Don]

You want to do something really cool to it?

Do this:

That's my favorite Strat wiring.

I wouldn't have it any other way even though I almost never use the blender pot!
I've even considered having the second tone pot be a dummy but I don't like the idea of something on my guitar not working and I would never leave a hole (or a plugged hole) there.

It seems as though having only the one tone knob makes switch positions 2 & 4 more vibrant.

I recommend Fezz's Strat and Tele wiring all over the internet every chance I get (I hope you don't mind, Fezz).

[cdw2000]

Here's the wiring diagram from Fender for the American Standard Strat:

http://www.fender.com/support/diagra...400_02CPg2.pdf

For this wiring, the center control knob is the tone for the neck pickup and other tone knob is for the middle and bridge pickups.

And here's one for the MIM Standard Strat:

http://www.fender.com/support/diagra...0_4602BPg2.pdf

This diagram looks closest to yours, although the way you have drawn yours, it looks like the neck and middle tone controls are swapped. You should check your wiring against the standard Fender diagram. Note that though Fender shows the capacitor on the other tone knob, electrically they are the same.

If you get no tone control with the switch in the middle position, then maybe there is a bad connection to the tone control. Use your Volt-Ohm Meter or DMM to check continuity between the middle pickup hot wire terminal on the outboard side (pickup side) of the switch and the center terminal on the middle pickup tone knob. This should read close to 0 ohms when the switch is in the middle position or the bridge/middle position.

If not, you have a bad connection in the switch or in the solder joints, try re-flowing the solder joints to the switch and the tone control. Check to see if the switch contacts on the inboard (control) side are damaged or missing. You might need to replace the switch.

Good luck,
Chris

[Gravity Jim]

I did that blender pot mod to my Strat and it is awesome... I use the blender all the time. This is the way Strats should come from the factory.

[boobtube21]

Here's the wiring diagram from Fender for the American Standard Strat:

http://www.fender.com/support/diagra...400_02CPg2.pdf

For this wiring, the center control knob is the tone for the neck pickup and other tone knob is for the middle and bridge pickups.

And here's one for the MIM Standard Strat:

http://www.fender.com/support/diagra...0_4602BPg2.pdf

This diagram looks closest to yours, although the way you have drawn yours, it looks like the neck and middle tone controls are swapped. You should check your wiring against the standard Fender diagram. Note that though Fender shows the capacitor on the other tone knob, electrically they are the same.

If you get no tone control with the switch in the middle position, then maybe there is a bad connection to the tone control. Use your Volt-Ohm Meter or DMM to check continuity between the middle pickup hot wire terminal on the outboard side (pickup side) of the switch and the center terminal on the middle pickup tone knob. This should read close to 0 ohms when the switch is in the middle position or the bridge/middle position.

If not, you have a bad connection in the switch or in the solder joints, try re-flowing the solder joints to the switch and the tone control. Check to see if the switch contacts on the inboard (control) side are damaged or missing. You might need to replace the switch.

Good luck,
Chris

Thanks Chris.

I fixed my drawing so it makes a little more sense. I kind of drew it in a hurry the first time.

Before starting this thread, I did check continuity from these points:

-the pickup to the selector switch
-through the selector switch
-selector switch to the tone pot
-through tone pot
-from tone pot to cap

They all checked out, and all read 0 ohms. I thought I was going crazy, like maybe it really did work and I just didn't use it right when it was put together and plugged in. Pretty hard to figure out a tone knob.

But lo and behold, I strung it back up and plugged it in, and the pot still does nothing.

It does have kind of a weird switch installed, it's not the typical blade type. It's like a little plastic box, sealed closed, all you can see is a row of solder pads on the top.

I'm going to ignore this problem for now, and next time I have to change the strings I'm just going to rewire it custom. I can't stand not having tone control on the bridge anyway.

[cdw2000]

You mean a switch like this?

http://www.allparts.com/details.php?...&stock_id=1358

That's used on a lot of overseas strat style guitars, including the overseas Fenders, I guess.

Your problem is a puzzler ...

[boobtube21]

Yep, that's the Juan, at least it's very similar.

I guess that one's made by Mercedes-Benz, so it must be good.