Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Tech => Topic started by: littleredguitars2 on November 12, 2013, 08:06:54 PM

Title: am i screwed?
Post by: littleredguitars2 on November 12, 2013, 08:06:54 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/2AWADc6.jpg)

above is my situation. its my stockholm p90 that came with my prewired pickguard. i didnt realize they cut the lead so short. plus i'm used to working with 4conducter wiring. i want to just use the single volume knob and the p90 thats it. is this cut too short? and it was soldered originally to the pot at the metal part of the wire. not the black part. so what do i do in this situation

thank you everyone in advance.
Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on November 12, 2013, 08:56:40 PM
No - easy to fix
Solder an earth wire to the braided section and solder that wire to back of pot
If the central wire is too short then solder a short length to that wire and attach to tag of pot
You might want to put some tape or heat shrink over that join to prevent short circuits
Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: littleredguitars2 on November 12, 2013, 09:13:37 PM
Is the goal to have the braided part soldered to the back of the pot and have the black part soldered to the empty tag?
Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: King Zog of Albania on November 12, 2013, 10:09:13 PM
Is the goal to have the braided part soldered to the back of the pot and have the black part soldered to the empty tag?

Yes. Although the braid doesn't necessarily have to be soldered directly to the pot, as long as there's an electrical connection then the circuit will work.
Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: littleredguitars2 on November 12, 2013, 10:21:14 PM
ok thats good to know.

and what exactly is an "earth wire"
Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: pagan7 on November 12, 2013, 10:24:25 PM
It would also be a good idea to tease out some of the braid and roll the ends between finger and thumb to provide  a tag to solder the earth wire to , otherwise the heat of the iron might melt through the insulation on the internal wire and cause a short circuit .
Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: littleredguitars2 on November 12, 2013, 10:25:35 PM
It would also be a good idea to tease out some of the braid and roll the ends between finger and thumb to provide  a tag to solder the earth wire to , otherwise the heat of the iron might melt through the insulation on the internal wire and cause a short circuit .

thanks for the tip. as soon as i figure out what an earth wire is i should be good to go haha
Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: Kiichi on November 12, 2013, 10:29:49 PM
Earth wire is the ground, plain and simple. One wire caries the signal, one grounds the whole thing, closes the circuit properly. Thats why all PUs have at least 2 wires.
Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: pagan7 on November 12, 2013, 10:30:31 PM
The earth wire is exactly as it sounds , it earths the case of the pup and the back of the pot the the output socket and the braided screen of the cable to the amp so there's no humming or  crackle  , oh , and the bridge should be earthed too.
Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: littleredguitars2 on November 12, 2013, 10:33:20 PM
so is it anything special or is it just a term for the job its doing? i have some 22 (maybe 24) gauge stranded wire lying around. can i just use that?
Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: 38thBeatle on November 12, 2013, 10:36:24 PM
In UK we say Earth, in USA you say Ground.
Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: pagan7 on November 12, 2013, 10:41:32 PM
any insulated wire will do . idealy with a core between 1 and 2 mm , and regards earthing , remember back to the days when some guitarist were actually electricuted by dodgy amps with no proper earthing , you should be able to trace the earth from the guitar to the amp to the power supply of your house , which is physically earthed to the , err , earth , by and thick copper wire to an even thicker copper rod driven into the ground.
Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: littleredguitars2 on November 12, 2013, 11:00:11 PM
In UK we say Earth, in USA you say Ground.

i started to figure that with what everyone was saying haha. but now that makes much more sense.

thanks for everything everyone. you guys are always a ton of help
Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: Dave Sloven on November 13, 2013, 01:13:40 AM
What happened to all the braided outer layer?  Did you pull it off?  I would have expected there to a length of shielding with solder in it that had been soldered to the back of your pot, roughly from where your braid ends to where that fuzzy bit is, something like this:

(http://i.imgur.com/4kPSKTn.jpg)

Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: littleredguitars2 on November 13, 2013, 01:32:12 AM
What happened to all the braided outer layer?  Did you pull it off?  I would have expected there to a length of shielding with solder in it that had been soldered to the back of your pot, roughly from where your braid ends to where that fuzzy bit is, something like this:

(http://i.imgur.com/4kPSKTn.jpg)

surprisingly, thats exactly how it came when it was prewired to the pickguard by BKP. but i made it work thanks to everyones help

(https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/1472986_692386860780559_2032031587_n.jpg)
Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: Dave Sloven on November 13, 2013, 03:14:17 AM
I'm glad you got it working.  I think you can probably find a bridge pickup that better matches those two Trilogies.  Now that you are a dab hand with the soldering, perhaps you can experiment by putting the RY out of your LP into a Strat with that pickguard ;)
Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: darkbluemurder on November 13, 2013, 09:20:11 AM
Looks beautiful now - a simple no-frills rocking guitar.

Have fun with it,
Stephan
Title: Re: am i screwed?
Post by: littleredguitars2 on November 13, 2013, 02:54:12 PM
@agent Orange

I don't plan on messing with the les paul.  And I think I may just sell the two trilogys. I really have no use for them at the moment.  My main focus is on amps right now