Possible problem with pickup install...??

[Bodeen]

Hey all,

Just mounted a Piledriver/bridge in my Tele and I gotta say it sounds absolutely friggin' amazing. Not to mention that it just looks like a serious quality pickup -- major kudos to BKP. But my problem is how both the bridge and neck pups sound together (position #2). It sounds *really* weak, basicallt unusable. FWIW, the neck pup is stock Highway 1 (I don't know, maybe the drastic difference in output may be the culprit...?).

I did the install myself, and I've done a number of pup changes through the years with no issues. Afterwards, I took to a local tech and had him double check my wiring job. He tells me that there's nothing he can find wrong, but that it definately does not sound right.

Any ideas from the gurus?

TIA

[Fourth Feline]

Welcome to the Forum Bodeen !  :D


I thought I remembered reading that if I had have put a standard wired pickup ( i.e B.K.P ) - and changed the 6 way switching in my Fender 'Baja' Telecaster back to 3 way,  there would have been a potential pitfall around the fact that the ( Fender ) neck pickup had originally got three wires coming from it ( the 3rd being the chrome top /screening on the neck pickup being wired seperately ) . As a result, If I wired it assuming 'business as usual' the neck pickup may have had a ground wire for solo operation, but not a common ground wire with the bridge.   

Otherwise I would say ( If It was one I was doing at home ) - that I had wired one of the pickups out of phase with the other at the toggle switch.

I could be wrong , but I hope that gets the ball rolling till a real 'Guru' signs in .  :)

[Bodeen]

Hey, aprreciate the welcome, and the reply.  :mrgreen:

What I can't figure out is the fact that all I did was replace the positive lead from the stock/bridge pup with that from the Piledriver, and same-same with the ground lead from the stock pup. I never even touched the stock neck pup, or any other wiring.

Really just the simplest pup change I've ever done, but never experienced this problem before. 

[Philly Q]

It sounds like the pickups are out of phase - it can happen when you have two different makes - so you need to swap round the "hot" and ground connections on one pickup.

If the neck pickup only has two wires (I think this is the case on the Highway One pickup) you can't swap them round as it would make the metal cover "hot".

So you might need to change the phase of the bridge pickup, as described in this Seymour Duncan diagram:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=changing_tele_lead_phase

Since it's swapping round the hot and ground wires, you also need to cut the "jumper" wire connected to the pickup baseplate.  Since this leaves the bridge/strings ungrounded, you then need a separate ground wire from the bridge (there may already be such a wire, because I think the Highway One bridge pickup doesn't have a metal baseplate).

[Bodeen]

It sounds like the pickups are out of phase - it can happen when you have two different makes - so you need to swap round the "hot" and ground connections on one pickup.

If the neck pickup only has two wires (I think this is the case on the Highway One pickup) you can't swap them round as it would make the metal cover "hot".

So you might need to change the phase of the bridge pickup, as described in this Seymour Duncan diagram:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=changing_tele_lead_phase

Since it's swapping round the hot and ground wires, you also need to cut the "jumper" wire connected to the pickup baseplate.  Since this leaves the bridge/strings ungrounded, you then need a separate ground wire from the bridge (there may already be such a wire, because I think the Highway One bridge pickup doesn't have a metal baseplate).

Damn...don't I feel like a dumbass.  :?

That makes total sense. Don't know why that never occurred to me. I knew it sounded out-of-phase (hence the weak tone).

I'll be sure to report back when I get a chance to swap the wiring.

Thanks for all ya'lls input!!

[AndyR]

Yeah, I agree with Philly - sounds like you do as well!

Welcome to the forum :D

[Bodeen]

Before I dive back into the guitar and re-wire it, one other question...

If I swap out the stock neck pickup with a BKP model (say, the Brown Sugar or Piledriver) then that wouldn't require the wire swap on the bridge correct?

[Philly Q]

I haven't actually got any BKP Tele sets, but I'm sure the two pickups would be in-phase, so no modifications required!  :)

[badgermark]

I'll just add that i had the same problem when i installed a holydiver into my tele. With the stock neck pickup the middle sound was quiet and out of phase, so i flipped the neck pickup wiring. I never noticed any extra buzz from the cover not being grounded. Try just swapping the hot and ground connections from your neck before snipping the BKP.

[Bodeen]

Well, I got my Piledriver neck pickup in today. That was indeed the problem. Thanks again for all of ya'lls help.

It's sounding pretty friggin' phenomenal now. Huge difference over stock. I mean, the stock pups weren't bad, I just wanted something with a little more fatness and growl.   

I can definately see trying out more BKPs going in my other guitars. Maybe a set for my Strat, or something (?).

[Elliot]

Oh no! - you have the bug that BKP infect their pickups with!!!!

What type of strat sound do you want?

[Bodeen]

Oh no! - you have the bug that BKP infect their pickups with!!!!

What type of strat sound do you want?

Hmmm...well, I play a bunch of everything really, but I'd like to try to go for something a little more Black Crowes-ish. I know Rich seems to bounce between a Tele and a 335, but his tone is always a sort of mid-rangey honk.

Any ideas which would fit the bill?