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Geek Culture / Anyone ever had a guitar rewired professionally?

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Fallout
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Posted: 4th Apr 2011 23:09
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So the wiring in my guitar appears to be dead. Not sure why this happens, but after my guitar not working, I took it apart to find one wire disconnected, and the rest looking a bit shabby. So I can either by a whole new improved wiring kit and solder it all together myself, or find someone professional to do it.

Does anyone reckon its worth taking it to a professional? Any idea of cost? It's only a £200 Ibanez. If it was a £1000 Strat or something, the decision would be easier!

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The Slayer
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Posted: 4th Apr 2011 23:53
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Quote: "I took it apart to find one wire disconnected, and the rest looking a bit shabby."

Which wire was disconnected? One that goes to the pick ups? Or to the controls?
So, the rest of them wirez look shabby? All of them? Can you explain 'shabby' a bit more in depth?

I have done some reparations or replaced pieces on my previous guitars, and had no problems, but it kinda depends on whut guitar you have, and whut quality it is.

Cheers

SLAYER RULES! YEAH, MAN!!
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Fallout
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Posted: 5th Apr 2011 00:22 Edited at: 5th Apr 2011 00:23
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It was from the centre pick-up, and where ever it goes into the controls (not sure if it goes into one of the pots or the selector as I can't find a wiring diagram for my specific guitar) it was hanging loose.

I find it hard to believe the centre pick-up being disconnected would stop the whole guitar from working, and when I touch the wire to where I think it should go, the guitar is still silent. So I reckon one of the pots has gone or something. Basically I think I need to buy a whole new set of pots/selector/wires of a decent quality, since it's a cheaper guitar, but don't know whether I should undertake it myself, or if a professional could do it fairly cheap.

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The Slayer
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Posted: 5th Apr 2011 00:43 Edited at: 5th Apr 2011 00:44
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Hum, would it be possible to show me a pic of the inside of your guitar? And also show me an image of where you attached the loose wire to?
That would help a lot more.
Also, when you plug in your guitar and play with the controls or touch the wirez (with a screw driver), do you hear any sound at all?

SLAYER RULES! YEAH, MAN!!
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Non Sequitur M
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Posted: 5th Apr 2011 04:10
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Well, the reason you're not getting sound could be any number of reasons. Slayer's idea of posting an image online is a good idea. I mean, your guitar is a circuit. Break that circuit and no sound goes through.

***WARNING! DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!***
I warned you, so you can't sue if you try on your own.

My friend's guitar had a shaky connection to his jack, and the pots were loose, so I got my solder iron, and I re-soldered all the pots and the jack without any diagrams. It's usually not super complex inside. You just have to find all the parts that are loose and re-connect them.

Now, if you want to DIY, I would suggest a book I now own because of said incident with my friend's guitar. It's called: Guitar Player's Repair Guide, by Dan Erlewine. I own the third edition, but I'm not sure if it's current or not. I've had it a year or two now. It's helped majorly. Since it's not a super expensive guitar, I would suggest now's a good time to learn. I'm having to learn on my $700(434 pounds) Schecter!

If life were like a box of chocolates, I'd know what I would get... The one that got dropped on the floor and put back in the box.

Iye nehvur yoose spehl chehk, ahn mie tippyng izz fiyne.
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Phaelax
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Posted: 5th Apr 2011 11:04
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I've taken my guitars apart before and wired together a brand new one I made. Like these guys said, take a pic if you can and I could probably draw you a diagram of what you need to do.

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Fallout
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Posted: 6th Apr 2011 17:27
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I've bought a new wiring kit which apparently comes with wiring instructions! I'll upload some pics and give you guys a shout if I have any problems!

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PrimalBeans
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Posted: 7th Apr 2011 10:43 Edited at: 7th Apr 2011 10:51
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Quote: "Well, the reason you're not getting sound could be any number of reasons. Slayer's idea of posting an image online is a good idea. I mean, your guitar is a circuit. Break that circuit and no sound goes through.

***WARNING! DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!***
I warned you, so you can't sue if you try on your own.

My friend's guitar had a shaky connection to his jack, and the pots were loose, so I got my solder iron, and I re-soldered all the pots and the jack without any diagrams. It's usually not super complex inside. You just have to find all the parts that are loose and re-connect them.

Now, if you want to DIY, I would suggest a book I now own because of said incident with my friend's guitar. It's called: Guitar Player's Repair Guide, by Dan Erlewine. I own the third edition, but I'm not sure if it's current or not. I've had it a year or two now. It's helped majorly. Since it's not a super expensive guitar, I would suggest now's a good time to learn. I'm having to learn on my $700(434 pounds) Schecter!"


heres the deal, not that it should be taken lightly... ibenez isnt as bad as everyone says... at least not as far as bass goes lol. But here is whats going on in your guitar... basically your pickup is a magnet.. and your strings are kenetic metal... what this means is that in science terms your picups are basically creating the kenetic movement or your fingers and the strings. From there the rest of the circut is designed to modify elements of the signal. Usually a bass has a treble or a bass knob which basically adds or subtracts resistance (or whatever) to the part of the signal that applies.... Its all analog electronics so basically you should be able to trouble shoot it with a meter if your talanted enough... but if your not a good multimeter (one that reads capacitance) should be able to help you check parts one by one. Im sure the internet has some interesting help on analog circuts for about anything you like and honestly you could even use some of this info to create a guitar with some of the most unique sounds out there if you really wanted to... if your curious i could do some more research on your perticular model and give you links to some info that you might want to check out. Analog electronics used to be a hobby of mine. I have built monophonic analog keyboards from scratch... so i have some idea what im talking about... even sequenced with cv gate.. but thats a whole nother story...

EDIT: lemme do that again.. your pickups work on the principal of induction... your metal strings move across your pickups (magnets) kinetically to create a small amount of signal (Kind of like a microphone) that is sent to your amp and then... well... amplified...
Its not really a complicated affair. Not like a microwave or a tv tube or lcd screens or anything... most analog only circuts can be broken down fairly easily by someone with a good understanding of theory... so research the thoery!!! LOL

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Phaelax
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Posted: 7th Apr 2011 23:25
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Quote: "I've bought a new wiring kit "

All you need is a little bit of wire and a few 250/500k pots. What all did the kit come with? I have both active and passive electronics, so mine is a bit more complex (and requires a 9v battery).


If you ever needs parts, try Stewart MacDonald. Everything you'd ever need to build or rebuild a guitar.

Quote: "ibenez isnt as bad as everyone says"

Never knew anyone said they were bad! Yea they make beginner guitars, but they also make some real nice ones. And those thin wizard necks are really nice in my opinion.

Can't you just say the pickups are big magnets which "pick up" the vibrations of the strings and sends them out to the amp? You're starting to confuse even me!


I would take a guess and say, if you have no sound when using any of your pickups then it's quite likely the wire leading to the 1/4" jack became disconnected.

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Non Sequitur M
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Posted: 7th Apr 2011 23:43
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@ PrimalBeans: Two things... Why did you quote me and explain how the pickups and amp works? And, second, I never said Ibanez was a bad guitar. It's just his is less expensive, so it's a good time to learn. Because me and everybody I play with have been playing so many years, I'm learning all this on $700 dollar Schecters, $850 Richs, and $1,200 Strats!

Now... Explain how all that works on a tube amp, with 2 power tubes and 3 preamp tubes, and coil tapped double Duncans! Jk. I know how it works. XD

If life were like a box of chocolates, I'd know what I would get... The one that got dropped on the floor and put back in the box.

Iye nehvur yoose spehl chehk, ahn mie tippyng izz fiyne.
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Phaelax
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Posted: 7th Apr 2011 23:54
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Coil taps, I always referred to it as coil splitters. Both my humbuckers have them, plus a phase switch which all I know is it changes the tone and I'm not sure how.

Oh and Amo, I assume you prefer tube over solid-state like me?

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Neuro Fuzzy
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Posted: 8th Apr 2011 00:41
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showoffs


Tell me if there's a broken link to images in a thread I post, and I'll fix 'em.
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Non Sequitur M
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Posted: 8th Apr 2011 02:05
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Absolutely. I had to play on a solid-state Line 6 the other day at Guitar Center... Spider 4, I think. Can't remember. Ugh. They even pre-amped through tube, but the moment the gain hit the processor chip, it sounded so flat and artificial! There's nothing like the thick, fat, earthy low ends, and bright, beautiful high ends you get from tube!

Also, NeuroFuzzy comes outta left field... Haha.

But, back on topic. Phaelax, do you mean your pickup selector?

If life were like a box of chocolates, I'd know what I would get... The one that got dropped on the floor and put back in the box.

Iye nehvur yoose spehl chehk, ahn mie tippyng izz fiyne.
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Fallout
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Posted: 8th Apr 2011 09:33
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My wiring kit had 2m of wire, a selector, 2 pots, an input and 2 capacitors for £14. I found a cool website which helps diagnose problems. Essentially it told me it was either my input jack, selector or volume pot. Since the loose wire had come off the volume pot and I vaguely remembered having issues with the volume pot before I decided to change it.

Found a wiring diagram for my exact guitar and got my iron. My soldering iron is a bunch of arse. I had to sandpaper the head clean just to get it to melt solder directly touching it. So how it's supposed to heat up the entire back of pot, I don't know!

Finally got the job done, plugged in and it works, but now it sounds like crap. Doesn't seem like the volume pot is putting out enough output for the amp to create the right sound for each setting. You know how overdrive sounds wrong when you turn the volume down too low? Sounds like that.

Dunno where to go from here. Try again, or give up!

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PrimalBeans
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Posted: 8th Apr 2011 20:08
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sounds like a poor solder connection... or somethings loose. I would be careful applying too much heat to some of those components... I would recheck all your connections... a multimeter might hlp out finding a weak connection or a faulty component.

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Non Sequitur M
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Posted: 8th Apr 2011 23:25
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If you apply too much or too little solder, then it screws with the connection. Or the wire could not be high enough volts to take the load. Different guitars have different loads. Double Duncans, like mine, would have a higher load that say, a dual or triple single coil Strat. Ibanez usually has higher loads, due to the fact that most Ibanez's are meant for rock and other harder distortions.

Also, turning distortion down low doesn't sound "wrong." It just isn't the sound you in particular are looking for. Hendrix used a nice crunchy distortion and his stuff sounded amazing.

If life were like a box of chocolates, I'd know what I would get... The one that got dropped on the floor and put back in the box.

Iye nehvur yoose spehl chehk, ahn mie tippyng izz fiyne.
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Jimmy
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Posted: 9th Apr 2011 00:28
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Maybe a little late, but my suggestion is to buy a new guitar. Schecter is my guitar of choice! </fanboyishness>

NaGaFailMo.
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Fallout
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Posted: 9th Apr 2011 00:55
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Quote: "Also, turning distortion down low doesn't sound "wrong." It just isn't the sound you in particular are looking for. Hendrix used a nice crunchy distortion and his stuff sounded amazing."


What I meant was, with the guitar volume on max, played through my Line 6 on 'Insane' sounds such a way. If I turn the volume down to half on my guitar, the distortion sounds rubbish and weak. That's what my guitar sounds like now with guitar volume on max, so the signal is weak for some reason.

I'm tempted to bypass the volume pot all together and just run it at max volume since I never use the volume while playing.

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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 9th Apr 2011 03:46
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my friend is like a professional gitar player and he tuned my air gitar once and it sounded awesome after he did that. now every time i want to tune my air gitar, i ask my friend to do it

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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Phaelax
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Posted: 9th Apr 2011 05:34
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Quote: "But, back on topic. Phaelax, do you mean your pickup selector?"

I have 4 switches and 4 knobs on my Carvin DC400. The volume is a push/pull knob to control the passive or active, two others for treble and bass, ummm i forget what the 4th did off hand, maybe pan between the two pickups. Then I have the pickup selector, two coil splitters switches, then a "phase" switch. When switched on(only affects when using both humbuckers) it puts the pickups "out of phase"(what i've read) and gives a thinner tone.


Quote: "What I meant was, with the guitar volume on max, played through my Line 6 on 'Insane' sounds such a way. If I turn the volume down to half on my guitar, the distortion sounds rubbish and weak. That's what my guitar sounds like now with guitar volume on max, so the signal is weak for some reason.

I'm tempted to bypass the volume pot all together and just run it at max volume since I never use the volume while playing."

Yea, but does it go to 11?!!

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Fallout
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Posted: 9th Apr 2011 11:30
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I could take this opportunity of fixing it to make it go to .... 12!!!!!!!!

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Phaelax
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Posted: 9th Apr 2011 12:44
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You remember which amp actually goes up to 11? I remember there was one

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The Slayer
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Posted: 9th Apr 2011 13:35
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Quote: "I could take this opportunity of fixing it to make it go to .... 12!!!!!!!!"

Well, like the guyz from Manowar would say: All Men Play On Ten.

SLAYER RULES! YEAH, MAN!!
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Non Sequitur M
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Posted: 11th Apr 2011 06:05 Edited at: 11th Apr 2011 06:08
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Hmm... *wonders if Fallout got the 11 joke?* Haha. If you can get it to go to 11, you better record it in Doubly! XD XD XD

Also, Pagan, WTH!? Haha. Random. Nice one.

If life were like a box of chocolates, I'd know what I would get... The one that got dropped on the floor and put back in the box.

Iye nehvur yoose spehl chehk, ahn mie tippyng izz fiyne.
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