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Post subject: No sound from my middle pup
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:29 am
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Location: Devon, England
My US Strat has developed a fault.The middle pup isnt working in any position,no sound not even a hiss. I know nothing about electrics but have opened her up and all the wires seem in place.
This happened very suddenly,one day it was working fine,the next broken!
Any help would be great
Cheers


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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:06 am
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Is it still under warranty? Fender has a one year warranty on all new guitars. You might try bringing it back to the place you bought it, before spending any dough on a repair.


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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:11 am
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Nah,Ive had it about 11 years now.Ive just never had to deal with technical issues!


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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:13 am
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See if you can find a local Fender Tech and have him look at it. Costs a little but it is very effective.

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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:30 pm
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Broken connection - has to be.

Does the middle pickup work in positions two and four? Or is it completely dead in all positions? If the former, it's a problem with the selector switch.

If the latter, it is either a broken or bad join where the pickup wires join the rest of the harness. Or it is with the pickup itself. Either where the hookup wires join the coil. Or a broken loop inside the coil.

This last is very rare indeed, but if it is the problem, then there is pretty little to do about it. You can either have the pickup rewound, or buy a new one. The opportunity to purchase that amazing set of BareKnuckle pickups I know you've been dreaming of - mm?

Use a meter to check current through the whole circuit of the coil, and just through the coil itself (from the points where the hookup wire joins the coil). Or get a tech to do this for you, obviously. And hope that you just have a bad solder joint that needs re-doing...

That's my take, anyway. Lotta people here much better at electrickery than me - any more sensible ideas out there?

Cheers - C


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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:34 pm
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Hey, I just noticed, the OP is in Devon, England. Where abouts exactly are you, fella? If you don't want to mess with this job yourself you have A LOT of good people nearby ready to help with it. Including, in my most humble opinion, one of the very finest music shops on the planet.

Come back to me, Funkdubious!

Cheers - C


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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:35 pm
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Thanks Ceri
It doesnt work in any position so I'll have another look at the wiring
Cheers
Rob


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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:36 pm
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Im in Tavistock


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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:55 pm
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funkdubious wrote:
Im in Tavistock


Ah-ha! Well, you have Harnoll Guitars in Plymouth: don't know who their tech is.

Over in Totnes there is the Totnes School of Guitar Making in the Narrows at the top of the hill. Sure someone there could help you out. Down the hill is Rock Solid... Hmmm.

More importantly, just down the road from there in Buckfastleigh is Chris Eccleshall. Now don't be put off by his, uh, basic website: www.eccleshallguitars.co.uk , that gentleman builds some of the nicest guitars you are ever going to get near to. He's built and teched for everyone from Pete Townshend to Rory Gallagher to Paul Weller - he can fix your problem.

Bit folksy for you? Then make your way over to Exeter, where there are three good guitar shops - including Mansons, in Macoy's Arcade off Fore Street - www.mansons.co.uk/about . Those Manson Brothers build most of the rest of the world's most jaw-droppingly beautiful luthier electrics and acoustics, and that shop is one of the very nicest you will ever visit. Get yourself in there and take a long, long look at that wall full of Manson electrics - not to mention all the other top end stuff in there. And it so happens the owner of the shop, Adrian Ashton, and I were briefly in a (truly horrible) high school band together, many, many years ago. (I was the drummer then - let's not talk about that.) He's written books, taught bass in California, founded a bass guitar magazine... Ask for Adrian: he'll sort out your wiring issue for you.

There now, Funkdubious: you didn't expect local knowledge like that on a far away American website, did you?

Good luck - C


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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:01 pm
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Sometimes dirt/debris work their way into the pickup selector switch's contacts preventing them from mating. More likely though, the contacts may not be mating when your selector switch is moved to that third position as one of the contacts has bent too far back from prolonged use of the switch.

Look over the switch at the third position, specifically, the contacts and see what is and isn't happening there in comparison to the other contacts in other positions. Usually, just a little push closer with a small screwdriver on the errant contact is all it takes to restore it back to proper function.

If the above is not the issue, the other popular culprit is that the terminal and/or wire for that pickup on the switch is grounding out against the guitar's shielding.

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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:03 pm
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Outstanding!
I know Mansons quite well,infact thats where the Strat came from when they had a store in Plymouth(traded it for a Jem) and they've sorted out a few of my guitars in the past and done a great job.
Ceri you're a star,thanks!


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:18 pm
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funkdubious wrote:
Outstanding!
I know Mansons quite well,infact thats where the Strat came from when they had a store in Plymouth(traded it for a Jem) and they've sorted out a few of my guitars in the past and done a great job.
Ceri you're a star,thanks!


No probs, man. I'm friends with anyone from Tavistock. Had a nice honeymoon just up the road at Lewtrenchard Manor. More importantly, caught Joe Bonamassa (for the first of many times) in a tiny venue in Tavistock just last year, one Hound-of-the-Baskervilles moonlit summer night...

Lotta good guitar stuff going on in Devon - and even more if you cast the net a little wider to the whole of the South West.

Everyone else is allowed to interupt if this is getting too cozy for ya...

Cheers - C


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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:28 pm
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Martian wrote:
Sometimes dirt/debris work their way into the pickup selector switch's contacts preventing them from mating. More likely though, the contacts may not be mating when your selector switch is moved to that third position as one of the contacts has bent too far back from prolonged use of the switch.

Look over the switch at the third position, specifically, the contacts and see what is and isn't happening there in comparison to the other contacts in other positions. Usually, just a little push closer with a small screwdriver on the errant contact is all it takes to restore it back to proper function.

If the above is not the issue, the other popular culprit is that the terminal and/or wire for that pickup on the switch is grounding out against the guitar's shielding.



Thanks Martian,I'll check that out too


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