strat humbucker wiring help

[space6oy]

so i bought a pre-wired pickguard with two gibson-style humbuckers and a lipstick center, had one ground line with an eyelet that i'm pretty sure (but not completely) i'm supposed to mount with the input, unfortunately it was poorly soldered and has detached from whatever point it was attached to. been digging around online and am not having much luck, hoping one of you who knows how to build can help me out...

[AC128]

seymour duncan has a lot of wiring diagrams online

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/

the color codes could be different from what gibson uses, tho.

[Mike]

so i bought a pre-wired pickguard with two gibson-style humbuckers and a lipstick center, had one ground line with an eyelet that i'm pretty sure (but not completely) i'm supposed to mount with the input, unfortunately it was poorly soldered and has detached from whatever point it was attached to. been digging around online and am not having much luck, hoping one of you who knows how to build can help me out...

If the eyelet is sized for a screw to fit, it probably doesn't connect to the input. It is probably meant to be screwed into the body, where it would be connected to the metal shielding / shielding paint.

The Seymour Duncan diagrams look good, but the one that applies here (this one) is clearly missing a wire that runs between the spring claw and ground, as well as an optional wire to connect any cavity shielding to ground.

I've never put a humbucker in a Strat, but I have rewired more than a few. Take a picture of what you've got, and I'm sure someone that me or someone else can point you in the right direction.

Mike

[space6oy]

thanks guys - huge pics so i'm just sharing links. iphone camera's awesome but not the best...

the eyelet IS sized for a screw to fit, it's currently attached to the input plate, i thought it was intended to be screwed into the body but that didn't ground it since there isn't any metal shielding / shielding paint inside the guitar. never has been regardless of my having routed it out for the buckers to fit. that something i should put in there?

drew red arrows pointing to the detached cable w/ the eyelet. i thought from digging around that it should just be attached to the back of the volume pot but at least with the eyelet in contact with the input shield that cuts signal out instead of just grounding and removing hum.

http://space6oy.com/strat/strat001.jpg
http://space6oy.com/strat/strat002.jpg
http://space6oy.com/strat/strat003.jpg
http://space6oy.com/strat/strat004.jpg

[Mike]

It's hard to tell from the pictures. My bet is that it should be soldered to the back of a pot, run through the body, and soldered to the spring claw. Otherwise, the strings / bridge aren't grounded.

Mike

[space6oy]

the back of the pot i'm pretty sure about, but since the other end's an eyelet sized for a screw i'm thinking you were right about it just being attached to the body... metal shielding is usually just a metal tape, isn't it? (clueless...)

[space6oy]

ok, another update - there's already another wire running from the back of the volume pot to the spring claw. attached the eyelet cable to the volume pot in the same spot, tried lining the inner body with metal tape and mounting the eyelet to that, still nasty hum. any other suggestions?

[space6oy]

[MEC]

The eyelet was probably meant (as others have said) to be screwed through the cavity shielding into the body grounding all the cavities to the bridge or claw.
For this to work all of the cavities would need to be shielded and connected to each other via the shielding.

Like this:


You might try soldering the eyelet to the shielding on the pickguard or using the continuity setting on a multimeter to make
sure the ground is solid throughout the guitar.

[space6oy]

thanks! will give those a shot...

[MEC]

Yeah, the more I look at it I'm thinking soldering it to the pickguard shielding is what you should do.

It's possible that the eyelet was meant to be lined up with one of the holes in the pickguard that is
surrounded by shielding tape and sandwiched between the pickguard and the body and screwed
down with a pickguard screw.

Does the hum stop if you touch the eyelet while the guitar is plugged in?

[space6oy]

touching it to the pickguard's shielding doesn't seem to do anything. touching it w/ my fingers actually makes the hum double in volume.

[MEC]

Hmmmm...I'm stumped.

You mentioned in your OP that you thought the wire went to the input, Have you tried connecting it there?
Is there a ground connected to the input?
What is the other end of the wire with the eyelet attached to?
Are you sure that the cable you are using is good?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm more of a hands on/trial and error type of problem solver.

[space6oy]

i've tried connecting it to the input shield via screw, didn't solve.
there are lines from the spring to both the volume pot and the input shield.
the other end of the eyelet wire is currently soldered to the back of the volume pot.
it's the cable that came w/ this assembled rig when i bought it, i could try switching it with another but since it's actively boosting the hum when i touch it i doubt there's any issue with the cable.

no worries about the questions, totally appreciate you guys trying to help me!
may just wind up having to find a new tech...
(last one i took my 66 mustang to was pathetic...)

[MEC]

Oh, I was talking about your guitar to amp cable. I just wanted to make sure that wasn't causing the hum.

Other than that, I'd just check for the continuity of the ground with a multimeter.
If that wire wasn't soldered well, there is a chance for other bad connections too.
Have you contacted the person you bought it from? They may be able to tell you what is what.

Sorry, I couldn't be of more help.