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Joined:
March 2004
Posts: 20
Location: Canada | I've recently purchased a 68 Thead, and i was wondering about the electronics, mainly the three way switch, My switch goes from pointing at the headstock to a center position to a pointng towards the tail piece position. Th problem seems to be when the switch is back(towards the tail piece) The bridge pickup volume is extremly low, but the neck pick up is just as loud as the center position. Is this normal, or do i have some electronics problems? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
James |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | If your guitar is stock then the 3-way toggle isn't a pickup selector. The 3 positions are: centre - both pickups on in-phase with the other 2 positions being; both pickups on out-of-phase and both-off (standby) The pickups are selected by the knob marked "bal" (balance) this is essentialy a pan-pot which gives each pickup individualy at either extreme, both together in the centre (when the out-of-phase effect is strongest) or an infinitely variable mix anywhere inbetween. It sounds like a great idea but in realty it's a pain in the ass, especially playing live.
Try putting the switch in the centre & adjusting the balance knob, that should tell you if the pickups are working properly. |
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Joined:
March 2004
Posts: 20
Location: Canada | Thanks, I knew about the pan pot and the in and out of phase thing, and yes it is annoying live! In the center position, both pickups work fine, it's just when i put them out of phase, the neck pick up if it's on all the way, sounds the same as when there in phase. But the lead pick up dies when you switch from in phase to out of phase is this normal or do i have a ground problem or something like that?
Thanks
James |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | The reason you can't hear a difference between in-phase & out-of-phase on the neck pickup is because phase relationships are about the difference between 2 waveforms. A single pickup cannot be out-of-phase in relation to itself, it needs another pickup to be on at the same time. Try putting the switch in the out-of-phase position & the balance knob in the centre. As you pan the pickups the degree of phase cancellation diminishes as the level of the other pickup drops. The lead pickup dies because you have selected the neck pickup by itself with the pan-pot, so regardless of where the toggle is set the bridge pickup will be off unless you pan it back in using the balance knob. |
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Joined:
March 2004
Posts: 20
Location: Canada | Thanks, i get that, but even when i put the balanace full on the Bridge pickup, and the guitar out of phase, there is almost no volume from it. Is this normal?
Thanks
James |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | Temp's gotta be the one to definitively answer this, but if you're on the bridge pickup alone, and set to out of phase, it does seem that the volume should go down. I'm asking myself the question, what is it out of phase with, since it is the only pickup selected? And you're adjusting how it should be set for maximum power.
I would guess that you've got to have both pickups working for the out of phase selector to do what it's supposed to do.
But what do I know? Most of the people on the OFC tour would probably tell you that I've been hit in the head one too many times. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Sounds like you have a fault, it could be the pickup but is probably just a dry-joint somewhere. You can test the pickups by checking the DC resistance with a multi-meter. Best bet would be to pull out the entire wiring harness, resolder all the connections & spray the pot-tracks with switch-cleaner. While you're at it you could have the pickups wax-potted which makes them a lot less prone to microphonic feedback. |
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Joined:
March 2004
Posts: 20
Location: Canada | Thanks guys, I'm going to pull ou the electronics tonight and clean them all up. |
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Thunderhead Electronics?!