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magicguitar · June 13th, 2010, 10:41 AM

I have a PRS type guitar. 2 HB - 1 tone - 1 volume - 3/way toggle. I replaced the pots a few months back, all worked well, so placed it in a case and so it set till yesterday. Afer a few minutes of playing I noticed that the tone pot wasn't working. I open the wiring cavity and look at the wiring and notice the cap had busted loose... I re-soldered and NOW the tone works BUT only if the volume is maxed out. If the volume pot is set lower than 10 the tone doesn't work. I've checked all connections all appear to be ok. I've removed the wiring harness and am going to resolder all connections and go from there.

Anyone ever encounter this problem? It's a first for me.
Any ideas?

tazzboy · June 13th, 2010, 01:40 PM

Need to find a wiring diagram of the PRS that you are using and check against that.

zook · June 13th, 2010, 01:46 PM

Also, check all your solder joints.

WInnie

mgwhit · June 13th, 2010, 02:00 PM

We can try to debug this without pictures, but we can't do it effectively. I can't think of an explanation, but it's probably a bad solder joint or a damaged pot (unlikely). Just so we know, what kind of pots did you use?

magicguitar · June 14th, 2010, 10:16 AM

Here it is:

magicguitar · June 18th, 2010, 06:11 PM

Actually I was more interested if anyone else has ever encountered this problem. I found it rather strange. I checked all contact points and eventually took the entire harness apart and rewired it and the problem still existed. So I trashed that harness and made a new harness from new parts and all is well.

Cheers all!

kennedyj · June 18th, 2010, 07:03 PM

Oh man, I forgot what we were talking about again...

mgwhit · June 18th, 2010, 08:09 PM

Yeah, sorry, I squinted at your photo for a bit and, having no idea what the wiring problem was, assumed it must be a bad pot. Then I forgot to post. Congrats on fixing it, though. I've got a date with the soldering iron myself tonight.

jefrs · June 18th, 2010, 08:35 PM

The volume pot was wired up wrong.

It was wired as a variable resistor effectively shorting the output rather than dividing it. Volume is hot (from selector switch) to top lug, output to jack from wiper, bottom lug to earth. Tone is hot to bottom lug, wiper to cap, cap to earth, top lug not used.

Glad you've got it sorted.

June 13th, 2010, 10:41 AM	#1 (permalink)
magicguitar Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Fallon, Nevada Age: 65 Posts: 1,379	Pot Problem I have a PRS type guitar. 2 HB - 1 tone - 1 volume - 3/way toggle. I replaced the pots a few months back, all worked well, so placed it in a case and so it set till yesterday. Afer a few minutes of playing I noticed that the tone pot wasn't working. I open the wiring cavity and look at the wiring and notice the cap had busted loose... I re-soldered and NOW the tone works BUT only if the volume is maxed out. If the volume pot is set lower than 10 the tone doesn't work. I've checked all connections all appear to be ok. I've removed the wiring harness and am going to resolder all connections and go from there. Anyone ever encounter this problem? It's a first for me. Any ideas?

June 13th, 2010, 01:40 PM	#2 (permalink)
tazzboy Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: May 2005 Location: Oregon Age: 36 Posts: 8,726 6 Photos	Need to find a wiring diagram of the PRS that you are using and check against that. __________________

June 13th, 2010, 01:46 PM	#3 (permalink)
zook Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Cochise, AZ Posts: 1,674	Also, check all your solder joints. WInnie __________________ I have noticed that happy people are often evaluating themselves and unhappy people are always evaluating others. -William Glasser

June 18th, 2010, 08:35 PM	#9 (permalink)
jefrs Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Newbury, England Age: 58 Posts: 11,197 5 Photos	The volume pot was wired up wrong. It was wired as a variable resistor effectively shorting the output rather than dividing it. Volume is hot (from selector switch) to top lug, output to jack from wiper, bottom lug to earth. Tone is hot to bottom lug, wiper to cap, cap to earth, top lug not used. Glad you've got it sorted. __________________ There's two kinds of people, those that hear the music and those that don't.

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June 13th, 2010, 02:00 PM	#4 (permalink)
mgwhit Tele-Holic Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 740 2 Photos	We can try to debug this without pictures, but we can't do it effectively. I can't think of an explanation, but it's probably a bad solder joint or a damaged pot (unlikely). Just so we know, what kind of pots did you use?

June 14th, 2010, 10:16 AM	#5 (permalink)
magicguitar Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Fallon, Nevada Age: 65 Posts: 1,379	Here it is:

June 18th, 2010, 06:11 PM	#6 (permalink)
magicguitar Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Fallon, Nevada Age: 65 Posts: 1,379	Actually I was more interested if anyone else has ever encountered this problem. I found it rather strange. I checked all contact points and eventually took the entire harness apart and rewired it and the problem still existed. So I trashed that harness and made a new harness from new parts and all is well. Cheers all!

June 18th, 2010, 07:03 PM	#7 (permalink)
kennedyj Tele-Meister Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Greensboro, NC Age: 41 Posts: 287	Oh man, I forgot what we were talking about again...

June 18th, 2010, 08:09 PM	#8 (permalink)
mgwhit Tele-Holic Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 740 2 Photos	Yeah, sorry, I squinted at your photo for a bit and, having no idea what the wiring problem was, assumed it must be a bad pot. Then I forgot to post. Congrats on fixing it, though. I've got a date with the soldering iron myself tonight.

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