Need help with volume pot issue

[das234]

Hi all. I rewired this Squier Tele, putting in 250k Fender pots and a new .047 cap. The volume pot does not work now. It acts a bit like a tone control but doesn't control the volume. My memory isn't what it once was but I'm pretty sure it worked when I first tested it after the wiring job. The tone pot works and the pickup selector works. I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction. Maybe I grounded something wrong? I'll attach pictures of the wiring job and the wiring diagram. Thanks in advance.

 

[Billy3]

Is your volume pot lug grounded where your capacitor is?

 

[hamerfan]

yeah, reflow it.

 

[jackal]

Yep, first thing would do is to re-do the soldering.

 

[Peegoo]

Make certain tab 1 is soldered to the pot's case to complete the ground.

 

[das234]

Is your volume pot lug grounded where your capacitor is?

One leg of the cap goes to the center lug on the tone pot, the other leg is soldered to the right lug and also the back of the vol pot. There is no other ground wire in the mix. (All the black wires go to the tone pot).

 

[moosie]

Lots of cold-looking solder joints there. Reflow *everything*.

In particular, the pot lugs should be filled with molten solder. You shouldn't see open holes in the lug tips.

The behavior is what one would expect if the vol pot is not properly grounded. I don't mean the case. I mean the pot itself (the right-most lug).

 

[das234]

Make certain tab 1 is soldered to the pot's case to complete the ground.

Lots of cold-looking solder joints there. Reflow *everything*.

In particular, the pot lugs should be filled with molten solder. You shouldn't see open holes in the lug tips.

The behavior is what one would expect if the vol pot is not properly grounded. I don't mean the case. I mean the pot itself (the right-most lug).

Ok. I will reflow things and make sure there is a good connection between that lug and the back of the pot. Thanks.

 

[Boreas]

Lots of cold-looking solder joints there. Reflow *everything*.

In particular, the pot lugs should be filled with molten solder. You shouldn't see open holes in the lug tips.

The behavior is what one would expect if the vol pot is not properly grounded. I don't mean the case. I mean the pot itself (the right-most lug).

Yeah, that was my thought. A bad joint on the 3rd V lug.

 

[rdjones]

As a matter of standard practice, all the ground connections should come together in a single location.
In this case that would be the back of the V pot, rather than split between the two pots.

 

[dsutton24]

It's either the solder blob on the back of the volume pot where the cap lead is allegedly connected, or the miniscule solder blob where the cap lead passes through the pot lug isn't conducting. You can end up with things glued together with rosin and / or excessive flux and they won't conduct. Clean up your soldering and it should work.

Don't worry about the single point ground thing. Get it working as is.

 

[moosie]

As a matter of standard practice, all the ground connections should come together in a single location.
In this case that would be the back of the V pot, rather than split between the two pots.

That's more of an issue in an amp where ground loops can cause noise. There's no reason to do this in a guitar. Ground is ground.

It's more 'cosmetic' than anything.

 

[Kevin Wolfe]

^^^This. Ground loop in a guitar, at that micro voltage, ain’t a thing.

 

[das234]

Thanks for the suggestions. I reflowed some solder joints and also bent the pot terminal to touch the case and soldered it that way. Problem solved. The volume knob now controls the volume. Well done, group!

 

[Boreas]

Thanks for the suggestions. I reflowed some solder joints and also bent the pot terminal to touch the case and soldered it that way. Problem solved. The volume knob now controls the volume. Well done, group!

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