Reverse Telecaster Wiring HELP

[wetwillis17]

Im rewiring my player telecaster with the SD 1/4 lb tele set and the control plate reversed. The particular switch I bought has a layout that seems flipped from most schematics I've seen, so I copied the Fralin diagram for a reverse tele control plate but remade it for my switch. I'm not certain that I have it laid out correctly, the flip is messing with my head.

Long story short, it does not work. I have tried a couple of slight variations on the attached schematic (all to no avail) but this is how she sits now, EXCEPT for the bridgeplate ground wire. I unsoldered that (it's still there) to see if it would change anything, and it did decrease the overall buzzing (which is the only sound the guitar makes) though was not my solution. I am attaching schematics and pictures, I have a couple of questions I would greatly appreciate some help with.

1) Does my schematic work? If wired that way, should i get good results?
2) Did I mess up the wiring somehow? I feel okay about it, but obviously it doesn't work so I'm clearly not perfect.
3) If it's not my schematic or wiring, what part could be causing the issue? What are my next steps? The pots, cap, switch, and pickups are all new, only the jack is stock.

Thanks for your time and wisdom, my tele-masters.

 

[LutherBurger]

The pots look fine to me, but the switch's wiring is a mirror image of what it should be. The jumper wires that connect multiple lugs should start at the bottom right lug and end at the upper left. Bridge pickup + goes to the bottom left lug, and neck pickup + goes to the top right. It's exactly the same as "standard" switch wiring -- nothing should be reversed on the switch. An old Fralin diagram showed exactly what you've done, but the error was corrected in a later version.

However...

Backward switch wiring doesn't cause buzzing, it just causes silence in position 2. Backward jack wiring does cause buzzing, so make sure your + and - leads from the volume pot are connected to the correct lugs on the jack.

 

[wetwillis17]

I was getting super wigged out by my switch being opposite of the diagrams in terms of left top lug being higher than right (my left side is lower), so I definitely messed with the diagram I found because of that. I'm gonna switch it all around and triple check my Jack connections, thank you very much!

 

[wetwillis17]

The pots look fine to me, but the switch's wiring is a mirror image of what it should be. The jumper wires that connect multiple lugs should start at the bottom right lug and end at the upper left. Bridge pickup + goes to the bottom left lug, and neck pickup + goes to the top right. It's exactly the same as "standard" switch wiring -- nothing should be reversed on the switch. An old Fralin diagram showed exactly what you've done, but the error was corrected in a later version.

However...

Backward switch wiring doesn't cause buzzing, it just causes silence in position 2. Backward jack wiring does cause buzzing, so make sure your + and - leads from the volume pot are connected to the correct lugs on the jack.

Okay, so I switched it up as you recommended and I've got new and interesting problems. I confirmed that my Jack was correct, and fixed the switch.

Now, there's a slight buzz that goes away when I touch the hot connection on the jack, or the tip connection. When that buzz goes away (while I'm touching the jack), the neck pickup will respond to a screwdriver tap in all 3 positions. The bridge pup does not respond in any position. When I take my hand off the jack, there is no pickup response.

Could this be a problem with the jack? Or am I missing something else? Why would my touching the tip/jack make it kind of work?

 

[Sea Devil]

Why would you re-wire the switch at all? Just rotate it 180 degrees and replace or lengthen any wires that end up too short.

 

[wetwillis17]

Why would you re-wire the switch at all? Just rotate it 180 degrees and replace or lengthen any wires that end up too short.

It WAS a Baja tele (4 way switch, S1 selector) but the S1 broke, so I decided to go traditional with the rewire, at least as far as switching options

 

[Sea Devil]

OK then! Never mind...

 

[LutherBurger]

Okay, so I switched it up as you recommended and I've got new and interesting problems. I confirmed that my Jack was correct, and fixed the switch.

Now, there's a slight buzz that goes away when I touch the hot connection on the jack, or the tip connection. When that buzz goes away (while I'm touching the jack), the neck pickup will respond to a screwdriver tap in all 3 positions. The bridge pup does not respond in any position. When I take my hand off the jack, there is no pickup response.

Could this be a problem with the jack? Or am I missing something else? Why would my touching the tip/jack make it kind of work?

The problem is still the switch. Wire it exactly like the one in this diagram, ignoring everything else in the photo, and you should be good to go.

 

[wetwillis17]

Before you said that, I had one wire in the wrong place (hot wire to volume pot out of switch). However, after moving this wire,I still have the same problem: Buzzing that cuts out when I touch the jack. I appreciate your time regardless, I'll get to the bottom of it someday!

 

[wetwillis17]

The problem is still the switch. Wire it exactly like the one in this diagram, ignoring everything else in the photo, and you should be good to go.

I think I've got that right, but I attached a picture in case I don't... Still not sure what the issue could be. Initially I did need to fix a wire to achieve your pictured diagram but still no dice

 

[thegaijin]

There will always probably be some degree of buzzing. It stops when you touch it because you are grounding it with your body. Same thing when you touch the strings I would imagine since everything is connected. How much buzzing are we talking about?

 

[wetwillis17]

There will always probably be some degree of buzzing. It stops when you touch it because you are grounding it with your body. Same thing when you touch the strings I would imagine since everything is connected. How much buzzing are we talking about?

See, I wouldn't really think the amount of buzzing is a bad sign in itself, it's not like an actual cycle hum or anything. However, it's all buzz and no response from pups (tapping with screwdriver, fingers, and I've got one string on there now, still nothing). So I figure the buzz can't be just "the single coil buzz" if I'm not getting any single coil noise... Right?

 

[LutherBurger]

See, I wouldn't really think the amount of buzzing is a bad sign in itself, it's not like an actual cycle hum or anything. However, it's all buzz and no response from pups (tapping with screwdriver, fingers, and I've got one string on there now, still nothing). So I figure the buzz can't be just "the single coil buzz" if I'm not getting any single coil noise... Right?

This is weird. Will you post another photo of the entire plate?

 

[wetwillis17]

Not the greatest pictures (don't have a workstation right now, having to clean up between work sessions) but tried to get everything in there. Jack isn't pictured, I can fish that back out tomorrow

 

[wetwillis17]

This is weird. Will you post another photo of the entire plate?

I keep forgetting to hit reply when I attach the images, sorry! And thanks!!

 

[Phrygian77]

Why would you re-wire the switch at all? Just rotate it 180 degrees and replace or lengthen any wires that end up too short.

This is what trips people up. The switch doesn't rotate, it's just moved to a different place. The only thing that's actually rotated is the control plate itself, by itself. The volume and tone shift towards the neck side of the body and the switch moves toward the bridge side of the body.

 

[wetwillis17]

This is what trips people up. The switch doesn't rotate, it's just moved to a different place. The only thing that's actually rotated is the control plate itself, by itself. The volume and tone shift towards the neck side of the body and the switch moves toward the bridge side of the body.

I think I have it laid out correctly, but maybe I'm wrong??

 

[thegaijin]

If your wires are wired like this then it is correct. If not, then time to get out the soldering iron again. I think you may have wired your switch wrong.

 

[thegaijin]

And if you decide you’d prefer standard wiring, then this:

 

[Sea Devil]

When you reverse the control plate, the switch certainly does rotate. You need to flip it again to have it in the same orientation that it was in before. Obviously, you can use it without flipping it, but it's counterintuitive to throw the switch toward the neck to select the bridge pickup and vice versa.