1986 Ibanez DX series Roadstar 2 RG440PB – HSS – 5 position switch 1 volume, I coil tapping Push Pull Tone.
Pix 1st the guitar, 2nd the wiring diagram I have.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1357711...n/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1357711...n/photostream/
NooB with all this stuff, this is like my fourth ever pickup job. I replaced the
Bridge Humbucker and now the middle single coil pickup doesn’t work.
The humbucker and coil tap works perfect. The Neck single coil works fine. The center (#3) position on the 5-position switch is dead. Nothing. In position #4 which I think is supposed to be the bridge Humbucker + Middle Single coil only has the Humbucker. Oddly, position #2, which I think is the two single coils together, does get something out of the middle position single coil???? I can’t figure this out! ** The wireing diagram is NOT the same as how this was originally wired. I can detail the deviations if anyone thinks that will provide value. **
I started by writing out a diagram of the current wiring. All 2-wire pickups. I noted the differences with the diagram. But everything always worked perfectly so I merely noted the differences and didn’t worry about it. The new
dimarzio pickup is a 4-wire so I made an educated guess consistent with my previous pickup changes and used the dimarzio diagrams for push pull coil taps as reference. After I was done I tested and the new pickup worked perfect. Went through the other positions and the middle pickup wasn’t working. ****. I checked the wiring again. Double ****! I noticed the “white” wire to the #2 tab on the 5-position switch had come off. I resoldered, clearly that was the problem. Still doesn’t work. I checked for shorts. Taped up the ground wires. I removed all the solder from the tab. Cleaned the tab with wire brush. Stripped and retinned the wire. Reconnected. Still no good. I checked for a possible short. Still no good. The odd thing is I seem to get some weak activity when both single coils are selected. I never tested that before, so I don’t know if in this position the middle pickup should be about half strength compared to the neck pickup. Not sure where to go from here, other than have a pro fix my mess? I mostly only play on the bridge and neck pickups anyway, so I could live with this for a while, but obviously I want my newly refurbished old girl in tip top.
Advice???
