Pickup (Fred) problem.. - Having trouble with the tapped out

[toshiro]

Hey, I have a question:

I'm re-wiring this S-series guitar at work, with a Dimarzio Fred in the neck, stock single-coil, and Dual Sound in the bridge..

Now, the problem is in the split-5 wiring. The neck-tapped + mid position is weak, really weak.. It's like night and day between the single alone, the 'notch', and the neck hum..

Is the Fred just a bad pickup to tap? Or is it something else? The bridge-tapped +mid 'notch' works great, no drop-off in volume..

This is really driving me nuts..

[jemsite]

You have this wired properly right? You can get these symptoms with a crossed wire is the reason I ask. The FRED is not that high an output pickup but should be louder than the middle alone... glen

[toshiro]

Yup; red to hot on the switch, green + bare to ground, and black + white to the 'tap' spot on the switch..

I've clipped and restripped the wire to make sure it wasn't that, so I'm starting to think it's the actual switch.. The Fred tapped should, technically, sound as loud as(or louder than) my Air Norton tapped, but this one doesn't..

Either way, tomorrow I'm gonna pull the pickup out and test it straight into the amp, if it works like this it has to be the switch... Maybe the tap spot somehow shorted to hot, I don't know...

Just when you think you've seen it all, something like this comes along..

[toshiro]

Update:

Well, it turned out to be the switch.. Somehow it shorted itself to hot, or something, and wasn't working right... Reversed the phase, maybe..

Oh well, at least it's working, so the ower will be happy..

I get to play switch-skipping with my guitar tomorrow.. Gonna put in a 'Mega-switch' and wire position 2(normally bridge-tapped+mid) into a JPM(bridge+neck tapped).. Hopefully all will go well..

Thanks for the reply Glen..

[jemsite]

Cool. Everyone should remember to be careful when soldering the switch, because these are VERY easy to burn/short out. We've all done that once or twice Enjoy... glen