Debugging very low volume on new build

[Eric Baack]

So I wired up the fly inspired build and plugged it in for the first time tonight. It did not register on my tuner with it run straight in so I plugged into an amp and the sound was very quiet. I tried all positions on the selector switch with the same result. I have since put it to bed for the night but it has me thinking about the possible culprits.

There was a bit of crackle when turning the pots but I do not have the nuts on them tight yet so there might be a bit of an issue with some shielding contacting them from them moving a bit while being adjusted. I'm planning on checking the resistance on the pots in case one of them is bad but I'm done with it for the night. If that does not find the problem then I'll probably be tracking things with the multimeter and checking continuity at various points.

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

[Peter Wilcox]

First, with the ohmmeter, I'd check from all the ground connections to the ground lug on the output jack. Then check the pickup signal leads thru the pots/switch to the the tip on the jack. If necessary, connect the signal lead of each pickup in turn directly to the tip of the jack. If that doesn't work, you might post a wiring diagram.

Of course, before you do all this, try another cable.

[Peter Wilcox]

And make sure there are no short circuits from the signal path to ground except when volume pots are turned all the way down.

[Eric Baack]

Got low resistance on the volume pot. Looks like that is the culprit

[Eric Baack]

New pot fixed it

[Peter Wilcox]

Glad you got it fixed, but I've been through hundreds of new pots and never had a bad one. Used ones are another story.

[Eric Baack]

I'm pretty sure that I wrecked the bad one. Was having trouble getting the middle lug soldered and probably had some get into it

[Barry Daniels]

Too much heat can quickly damage a pot, which can happen when soldering wires onto the case.