The guitar has two volumes, two tone dials and one toggle switch.
The toggle switch and dials look like the ones on this guitar:
http://www.albinhagstrom.se/hagstrom_h_ii_n.htm

The volume on my guitar cuts off after I go below 5 on the bottom volume
dial.

When I turn both volume dials on maximum: both pickups play when the toggle
is either in the middle or pushed up position; when the toggle is pushed
down only one of the pickups works.

When I turn off the bottom volume dial neither pickup works regardless of
the toggle position.

When I have the bottom volume dial on max and the top volume dial off: it
only plays one of the pickups and only when I push the toggle switch down ;
when the
toggle is in the middle or top position there's no sound.

I was told from the guy I bought the guitar from that the problem was with
the 500k pots; he recommended that I replace them with 250k pots.

Anyone have any suggestions and advice on how to fix the problem?


Thanks,
Mark

mark wrote:

The guitar has two volumes, two tone dials and one toggle switch.
The toggle switch and dials look like the ones on this guitar:
http://www.albinhagstrom.se/hagstrom_h_ii_n.htm

The volume on my guitar cuts off after I go below 5 on the bottom volume
dial.

When I turn both volume dials on maximum: both pickups play when the toggle
is either in the middle or pushed up position; when the toggle is pushed
down only one of the pickups works.

When I turn off the bottom volume dial neither pickup works regardless of
the toggle position.

When I have the bottom volume dial on max and the top volume dial off: it
only plays one of the pickups and only when I push the toggle switch down ;
when the
toggle is in the middle or top position there's no sound.

I was told from the guy I bought the guitar from that the problem was with
the 500k pots; he recommended that I replace them with 250k pots.

Anyone have any suggestions and advice on how to fix the problem?


Although I'm not a user of electric guitars, I do know that they
have modes for selecting single or combined pickup use. The lower
volume dial on your unit is likely either a master and/or in the
common circuit when using both pickups (i.e., when the switch is
in the middle or up position). In any event, what the guy told
you, at least in part, is true. The bottom pot is worn out/dirty
in the "below 5" region of its slider. Likely because that was
the usual range it was always used in and it is used more
frequently than the upper one.

Before replacing anything though, try removing the rear cover
panel and using a can of electrical contact cleaner (e.g Caig's
pro-Gold), spray some cleaner into any openings of the lower
volume pot (do the others too just for good measure). work the
pot dial slowly back and forth a bit while the cleaner works.
This may resolve the problem.

Although the cleaner is almost guaranteed to improve the
situation, it may not eliminate the problem completely if the
potentiometer is significantly damaged. In this case you'll need
to replace the pot.

Note: I have no idea of why the guy would have told you to
replace a bunch of 500k pots with 250k pots. The only thing that
I can think of is that the ones in the guitar now are not the
orignals. For example, the guy might have already replaced the
original 250k pots with the existing 500k because he couldn't
find 250k ones or something. If something like this did happen
and a cleaning job isn't totally adaquate, it might be useful to
find out what really happened and which pots were really changed, etc.

Otherwise, I can't think of any reason that you should replace
the ones in there with something of a different value.

- Jeff

Looking at the pictures, your guitar seems to use the pickup/ control
setup that is commonly used on Gibson guitars. The toggle switch
should connect both pickups when it is in the middle position and only
one pickup when in the up or down position; neck pickup in one
position, bridge pickup in the other. From your description it sounds
like you have a problem with the toggle switch. The volume and tone
controls are usually wired so that one volume control and one tone
control work when the neck pickup is selected and the others work when
the bridge pickup is selected. When both pickups are connected the
volume controls interact with each other and turning either of them to
minimum will cause both pickups to cut out: this is what happens on my
Gibson. To play the guitar with both pickups working neither of the
volume controls can be turned down completely. I would check the
switch first before messing with the potentiometers. 500K pots are
fairly standard for humbucking pickups but people do experiment with
other values. You can also experiment with linear and audio tapers to
change the behaviour of the controls.

Mike Capel

capel AT mb DOT sympatico DOT ca

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:38:04 -0400, "mark"
wrote:

The guitar has two volumes, two tone dials and one toggle switch.
The toggle switch and dials look like the ones on this guitar:
http://www.albinhagstrom.se/hagstrom_h_ii_n.htm

The volume on my guitar cuts off after I go below 5 on the bottom volume
dial.

When I turn both volume dials on maximum: both pickups play when the toggle
is either in the middle or pushed up position; when the toggle is pushed
down only one of the pickups works.

When I turn off the bottom volume dial neither pickup works regardless of
the toggle position.

When I have the bottom volume dial on max and the top volume dial off: it
only plays one of the pickups and only when I push the toggle switch down ;
when the
toggle is in the middle or top position there's no sound.

I was told from the guy I bought the guitar from that the problem was with
the 500k pots; he recommended that I replace them with 250k pots.

Anyone have any suggestions and advice on how to fix the problem?


Thanks,
Mark

"mark" wrote in message ...
The guitar has two volumes, two tone dials and one toggle switch.
The toggle switch and dials look like the ones on this guitar:
http://www.albinhagstrom.se/hagstrom_h_ii_n.htm

The volume on my guitar cuts off after I go below 5 on the bottom volume
dial.

When I turn both volume dials on maximum: both pickups play when the toggle
is either in the middle or pushed up position; when the toggle is pushed
down only one of the pickups works.

When I turn off the bottom volume dial neither pickup works regardless of
the toggle position.

When I have the bottom volume dial on max and the top volume dial off: it
only plays one of the pickups and only when I push the toggle switch down ;
when the
toggle is in the middle or top position there's no sound.

I was told from the guy I bought the guitar from that the problem was with
the 500k pots; he recommended that I replace them with 250k pots.

Anyone have any suggestions and advice on how to fix the problem?


Thanks,
Mark

-------------------

Mark,

Did the guitar EVER work correctly, with the 500k pots?

If it ever DID, then replacing them with 250k pots is not the right
answer.

If you can't clean the pots (I would treat the pots, and all switch
contacts, etc, with Caig.com's products, such as De-Oxit and Cai-lube,
or, at the very least, try "exercising" the pots, by rapidly turning
them back and forth through their full range of travel, many times.
That sometimes "cleans" them enough for you to at least be able to
tell if that's the problem. You can wrap a string around the shafts
and pull back and forth on the ends of the string, to rotate them
more-easily.), or, if you just want to try replacing them, try using
500k pots again, in case one or both of the pots is worn or dirty or
defective. If that doesn;t work, and cleaning or replacing the
switches doesn't work, then the problem is probably elsewhere.

But, to test the 250k theory, you could just put a 500k resistor (with
a sufficiently-high power rating of at least half the power rating
(Watts) of the pot) in parallel with the pot, or, to cover all bases,
put a 500k resistor from each of the two outer lugs of the pot to the
middle lug. That should change it into the equivalent of a 250k pot.
You could even just temporarily clip the resistors on, with
alligator-clip leads, if you're very careful, just to test it.

Good luck!

Tom Gootee

http://www.fullnet.com/u/tomg

-----------------------------

When both pickups are connected the
volume controls interact with each other and turning either of them to
minimum will cause both pickups to cut out: this is what happens on my
Gibson.

This should not happen. This would happen if the pickups were fed to the top of
the pots and the output came from the wiper. Fact is 99% of the electric
guitars I've seen (taken apart) had the pickup going to the wiper and the
output coming from the top of the pots. The end result is the same when they
are both all the way up, but this way there is not as much interaction at other
levels.

With the proper resistor at the output, it can yield a nice fairly logarythmic
(sic) response.

Basically this is current mixing, the only purpose of the bottom end of the pot
is to shut it up when you turn it down. Pretty hard to design a pot that would
go smoothly to infinity, and you wouldn't want to either.

I'll lay you 2 to 9 that your guitar is wired wrong.

JURB

Your description of the wiring is correct; pickup connected to one end
of the volume pot, the other end connected to ground and the output
taken from the wiper. The fact that you think this is 'wrong' suggests
that you have not worked on many older, unmodified, two pickup
Gibsons. This arrangement is a documented factory setup used on many
Gibson models. My Gibson - 1976, two pickup, Les Paul, single owner -
is wired this way. Many people were not satisfied with this wiring
system and as a result several modifications have been published over
the years.
If you read the original post you will see that some of the
symptoms shown by the poster's guitar are consistent with it being
wired like a Gibson.

Mike Capel

capel AT mb DOT sympatico DOT ca

On 18 Oct 2004 02:43:36 GMT, (JURB6006) wrote:

When both pickups are connected the
volume controls interact with each other and turning either of them to
minimum will cause both pickups to cut out: this is what happens on my
Gibson.

This should not happen. This would happen if the pickups were fed to the top of
the pots and the output came from the wiper. Fact is 99% of the electric
guitars I've seen (taken apart) had the pickup going to the wiper and the
output coming from the top of the pots. The end result is the same when they
are both all the way up, but this way there is not as much interaction at other
levels.

With the proper resistor at the output, it can yield a nice fairly logarythmic
(sic) response.

Basically this is current mixing, the only purpose of the bottom end of the pot
is to shut it up when you turn it down. Pretty hard to design a pot that would
go smoothly to infinity, and you wouldn't want to either.

I'll lay you 2 to 9 that your guitar is wired wrong.

JURB

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 15:54:41 -0500, ianto wrote:

Looking at the pictures, your guitar seems to use the pickup/ control
setup that is commonly used on Gibson guitars. The toggle switch
should connect both pickups when it is in the middle position and only
one pickup when in the up or down position; neck pickup in one
position, bridge pickup in the other. From your description it sounds
like you have a problem with the toggle switch. The volume and tone
controls are usually wired so that one volume control and one tone
control work when the neck pickup is selected and the others work when
the bridge pickup is selected. When both pickups are connected the
volume controls interact with each other and turning either of them to
minimum will cause both pickups to cut out: this is what happens on my
Gibson. To play the guitar with both pickups working neither of the
volume controls can be turned down completely. I would check the
switch first before messing with the potentiometers. 500K pots are
fairly standard for humbucking pickups but people do experiment with
other values. You can also experiment with linear and audio tapers to
change the behaviour of the controls.

Toggle switch is my guess also.

Tom


Mike Capel

capel AT mb DOT sympatico DOT ca

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:38:04 -0400, "mark"
wrote:

The guitar has two volumes, two tone dials and one toggle switch.
The toggle switch and dials look like the ones on this guitar:
http://www.albinhagstrom.se/hagstrom_h_ii_n.htm

The volume on my guitar cuts off after I go below 5 on the bottom volume
dial.

When I turn both volume dials on maximum: both pickups play when the toggle
is either in the middle or pushed up position; when the toggle is pushed
down only one of the pickups works.

When I turn off the bottom volume dial neither pickup works regardless of
the toggle position.

When I have the bottom volume dial on max and the top volume dial off: it
only plays one of the pickups and only when I push the toggle switch down ;
when the
toggle is in the middle or top position there's no sound.

I was told from the guy I bought the guitar from that the problem was with
the 500k pots; he recommended that I replace them with 250k pots.

Anyone have any suggestions and advice on how to fix the problem?


Thanks,
Mark

On 18 Oct 2004 02:43:36 GMT, (JURB6006) wrote:

When both pickups are connected the
volume controls interact with each other and turning either of them to
minimum will cause both pickups to cut out: this is what happens on my
Gibson.

This should not happen. This would happen if the pickups were fed to the top of
the pots and the output came from the wiper. Fact is 99% of the electric
guitars I've seen (taken apart) had the pickup going to the wiper and the
output coming from the top of the pots. The end result is the same when they
are both all the way up, but this way there is not as much interaction at other
levels.

It does happen. It also happens that, if you plug 2 electric guitars
into parallel inputs on one amplifier, one guitar's controls can
interact with the other guitar. Been there...saw and heard it happen.
Once something is proven... :-)

Tom


With the proper resistor at the output, it can yield a nice fairly logarythmic
(sic) response.

Basically this is current mixing, the only purpose of the bottom end of the pot
is to shut it up when you turn it down. Pretty hard to design a pot that would
go smoothly to infinity, and you wouldn't want to either.

I'll lay you 2 to 9 that your guitar is wired wrong.

JURB

mark wrote:
The guitar has two volumes, two tone dials and one toggle switch.
The toggle switch and dials look like the ones on this guitar:
http://www.albinhagstrom.se/hagstrom_h_ii_n.htm

The volume on my guitar cuts off after I go below 5 on the bottom
volume dial.

When I turn both volume dials on maximum: both pickups play when the
toggle is either in the middle or pushed up position; when the toggle
is pushed down only one of the pickups works.

When I turn off the bottom volume dial neither pickup works
regardless of the toggle position.

When I have the bottom volume dial on max and the top volume dial
off: it only plays one of the pickups and only when I push the
toggle switch down ; when the
toggle is in the middle or top position there's no sound.

I was told from the guy I bought the guitar from that the problem was
with the 500k pots; he recommended that I replace them with 250k pots.

Anyone have any suggestions and advice on how to fix the problem?

You've reposted this, so I assume you are still having problems. I'm not a
'player' but have serviced the electrics on guitars back in the far-distant
past (in another lifetime); so I'll attempt to muddy the waters even further
than the rest of the advice you've already gotten.

IIRC, the pickup switch should select one pickup in top position, the other
pickup in the bottom position and *both* in the middle. You say yours is
different, plus you've gotten some info from the previous owner which
indicates that he is familiar with the 'guts' of the guitar. My guess is
that he's been inside there, and the guitar is no longer wired 'as stock.'
Many guitarists rewire their axes with 'custom' switch settings, according
to their preference: ie to put the pickups out of phase in one position...or
other variations. One way to verify the switch workings is to select
different positions, then touch the pickups with something magnetic (like a
loosened string)...listening for a 'thump' or 'clank' in the amp.

In any case, there are multitudinous links on the web (with diagrams!)
addressing guitar pickup wiring. My best advice is to take the strings off
the instrument, take the screws out of the pick guard, pull it out (gently!)
and *look* at it! Use one of the sites below to verify proper hookup.

http://guitarelectronics.zoovy.com/c...ringresources/
http://users.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/guitar.htm
http://www.lennonstudios.com/pickup.html

If none of these--or one of the other 21,300 resources resources pulled up
in a google search for "guitar pickup wiring"--are clear enough to guide you
toward a fix; then nothing anyone here can tell you will, either. If you
don't feel comfortable taking the instrument apart, there's also no way we
could help you.

jak

Thanks,
Mark