• Registered: 2007-04-25
  • Posts: 551

Topic: Pickup trouble

My Ibanez RG has two humbuckers, and both of them have worked perfectly since I bought it several weeks ago.  Today I took it to school and plugged into a power strip along with two other guys' amps.  When I started playing I found that the neck pickup wasn't working.  I couldn't hear anything unless I cranked the volume on the amp.  I opened up the plate on the back and saw that a green wire was disconnected, but I have no idea how the wiring works in these things.  Does anyone have any idea what the problem is here?  Is this a quick fix at the local guitar store, or is a warranty job?

"A steering wheel don't mean you can drive, a warm body don't mean I'm alive"
Switchfoot

06sc500's Website

  • Registered: 2007-12-24
  • Posts: 67

Re: Pickup trouble

It should be an easy, 5 minute job to resolder the wire. The trick will be determining where it goes. Look to see if your pickups have 2 or 4 wires. If your guitar has coil cutting, to allow humbuckers to be used as single coils, there must be 4 wires. Sometimes, even if they are not used in one guitar, the pickups come with 4 wires, for use in other models.
Next, look for the wires from the other pickup. Does the green wire go to the switch, or ground (bottom of a pot, the bridge or other ground connection point)? Can you see an empty spot on the switch with a blob of solder, but no wire? If so, that is where it goes. If it is a ground wire, there are a number of places it could go, all would work just fine.

  • From: Pico Rivera, Calif. U.S.A.
  • Registered: 2006-10-26
  • Posts: 785

Re: Pickup trouble

DrewDruncan wrote:

It should be an easy, 5 minute job to resolder the wire. The trick will be determining where it goes. Look to see if your pickups have 2 or 4 wires. If your guitar has coil cutting, to allow humbuckers to be used as single coils, there must be 4 wires. Sometimes, even if they are not used in one guitar, the pickups come with 4 wires, for use in other models.
Next, look for the wires from the other pickup. Does the green wire go to the switch, or ground (bottom of a pot, the bridge or other ground connection point)? Can you see an empty spot on the switch with a blob of solder, but no wire? If so, that is where it goes. If it is a ground wire, there are a number of places it could go, all would work just fine.

Green is 99.44% of the time is a ground wire, in a h-h it is usually soldered to the bare ground wire and taped off.  What type of switch do you have a 3 way toggle or a 5 way switch that will determine what schematic or wiring diagram (both the same) to use. Let me know if I can help.

Good luck,

Bootlegger,
Bootlegger guitars.

  • From: Almancil, Algarve, Portugal
  • Registered: 2006-09-02
  • Posts: 6,205

Re: Pickup trouble

As this guitar is only a few weeks old is it a good idea to suggest a self repair. In the UK you can invalidate a guarantee if you attempt a repair yourself and there are very few people around who can solder as good as the manufacturer.

I think that it should be returned to the suppliers but things may be different in the America.

Roger

"Do, or do not; there is no try"

Roger Guppy's Website

  • Registered: 2007-04-25
  • Posts: 551

Re: Pickup trouble

bootleger wrote:
DrewDruncan wrote:

It should be an easy, 5 minute job to resolder the wire. The trick will be determining where it goes. Look to see if your pickups have 2 or 4 wires. If your guitar has coil cutting, to allow humbuckers to be used as single coils, there must be 4 wires. Sometimes, even if they are not used in one guitar, the pickups come with 4 wires, for use in other models.
Next, look for the wires from the other pickup. Does the green wire go to the switch, or ground (bottom of a pot, the bridge or other ground connection point)? Can you see an empty spot on the switch with a blob of solder, but no wire? If so, that is where it goes. If it is a ground wire, there are a number of places it could go, all would work just fine.

Green is 99.44% of the time is a ground wire, in a h-h it is usually soldered to the bare ground wire and taped off.  What type of switch do you have a 3 way toggle or a 5 way switch that will determine what schematic or wiring diagram (both the same) to use. Let me know if I can help.

Good luck,

Bootlegger,
Bootlegger guitars.

It's a 5-way

"A steering wheel don't mean you can drive, a warm body don't mean I'm alive"
Switchfoot

06sc500's Website

  • Registered: 2007-04-25
  • Posts: 551

Re: Pickup trouble

Hey everyone thanks for the replies, I figured out what was wrong.  There was a ground wire disconnected.  All I have to do it reconnect it, should be an easy fix.  Thanks!

"A steering wheel don't mean you can drive, a warm body don't mean I'm alive"
Switchfoot

06sc500's Website

  • Registered: 2007-12-24
  • Posts: 67

Re: Pickup trouble

RG said: "there are very few people around who can solder as good as the manufacturer."

You must be seeing a better grade of budget guitar than we get around here. Since this solder joint failed so quickly, I think it may be one of second type.

As for wire colors, I could not recall what Ibanez does. Duncan and Dimarzio generally use green as ground, but Gibson uses green for the finish end of coil one. They and PRS use black as ground.