Creating my first guitar

[R3ign]

have you connected the two centre lugs together?

 

thats assuming you're using a 3way toggle

 

yeh, with a blob of solder.

 

my killswitch = from 'hot' vol - killswitch lug - middle lugs together - last lug to 'hot' input jack (also earthed the killswitch)

[hooglebug]

one lug should be hot the other should be earth then the middle two together

[Citizen_2]

Thanks , i know i have a dodgy soldering iron the first one shroted :/ i have a gas one but ts too big for that job unfortunatly.

 

The gas soldering iron is too big (as in too powerful) for the job? No it isn't, on the basis of what we've seen so far. A soldering iron that is too powerful is generally better than one that's too weedy. Powerful soldering irons will quickly heat the area of the joint. Weedy ones will heat it up very slowly, allowing more of it to radiate out and heat up stuff that you don't want getting hot.

 

If you have a more powerful soldering iron, use it for the connections to the pot cans as the one you've got clearly ain't cutting it. If push comes to shove, 15 quid on a tidy Antec now will save you money in the long term..

 

and i have some copper shielding stuck on the back plate. i guess i need to put some wround the side ?

 

Yep as Chedda says. In an ideal world you want to think of the entire internal space on the guitar existing within a perfect electrical shield from the outside world. This is virtually impossible in practice when it comes to the internal drillings for the pickup wires but you can get pretty close. You don't have to use sticky copper foil either, conductive paints are in many ways easier to use, especially on irregular spaces and down holes.

 

Also don't forget that you have to make an electrical connection between the shield on the back plates and the one on the inside of the cavity. This could be as simple as one bit of shielding touching another when the plates are screwed down, but if the connection isn't there, the value of the rear shielding is largely lost. It also goes without saying that you have to have the backplates installed for the shielding to work. If you're testing the guitar with (otherwise well shielded) cavities open, you will get more hum than "normal".

 

Finally, depending on how you've got your pickups wired, you might have to think through what you do with the shield/grounding on your P90. In some configurations you want the shield to be permanently grounded. In others, you don't.

 

Speaking of which, btw, P90/single coil equipped guitars don't *always* have to hum. The only way I can get any background noise out of mine is if I sit it within inches of a TV set with the Fuzz Factory switched on and whacked right up. Otherwise, it's eerily silent, unless being played of course. Time spent getting the shielding absolutely spot-on pays dividends here.

[coffee_and_tv]

just conected the kilswitch back and i have the humm back :/ also it goes humm/on/humm

any ideas?

 

did you wire it just before the output, from hot to ground? that way when the switch is "off" (i.e. not passing current through it), the signal behaves as normal, but when its "on", it sends the current to ground, thus silently cutting the signal. i.e. an on-off-on switch wired in this fashion would work as an off-on-off

 

if that made any sense at all..

 

 

edit: ant beat me to it

[R3ign]

one lug should be hot the other should be earth then the middle two together

 

so working from this diagram

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=2h_1v_1t_3w

 

where sould i connect the killswitch hot ?

thanks

[R3ign]

is it from the jack hot to killswitch then to earth. then connect the vol terminal to jack hot?

or have i got it all wrong

[R3ign]

is it from the jack hot to killswitch then to earth. then connect the vol terminal to jack hot?

or have i got it all wrong

 

found how to connect it lol. cant beleve how simple it was. it all works fine without any humm. but if i turn the tone off it humms. i guess i will have to keeep the tone on lol.

[tomrulez]

found how to connect it lol. cant beleve how simple it was. it all works fine without any humm. but if i turn the tone off it humms. i guess i will have to keeep the tone on lol.

 

Glad you got it sorted, sounds like you need to ground your tone, have you re-wired it since you posted the pic of it as on the pic you had to lugs wired the wrong way round.

 

Yeah I think this is the problem

 

The cap should be on the middle lug of the pot and the wire coming from the vol pot should be on the left lug.

[R3ign]

Glad you got it sorted, sounds like you need to ground your tone, have you re-wired it since you posted the pic of it as on the pic you had to lugs wired the wrong way round.

 

Yeah I think this is the problem

 

The cap should be on the middle lug of the pot and the wire coming from the vol pot should be on the left lug.

 

yeh i did change them earlyer. it was ok untill i connnected the killswitch, i know that has nothing to do with the tone pot

[Neil.]

glad you got it done. i had a similar problem with my first build. but aren't KS's fun?

[R3ign]

glad you got it done. i had a similar problem with my first build. but aren't KS's fun?

 

aye they are so simple yet annoying .

now going to venture on to the Fuz Factory,

could someone please tell me if there are longer shafts to replace the 2 ff pots that will be showing?

thanks

[Neil.]

i can answer that. Yes, of course there are. Are you in UK or US and i'm sure i can find a site.

 

edit:

lol! eyesight fail. Wales it is! (on that note, Awesome wales selection for the Lions ) I use this site: http://www.bitsbox.co.uk/ Their site isn't as fancy as the likes of mouser or something, but for various electronic bits and pieces, they're amazing. If you're going to be changing the pots on your FF, depending on what pots you want on the front and which you want as trimmers, the pot values are:

5k - Volume

10k - Gate

10k - Comp

10k - Drive

5k - Stab

 

All linear pots. Also, 5k pots sometimes can be hard to get hold of. I know of people who've gone to put other fuzzes in things, and not been able to get the 5k pots. on that site above, they sell 4.7k, and they'll work just as well, although you might notice some teeny tiny differences, but nothing major at all.

[R3ign]

i can answer that. Yes, of course there are. Are you in UK or US and i'm sure i can find a site.

 

edit:

lol! eyesight fail. Wales it is! (on that note, Awesome wales selection for the Lions ) I use this site: http://www.bitsbox.co.uk/ Their site isn't as fancy as the likes of mouser or something, but for various electronic bits and pieces, they're amazing. If you're going to be changing the pots on your FF, depending on what pots you want on the front and which you want as trimmers, the pot values are:

5k - Volume

10k - Gate

10k - Comp

10k - Drive

5k - Stab

 

All linear pots. Also, 5k pots sometimes can be hard to get hold of. I know of people who've gone to put other fuzzes in things, and not been able to get the 5k pots. on that site above, they sell 4.7k, and they'll work just as well, although you might notice some teeny tiny differences, but nothing major at all.

 

haha yeh good selection

thanks i will need comp and stab so 10 and 5 .. thanks again

[R3ign]

is a 4k7 log ok ?

and a 10k linear

[Citizen_2]

could someone please tell me if there are longer shafts to replace the 2 ff pots that will be showing?

 

As T says, loads of alternatives, any 5K/10K linear pot will "do", but it's worth paying a little extra for tidy ones so you steer clear of crackling and early failure.

 

I used part nos 484-8575 and 484-8569 from RS. They're £3.60+VAT each in small quantities but they're excellent pots - better quality and should last a lot longer than the ones Zvex use. Lovely smooth action too.

 

Edited to add: 4K7log will do weird things, not least removing most of the controllability from the pot sweep. Nothing stopping you buying one and sticking it in to see what happens, but get a 5K linear one and put it in first otherwise you won't know whether or not anything's gone wrong with your install.

[Neil.]

mmmm... i'm not sure... tbh, if you need a guage on size, on THIS page, the pots at the top are a little smaller than the normal sized guitar pots, but their shafts are almost as long (probably about 2-5mm longer tbh). The ones further down (THE BLUE ONES) again, the body's are a bit smaller than the normal guitar pots, and the shafts are about 40mm long.

 

if it was me, i'd go for one of the top ones. I've used them for a pedal, and the bit that passes through the metal (or in your case the wood body) is about 7.5mm. I'd say you could get away with it. Seeing as how cheap that place is, you could nearly order the two of both kinds.

 

In answer to your question, i dont know about a log one.

 

edit:

Edited to add: 4K7log will do weird things, not least removing most of the controllability from the pot sweep. Nothing stopping you buying one and sticking it in to see what happens, but get a 5K linear one and put it in first otherwise you won't know whether or not anything's gone wrong with your install.

 

I've heard the effects of putting 4k7's in fuzz factories. Fact, they sound fine. nothing that 30mins of trial and error won't overcome.

[R3ign]

As T says, loads of alternatives, any 5K/10K linear pot will "do", but it's worth paying a little extra for tidy ones so you steer clear of crackling and early failure.

 

I used part nos 484-8575 and 484-8569 from RS. They're £3.60+VAT each in small quantities but they're excellent pots - better quality and should last a lot longer than the ones Zvex use. Lovely smooth action too.

 

Edited to add: 4K7log will do weird things, not least removing most of the controllability from the pot sweep. Nothing stopping you buying one and sticking it in to see what happens, but get a 5K linear one and put it in first otherwise you won't know whether or not anything's gone wrong with your install.

 

cant seem to find those specific parts,

but would this 5k work http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062356

[Citizen_2]

cant seem to find those specific parts,

but would this 5k work http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062356

 

That's not ideal for a couple of reasons. Firstly the shaft is too long, so you're gonna have to get involved cutting it down. Second issue tho is that it's an "audio taper" pot. That's another way of saying it has a logarithmic (aka log) track.

 

T might know more than I do about whether log pots work in the Stab position but educated guesswork tells me that it'll make the adjustment more than a little tricky as you'll get nothing down one side of the pot and everything the other. There's probably a reason why Zach Vex used linear ones!

 

As for those RS pots, here are the direct product links:

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=getProduct&R=484-8575

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=getProduct&R=484-8569

[R3ign]

That's not ideal for a couple of reasons. Firstly the shaft is too long, so you're gonna have to get involved cutting it down. Second issue tho is that it's an "audio taper" pot. That's another way of saying it has a logarithmic (aka log) track.

 

T might know more than I do about whether log pots work in the Stab position but educated guesswork tells me that it'll make the adjustment more than a little tricky as you'll get nothing down one side of the pot and everything the other. There's probably a reason why Zach Vex used linear ones!

 

As for those RS pots, here are the direct product links:

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=getProduct&R=484-8575

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=getProduct&R=484-8569

 

thanks, do you know how long the shaft is? as i cant seem so see it in the description

thanks

[Citizen_2]

thanks, do you know how long the shaft is? as i cant seem so see it in the description

thanks

 

The shaft length on those RS pots? It is on the page - although not immediately clear. Total length of the shaft + mounting bush is listed as 22mm - so that's from the end of the shaft to the mounting face on the front of the pot.

 

The mounting bush is about 9mm tall (therefore the shaft itself about 13mm long) and the fixing nut supplied is about 3mm. So you want the face thickness of the body wood in the mounting area to be about 5-6mm to get these to fit nicely.

 

Also note that they have a 1/4 inch smooth shaft - which may or may not be an issue when it comes to your knob, as the saying goes.

[R3ign]

The shaft length on those RS pots? It is on the page - although not immediately clear. Total length of the shaft + mounting bush is listed as 22mm - so that's from the end of the shaft to the mounting face on the front of the pot.

 

The mounting bush is about 9mm tall (therefore the shaft itself about 13mm long) and the fixing nut supplied is about 3mm. So you want the face thickness of the body wood in the mounting area to be about 5-6mm to get these to fit nicely.

 

Also note that they have a 1/4 inch smooth shaft - which may or may not be an issue when it comes to your knob, as the saying goes.

 

haha, thanks do you know if they sell some around 40mm as the wood is quite thick.

thanks

[Phill]

you'd have to route the wood down thinner perhaps. or use a wide drill bit and just sink the pots in a bit.

[R3ign]

you'd have to route the wood down thinner perhaps. or use a wide drill bit and just sink the pots in a bit.

 

yeh, was trying to avoid drilling it deeper. but if thats the only size i will do it then.

thanks

[R3ign]

EDIT: oops didnt see that it had a short thread

 

i have found a longer shaft pot http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/10K-POTENTIOMETER-Lon-pot-variable-resistor-Linear_W0QQitemZ270171438888QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET?hash=item270171438888&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

but not sure if it is the correct one

[R3ign]

UPDATE:

 

have routed the body lower for the FF pots also bought the pots from the links above. and they fit perfect. now just waiting for a De-solderer to arrive to take the pots of the ff board