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Snoozingcat

Snoozingcat

New member
Hi.

A new arrival. 1981 Vector. It’s looks, plays and sounds great. For some reason the pickups were swapped from front to back with chopped wire so I will have to add wire to the neck pickup so it will reach the neck volume pot. It must have been an aesthetic reason as both original DiMarzios measure the same 8.5k.

The cavity wiring in general is fairly untidy, so I may completely rewire it for piece of mind.

I don’t want the out of phase middle position as I have that on my ‘79 Sunburst, so I’m going to wire it traditionally.  Does anyone have a wiring diagram please?

The DiMarzios have a White and Black shielded wire and an unshielded Earth.
 

Thanks in advance.

E31CD667-98A7-4FC9-BA44-55D4A08783E7.jpeg

 
Very nice!  I had an ‘83 vector for several years. Killer guitars and every bit the tone monsters as the specials and sunbursts. Only sold mine because of the thinner neck. Congrats on your new arrival.

 
Great score!  The original DiMarzios had some variance to them and sometimes the guitar just sounded better with the zebra pickup in the bridge and cream in the neck.  Such was the case (along with a similar bird's nest of wiring) of an '80 Special I once bought.  I rewired it with Hamer pots and swapped the pickups back to the "correct" aesthetic positions (zebra in the neck). I  discovered why they had been swapped as soon as I fired it up: it sounded better with the pickups in the "wrong" positions.  So, I swapped them back.  One of the best sounding guitars I've ever owned.

VjxpmWR.jpg


Wiring diagram: https://www.seymourduncan.com/wiring-diagrams?meta_params=guitar-options,2-pickups,neck-h,bridge-h,2-volume,1-tone,3-way-toggle,accessory-none (just ignore the four-conductor business of the red and white wires).

 
Thanks Velorush. To save loads of work, I may just leave as is 😆

I suppose at the end of the day, if it sounds good, it sounds good. 

 
I’ll also post better pics shortly. 

It is a lovely guitar.  Nice and light and the neck profile is terrific. Tonally, much more different to my Sunburst. I think it sounds like a vintage SG.  No bad thing 😀

 
Beautiful guitar. I've got an 83 Vector and it's a killer guitar. Enjoy!

 
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Cool guitar!  I still think on a V, that was the best control layout that anyone's done, unless you're only doing a single volume and switch.  

 
I read in the Ultimate Hamer book, that they thought the traditional Hamer headstock was a mistake, and they should have gone with the “G” vee headstock. I personally prefer it with the Hamer option.

 
velorush said:
Great score!  The original DiMarzios had some variance to them and sometimes the guitar just sounded better with the zebra pickup in the bridge and cream in the neck.  Such was the case (along with a similar bird's nest of wiring) of an '80 Special I once bought.  I rewired it with Hamer pots and swapped the pickups back to the "correct" aesthetic positions (zebra in the neck). I  discovered why they had been swapped as soon as I fired it up: it sounded better with the pickups in the "wrong" positions.  So, I swapped them back.  One of the best sounding guitars I've ever owned.



Wiring diagram: https://www.seymourduncan.com/wiring-diagrams?meta_params=guitar-options,2-pickups,neck-h,bridge-h,2-volume,1-tone,3-way-toggle,accessory-none (just ignore the four-conductor business of the red and white wires).
Click to expand...
That Special looks fantastic. 

 
Pickups have been returned to the correct positions. Cream at Bridge and Zebra at Neck. It sounds awesome. I’m really loving this guitar. 

 
Congrats, love it!  I've got an '81 bound Vector (purchased from another forum member) and it is an amazing guitar.  Really love the neck profile and it's nice and punchy sounding too...

1981 Hamer Vector 2.jpg

 
Snoozingcat said:
That Special looks fantastic. 
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Yeah, sorry, that's a pretty pretentious and well-massaged photo (only one I had in Imgur since the move over from Photobucket).  Here's a more realistic photo of the well-worn guitar.  Note the pickups in the "right" (i.e., lesser-sounding) position. That lasted about an hour.

R5qcg6a.jpg


Here's the wiring when I bought it - not as bad as I recall, but some sub-standard pots and general "iffyness" in the soldering.

XRqFWK8.jpg


And here with Hamer pots (from @BCR Greg) and a new orange drop with the original out-of-phase wiring.

lke4mlZ.jpg


It's really a breeze to wire up these old Hamers because the metal plate works great as a jig.  Pop the pot shafts through a cardboard box and you can do some of the connections outside the guitar (lessens the chances of burning the body with the soldering iron).

19LteHX.jpg


 
scottcald said:
That practically looks like you just came home from buying it new.  
Click to expand...
While it's got a very few slight scratches it's about as clean as you can find for an '81!  No checking or fade to the finish, and the case has more wear than the guitar so it was definitely a closet queen... 😀

 
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