Pickup Volume Fading

[BoogieMKIIA]

My Tele was fading in and out the last two practices. I first thought a pedal board cable but now think it was the guitar. Asking if what follows makes sense or if any of you have experienced this and found a fix.

Once home, I plugged in a known good cable and measured open circuit. Pulled the jack and cleaned the contacts, still open circuit. Tightened up the jack to the socket. Then pulled the control plate and stretched the wires, could see PU resistance so I stuffed it all back. Then had the same problem.

Taking the control plate off again, the solder joint on the volume pot where the jack wire is connected looked funny, like the wire could move in the solder joint, so I reflowed it. Put it back together and all measures well with a meter. It’s late so I won’t be able to confirm with an amp until later.
 
Thoughts?

 

[Jimbilly]

dirty pot? spray with Caig DeOxit?  Try it with a different amp to make sure it's not the amp?

[BoogieMKIIA]

I didn’t spray the pot, it seems to turn normally and any volume change unrelated to turning it. Something to try if I still have the problem. Have been out of town so will try on Friday. I played. Different guitar on the amp during practice with no issues and will be playing another amp this weekend, another check.

Just curious if anyone had this symptom on a guitar before. The amp was my first guess, a bad tube or something.

[Dave Scepter]

56 minutes ago, BoogieMKIIA said:

Just curious if anyone had this symptom on a guitar before.

I've had that happen to me on numerous occasions... And I have found it was either a cold solder joints which I just went around and reheated with my soldering iron or a bad component, such as the potentiometer went out... so I just replaced with a new one... i use jumper wires with alligator clips and bypass circuits for troubleshooting.

[veatch]

I've had that issue before. Aside from what has been mentioned (definitely pots, definitely bad solder connections), the output jack is worth checking, especially if it is a barrel jack. 

[BoogieMKIIA]

Checked things out today. No fading put some scratchiness from the volume pot. Cleaned it with D5 and all seems good. If there are no problems over the weekend gigs, will see what happens with the practice amp next week.

The output jack is a standard Switchcraft. Cheap and easy to replace it and the pot if I still have trouble. I’m not sure how old those parts are, not more than 5 years old. I replaced the stock Player Tele parts when I got the guitar.

Another possibility is the pedal board patch cables. I make my own with Square Plugs and Mogami wire. Have replaced a few, none with fading so far. 

Pre-pedal board was simpler.

[murkat]

Cold solder joint. Clean or replace input jack.

[BoogieMKIIA]

Thanks for the comments.  Played the Tele and pedal board all night, no issues. I'll call it fixed if there isn't a problem tonight. Though I didn't follow a method that would pinpoint the root cause, here is what was done in the order of importance per my opinion.

1. Reflowed the solder joint where the jack ground wire connects to the pot. Looked like this solid wire was turning in the solder joint. I'm guessing this is the root cause.

2. Cleaned the volume pot. There was some scratching when turning. Last thing I did before buttoning it up. 

3. Cleaned the jack contact. Light sanding, alcohol swab, D5. Also tightened up to the Electrosocket jack and wire dress from Jack to pot.

I've experienced intermittent cut-out from wiring and a jump in output on pot rotation in the past. How the volume faded is new to me.

 

[murkat]

Sometimes you just have to install a new input jack (switchcraft) with all the poking they’re subjected to, like throwing a hotdog down a hallway…