Help! (Greg, Murkat, anyone?): Hamer Standard Custom wiring: Can't swap pickups?!

[Navigator]

Okay, boy do I ever need help from the experts on this one! I really am about to tear my fn' hair out at this point.

I recently purchased a great Standard Custom here on the board, but am in the process (I thought) of swapping out the Duncan '59s for some Wolfetone Marshallheads.

Okay great. I unsolder the bridge pickup, and use the old "fishing line" method to be able to draw the new bridge pickup's lead down into the control cavity.

All goes well, and I then move to the neck pickup. I unsolder the lead, and again use the fishing line to be able to draw the new pickup's lead into the control cavity...

Not so fast apparently. As I try to pull the original lead I hit major resistance. Hmm. Okay, I go gently back and forth a bit but I end up pulling harder and harder, having no idea what the resistance might be. At one point I'm really pulling hard. Not smart, I know. Anyway, at one point I see that there is now a bare wire poking out of the housing for the BRIDGE pickup. I'm working on the neck pickup. I really don't know what is in that damn route, but I'm pushing wires out of the way apparently.

As I pull further I see that this wire is SOLDERED to the neck's lead (two conductor), so I unsolder it. Still no idea what that is, a ground wire maybe?

At any rate, I finally get the neck pickup out and attach the fishing line to the new neck pickup. At this point, it seems that whatever is in the channel leading back to the control cavity WILL NOT let the new lead back in. It's ridiculous. I have no idea why, but I can pull with a ton of force, but the new lead will not seem to be pulled into the control cavity.

I have a feeling that I've probably messed up some of the wiring coming from the toggle switch at this point, but I won't know that till the damn lead can be hooked up in the control cavity.

I thought this would be a simple pickup swap as I've done to numerous Les Pauls and Explorer-type guitars. What in blazes am I doing wrong? Can anyone give me some guidance here? Thanks in advance for any assistance or information you can offer!

[gorch]

The ideal would be to open the top and look what's in there. However, I think that's not the option for a Standard. At a certain point I would unsolder everything and try to empty the pocket. Then build it up from scratch.

[David B]

Feed both wires at the same time?

[triodecr]

You really shouldn't need the fishing line. I assume you have the bridge pickup out of it's route and are guiding the neck wire by hand through the various holes to the control cavity? If not, ditch the fishing line, unscrew the bridge pickup, flip it over on top of a towel on the top of the guitar, and guide the neck wire by hand into the control cavity. Are the Marshallheads braided single conductor like the 59's? If not and the are plastic jacketed cable then the cables may be rubbing in the hole going to the cavity - I've had this happen with Dimarzios before. You could try putting both pickup wires through the hole to the control cavity together. I had to resort to a dab of guitar polish on the cable to get it to slide. Also, I always pull both pickups (if I'm replacing both) and install the neck pickup first so I can screw it down and then just have to deal with the bridge pickup. Best of luck.

[murkat]

you lost me.

should be as easy as a les paul...

un solder pup leeds from pots.

flip

remove bridge pup

remove neck pup

install neck pup

install bridge pup

solder up leeds to pots.

re string and tune up.

[Navigator]

Thanks for the feedback guys. The pickups are two-conductor like the 59s.

It should be easy, I agree. I think the problem may be twofold: On one hand the wires from the selector switch are in FOUR separate strands. They come into the neck pickup route in one piece in a gray-jacketed insulation. Then as they go from the neck route towards the control cavity the gray plastic insulation ends and they "split" into a white, black, and red-jacketed smaller wires, along with one bare wire!

When I first removed the neck pickup, perhaps its lead traveled back out between these various wires, and when I attempted to tug the new lead back through (with the fishing line) it encountered resistance and couldn't get through that thicket of wires, and that's where I am.

Anyway, I'm sorry that it's proving to be more complicated than the last Les Paul I worked on. I just didn't know if there was some aspect of Hamer wiring that I wasn't aware of.

I guess the only thing to do now is to uninstall the bridge pickup, and work on getting the neck pickup installed first, since its lead has the longest distance to travel. Then I'll deal with the bridge pickup.

It could be that using the fishing line was a mistake, but I've found that technique to be a life saver, especially when dealing with my Ibanez Destroyer, which has a frustratingly small route for the wires to go through.

Thanks again for listening and for the feedback everyone. I appreciate it. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures of the guitar once it's finished up.

you lost me.

should be as easy as a les paul...

un solder pup leeds from pots.

flip

remove bridge pup

remove neck pup

install neck pup

install bridge pup

solder up leeds to pots.

re string and tune up.

[BCR Greg]

you lost me.

should be as easy as a les paul...

un solder pup leeds from pots.

flip

remove bridge pup

remove neck pup

install neck pup

install bridge pup

solder up leeds to pots.

re string and tune up.

Fact.

[murkat]

you are just binding up on the wire channel between the pups with the switch wire. Understandable and nerve racking.

you need to make sure the pup leeds are clean, free of blobs of solder prior to removal to go thru the channels without binding up.

when installing new to you pups, you need to make sure the leeds are clean as well, wrap them in tape to make them stiff enough

to go thru the channel, use a lil chapstick (wire KY) if you have too. just take your time to thread thru and you will be fine.

can be nerve racking, just take your time and follow thru

[Navigator]

Thanks again for the replies everyone, and thanks for the advice murkat.

I know this sounds so basic and I shouldn't have trouble, but the fact is that there was/is something strange about how this guitar is/was wired, which I'm still trying to figure out.

See the first photo below. This is the original 59 neck pickup. You can see that there is a rather substantial bare wire coming off the middle of the lead. I have placed it just where it was SOLDERED to the lead. As I pulled the neck pickup out this wire was the first thing that was holding the lead back as I pulled it. As I pulled harder the end of that bare wire came out through the route for the bridge pickup! When I noticed that it was soldered to the neck pickup lead, I desoldered it and took it and the neck pickup out.

Weird eh? That is my first question for the experts. What the hell was the purpose of that wire?

My second question is what is the bare wire coming from the toggle switch selector? And where is it supposed to go? See photo below:

You can see the gray-jacketed large wire coming from the switch. It branches into the red, white, black, and bare wires as it goes to the control cavity. In the control cavity the red goes to the tone pot, the white to the bridge volume pot, and the black to the neck volume pot. Where does the bare wire go?

As you can see, what should have been a simple pickup swap became a little odd. I thought that maybe Hamer had some odd wiring I didn't know about. Maybe it's just this one. As far as I know, the stock pickups and wiring had never been messed with till now. Sort of sorry that I wasn't a fan of the chrome-covered Duncan 59s!

[murkat]

ground wire is the bare.

someone used the pup leed, bare, as a jumper for the ground for the switch.

that is all.

and kinda funky at that if factory.

probably, more than likely....

hole is too small for the way too fuckin huge 4 conductor switch leed and pup leed to pass thru together.

then a lightbulb goes off in a cranium as it says to itself..."gee, I could jump the ground to the pup leed,

unsheeth the way too freckin big 4 conductor, and make it fit all into the under sized potal leed hole."

that is what happened. and your stuck with the mess and trying to figure out wtf happened

If you need a nice piece of four conductor to redo the switch leed, etc. LMK

J

[Navigator]

Ah, thank you J!

I knew something had to be f-d up about it and not quite right. Thanks for solving the mystery.

I'll PM you for the four conductor. If I'm messing about in there, I might as well fix it right.

By the way, where should the ground wire (from the switch) end up in the control cavity?

Thanks again!

Bill

[Hamer Bass Head]

You may have the insulation sticking to the insulation of the other pickup. Install the neck first but don't pull the wires all the way so when you are pulling the bridge wire they will both slide instead of jamming in the hole.