pesocaster Posted March 27, 2006 Posted March 27, 2006 Alright .... a good buddy sent me a Rio BBQ to try out.... and I'm having "issues" with it... Here is the run down see if any of you have heard or seen this before.. I am far from a novice to electronics... however I'm also famous for walking around the house looking for my car keys whilst holding them..... #1 Rio BBQ 4 conductorProblem... only one side of the pup working when installed... Seems any load (Switch / Vot Pot / tone pot) is making this thing act like it's tapped... hum from hell.... really strong signal from one side of the pickup... getting some ambient noise out of the other coil... but the singal is about 1/4 the strength... What I have done so far.... Removed pickup... tested all leads about 6.5K per coil .... combined 12.6ktacked it to a guitar lead direct to amp... "seemed" to work just fine.... quiet ... grounding the R/W gave me a tapped bucker (screwdriver tap test).... as it should be.... re-installed it ... only hooked up to a Hamer Vol pot then to the output jack .... same problem.... all over again.... any ideas??
halide Posted March 27, 2006 Posted March 27, 2006 double check the rio color coding for coil(s), ground, hot, etc.
tomteriffic Posted March 27, 2006 Posted March 27, 2006 I believe the Rios follow the Duncan color code scheme. I wonder if something is winding up getting grounded that shouldn't be?
pesocaster Posted March 27, 2006 Author Posted March 27, 2006 it's almost like the coils are out of phase with each other and one is more dominant.... I guess the next step is to map out each lead ...would a flipped magnet cause anything like this.???? the only other thing I can think of is a short in the lead towards the bottom of the pickup and when it's installed it's creating the short....
tomteriffic Posted March 28, 2006 Posted March 28, 2006 it's almost like the coils are out of phase with each other and one is more dominant.... I guess the next step is to map out each lead ...would a flipped magnet cause anything like this.???? the only other thing I can think of is a short in the lead towards the bottom of the pickup and when it's installed it's creating the short.... More like a break in one of the hot leads that only becomes apparent when the wire is bent a certain way? That would account for the hum and the 'tapped' sound.
SirDouglas Posted March 28, 2006 Posted March 28, 2006 the hum might be a grounding problem also... theres a wiring where you can exchange the ground with one of the other leads to git rid of the phase problem also ... but i dont know the color scheme Randy
Jack C Posted March 28, 2006 Posted March 28, 2006 If you aren't using it as a tapped bucker, are you sure the two leads that are supposed to be soldered together and taped off are really soldered together? I had a similar problem with a Duncan recently and those wires weren't really together. It caused only 1/2 the pup to work.
pesocaster Posted March 28, 2006 Author Posted March 28, 2006 Ah screw it ... just gonna go get some EMG's ha ha ha More surgery tonight.......I'll just go thought the whole thing again....
tomteriffic Posted March 28, 2006 Posted March 28, 2006 If you aren't using it as a tapped bucker, are you sure the two leads that are supposed to be soldered together and taped off are really soldered together? I had a similar problem with a Duncan recently and those wires weren't really together. It caused only 1/2 the pup to work. I had a Pearly of Jack's that drove me nuts until I undid the tape around that pair of wires and found out it was an iffy solder joint. Sometimes I had the whole pickup, no buzz, sometimes half the pickup, all the buzz.
pesocaster Posted March 28, 2006 Author Posted March 28, 2006 If you aren't using it as a tapped bucker, are you sure the two leads that are supposed to be soldered together and taped off are really soldered together? I had a similar problem with a Duncan recently and those wires weren't really together. It caused only 1/2 the pup to work. I had a Pearly of Jack's that drove me nuts until I undid the tape around that pair of wires and found out it was an iffy solder joint. Sometimes I had the whole pickup, no buzz, sometimes half the pickup, all the buzz. AAAAAAAAA Good thought!
Jimbilly Posted March 28, 2006 Posted March 28, 2006 have you hooked it up to your multimeter, and then pulled/bent the wires around to check for shorts?
pesocaster Posted March 28, 2006 Author Posted March 28, 2006 Found the problem.... one of the tap wires is shorting to the grounding braid when bending after being installed..... delicate surgery this weekend.... that was a bit of a brain bender.....
Jimbilly Posted March 28, 2006 Posted March 28, 2006 Wow, how did you find it? I had a short in a used VanZandt single coil that was similar (in that Boogie Bodies HEAVY strat you played), -but easier to find and fix with just 2 wires.
pesocaster Posted March 31, 2006 Author Posted March 31, 2006 There you are!!!!! so after finding the problem... I went in and replaced the whole wire .... pickup is working perfect now..... Tonight it get's (re)installed!!!!! The tricky part finding the short.... it wasn't till I tested resistance frome the individual tap wires to the housing ground that I found it.... grrrrrrrrr Fun little puzzle to solve though...
kizanski Posted March 31, 2006 Posted March 31, 2006 Fun little puzzle to solve though... Sure - once you know how...Good job, Ellery Queen.
pesocaster Posted April 1, 2006 Author Posted April 1, 2006 All repaired... installed..... Breathing fire!!!!BBQ / Texas combo is the sound I've had in my head for years I am thrilled beyond words!!!If you have not checked these out..... you need to.... really.... I have been a die hard Duncan fan for years.... these are truly next level.....Kiz you rock! Thanks buddy!
BCR Greg Posted April 1, 2006 Posted April 1, 2006 I hate to say that I told everyone...... I have been preaching the Rio sermon for YEARS. Richiedie and the ilk have taken the fun out of it, but the pickups ROCK.
pesocaster Posted April 1, 2006 Author Posted April 1, 2006 Richiedie and the ilk have taken the fun out of it, but the pickups ROCK. honestly.... I think that's 1/2 the reason I never bothered before..... fear of getting stuck in the endless quest for the Holy Grail of pickups..... I have always loved Duncan 59's ... but found them lacking a bit of bottom the my Superpro..... So count me in on the Rio preach..... I hath seen the light.... and the light is good.... ha ha ha Spoze I'd like their single coils too....... shit!
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