Wiring Up Guitar Electronics 5, Connecting the Jack.mp4

[GDsetlists]

BY FAR the BEST video on YouTube explaining this! All the other ones are complete garbage :) thanks for the help brother, it was the multi-meter advice that helped me most... rock on!

[DoctorSess]

so on a hollowbody with no way to access the inside beside the f hole what do you do if you need to replace more than just the input? im hoping that i wont have to, just wondering...

[johnplanetz]

@DoctorSess - you have to remove the electronics through the f-hole. It's not fun :) See the other videos in my channel for how to do that, and how to get them back in- also not fun!

[kushasaures]

@DoctorSess I recommend using either string to tie to the pots, or aquarium pump tubing that fits around the pot shaft snugly. It's a little bit more difficult, but not bad if you know that trick.

[97warlock]

on a different note:On a solid state amp .......if theres loud HISS when its cranked .........guitar volume down ....and unplug the guitar & still loud hiss, then unplug the cord from the amp & have dead silence.......what does that mean?

[johnplanetz]

@97warlock - some hiss is typical at high gain. The amount depends on the amp. The input jack is probably switched, which is why the amp completely cuts out when you have nothing plugged in.

[97warlock]

Do any of the GROUND wires need to be Shielded?? doesnt Just the hot leads need to be sheilded??? can someone plz answer this

[johnplanetz]

@97warlock - right. you can think of the shield as another wire- used to carry the ground/return. So for a pickup, the shield of the signal wire is used for the pickup's ground connection. If you have a ground wire- like to your bridge, it doesn't need to be a shielded wire.

[JonsBrain]

Is there a video for how to connect the the rest of the wires to the pickup selector switch?

[johnplanetz]

@JonsBrain - i connect up the switch in "Wiring Up Guitar Electronics 3, Organizing Wire, Connecting Volume Pots and Switch"

[sedohrable]

my guitar wires come out somehow and i dont know which goes to which part of the jack and i dont have a reader thing, how can i tell which wire to attach without that device? :P

[johnplanetz]

@sedohrable - try to find a wiring diagram that matches your pickups/volume/tone configuration. See the FAQ at my blog at planetz for some links and resources.

[GuitarBoyA7X]

im so confused! im thinking of wiring my first strat together and im confused as to where the ground wire goes? i know one goes to the tremolo claw on the back of the guitar but where do others go such as pickup ground and tone pot grounds? anyone? thanks!

[LanceMetal]

@GuitarBoyA7X most basses ive owned and im sure it will be the same for guitars have had a ground wire running from the bridge to one of the pots, the pots then grounded onto each other and the pickups grounded onto the pots  i am no expert but so i maybe wrong hopefully someone else will have more info

[Berserkaroid]

why do you attach the jack wire to the tone pot? why not the volume pots

[johnplanetz]

@Berserkaroid - in this circuit, one side of the middle volume pot is connected to the tone pot. The lug on the tone pot here is electrically identical to the lug on the middle volume pot. and the tone pot is closer to the jack, so that's the better place to hook it up. For this guitar's wiring diagram, see my planetz blog post "Riviera P93 Circuit Wiring" on 9/21/2009.

[dashizzler]

Do you have to have the shielded wire to run from the jack to the pot? Could I just use two regular hook up wires?

[johnplanetz]

@dashizzler - regular wire should be fine for short cable runs. Shielded wire becomes more important for long runs, to avoid picking up noise.

[TiagoMorbusSa]

The internet is fantastic but you, sir, are the one that makes it so! Freaking awesome! :D

[Harrysound]

Your videos are a life saver.

Your brilliant

[Nelson123n]

so my ground cable got disconnected on my jack there still alot of solder on the jack its self, should i dis solder or can i heat it and run the cable through, never have solder/dis soldered before also my jacks kinda lose would you recommend replacing it all together and if so what jack? thanks in advance

[johnplanetz]

@Nelson123n - it's generally a good idea to remove the solder on the lug using a solder sucker, so you can clean off any stray wires from your broken connection. If you don't have a solder sucker, you can try heating it up and pushing your new wire through, but it can be hard to see what you're doing and line up the wire properly. For a loose jack, try adding an inner-tooth lock washer between the nut and the regular washer.

[Nelson123n]

@johnplanetz thank you for the advice

[bigjimmyrocker]

thank you sir well done and informative I've learned thaNKS AGAin

[Kernnee]

Dear lord, how do/ where did you learn how to do all this stuff? My brain is frying just looking at all this stuff! Your tutorials are very good though.

[miguel4756]

Good video. The reason I looked up a video like this is because the wires that connect to the switch craft came out, so I figure I need to solder them back in. Is this the right thing to do, or should I buy a new switch craft? I also found out online that I can you wire glue. Do you think this may be easier to do? By the way Im 16 and have never soldered before.

[johnplanetz]

@miguel4756 - it's unlikely that your jack needs to be replaced. it's probably just a broken solder connection. you can easily repair it, but you'll need a soldering iron. a cheap one from radioshack,etc will do. you'll also need some 60/40 rosin core solder. just resolder those wires, referring to these videos for tips and get a wiring diagram if you need one from the guitarelectronics Guitar Diagram Archive. it's not hard- and you'll improve quickly with experience. good luck!

[hardrockerdave94]

You're sure right about epiphone jacks falling in, it happened to my Epi Dot and it was a nightmare to get out. Thanks for the video, it helped a lot

[conanjeter]

would you by any chance have a list of all the supplies needed to do this?? i already have all the wires.

sorry for the inconvenience. your videos make it seem so much easier! i hope mine turns out well. also do you end up putting the cardboard in the guitar?

[johnplanetz]

@conanjeter - no- the cardboard is just to hold everything together while you're messing with it.

things I would recommend getting: 40w soldering iron, 60/40 rosin core solder. multimeter. alligator clip leads. needle nose pliers, locking pliers or a "helping hand" tool. then of course your pots and caps, jack, etc. find a wiring diagram that works for your setup at the guitarelectronics wiring diagram archive. experiment with your circuit with alligator clips before soldering anything!

[conanjeter]

hey i am in the middle of building a guitar and i have the pickups in place, i attached the fretboard, and the tuning nobs

all i have left is to wire up the rest of it and put in the volume knobs and ect.

problem is im only 16 and i have 0 experiance soldering or using wires. is this something i can figure out by watching youtube videos and following them or should i just pay 50$ to have someone wire it for me?

[johnplanetz]

@conanjeter - absolutely you can figure it out! it just takes patience and practice. but you'll need to be interested enough and motivated enough to deal with the learning curve and see it through. if you don't want to invest the time (and in some tools like a soldering iron and multimeter), then pay a guitar tech to do it for you. i have some tips in the faq at my blog if you want to pursue it. good luck!

[Davesintexas]

Wow, is mine really Different.....My jack gets a seperate free wire that runs from a solder puddle on the Bridge Pot to the Sleeve/ground connector. And my Tip or HOT Output gets a free seperate wire that leads from the middle connecton of the 3 Way Switch, thats actually two posts on the 3 way pushed together to the Output Jack connector and thats all. DOES THIS MAKE ANY SENSE TO YOU???? Im reading from the Seymour Duncan Diagram in their Slash PUs I purchased and that doesnt work too well

[johnplanetz]

@Davesintexas - sure that makes sense. there's many ways to wire up a guitar circuit, and lots of different pickup/tone/volume combinations. i'm showing just one possible way here, for my Riviera P93 (three pickups, three volume knobs and a tone knob). sounds like your guitar has 2 or 3 pickups, a three way switch, and no tone knob? take a look at the guitarelectronics wiring diagram archive for more examples.

[JgHaverty]

good video, but you are such a spazz, annoying to watch :(

[guitarristasean]

Thanks so much for these videos! I kept referring back to these while changing all of my pickups and pots. Your last video on wiring the input jack was what got me over the last hurdle! I didn't know there was a ground AND an output wire in that bigger wire that runs to the jack. So, basically, I've wired this thing at least twice, but it works, and I'm a lot more confident about doing this myself now. Thanks again!

[50cliber]

i have a 3 pronged jack imput and i want to improvise a pickup but i cant work out wich way to put the wires



[johnplanetz]

@50cliber - i'm not sure what you're asking. If you're simply wondering which lugs of a stereo jack to use when wiring up your circuit, use a multimeter like i demonstrated in the video at 0:56

The pickup ground should be connected to the jack plug sleeve and the pickup hot signal would be wired to the jack plug tip.

[50cliber]

@johnplanetz thanx for tht i just broke all my stuff anyways so i cant do it anymore and i just finished my 1965 fender strat it was im my m8s attic and it had been striped of wired so he could fix a rockband guitar

[sueside]

Thanks for the great and helpful tutorials! I like your soothing voice ;)

Small question: Do I have to solder the shield of the cable to the ground or is this just for placement purpose? Thanks.

[johnplanetz]

@sueside - yes, you should solder the shield to ground.

[wes58x]

can any pot lead to the jack? or only the tone pot?

[johnplanetz]

@wes58x 0 there's a number of ways to wire up a guitar. you need to look at some schematics or wiring diagrams.  try the diagrams at the guitarelectronics website

[hylsy666]

You make gtr world a better place to be

[kevin121]

lol NUT at 0:28

[aweisti]

how do you find out which is the ground/hot connector without that machine? I'm installing a pickupwith a white and red wire and have no clue

[emotionalwinter]

all your videos are wonderful...thanks for sharing and educate

[guitarrick1]

Great vids!! I'm going back and re-doing the wiring in my Satriani Ibanez Frankenstein/Vai/compilation guitar the RIGHT way soon.. VERY helpful tips. Thank you!

[saxman1212]

You are awesome! I love your detail and quality of recording. I will be looking into your website/blog now. I'm sure you have a lot of worth to add to my knowledge of guitar

[paraglidermx]

Do u kno what color the signal wire on a schecter damian6 is?Black or white...I think I mixed em up??Signal always goes to the tip right??I put the black wire to the tip and white to sleeve,it seems to work but I want to make sure its right...I guess I could take the cover off the back and see what wire goes to the pot or lug right??

[johnplanetz]

@paraglidermx - Yes the signal always goes to the tip and ground to sleeve. You can't depend on wire colors! If you have a multimeter, you can just check for continuity between the black/white wires and something metal like the bridge. If you don't have a multimeter then you should be able to see where the wire goes if you open the back cover. In any case, I assume if you hear sound then it's wired ok, and if you don't hear it, then it's probably backwards. :) Good luck!

[cheezbeenzriz]

@johnplanetz Where is a good place to buy wire for this sort of job.

[johnplanetz]

@cheezbeenzriz - online at guitar sources like stewmac, guitarelectronics, guitarpartsresource. also online at more general (less expensive) electronics sources like mouser, elexp, digikey, etc. or find a local electronics/surplus shop.

[AwezomeProductions]

Hi, I am about to build a guitar myself. I have one quick question. I want to build it as simple as possible (because I am not very good at such things). Is it possible to build a guitar with one pickup and no tone or volume, just connecting the pickup with the jack directly? Great tutorials by the way :)

[johnplanetz]

@AwezomeProductions - Absolutely! Just wire the pickup signal and ground directly to the jack lugs. you should also run a wire from the bridge to the jack ground. Have fun!

[AwezomeProductions]

@johnplanetz OK, thanks alot :)

[johnplanetz]

@AwezomeProductions - doesn't have to be complicated! Watch the opening scene of "It Might Get Loud" where Jack White makes an electric guitar by stretching a string between two nails on a piece of wood, with a bottle for a bridge and a pickup nailed on beneath the string. So there you go- one pickup wired directly to the jack :)

[samborghini05]

Very nice man. Best on the web so far.

[greatwhitepoet]

So if ones the ground and ons the signal..whats the middle one ?

can I use a jack with 2 lugs for a microphone with pot?

[johnplanetz]

@greatwhitepoet - on the Switchcraft L12A, this middle lug is a shunt which connects to the tip when no plug is inserted in the jack. When a plug is inserted the shunt disconnects from the tip. You can ignore it for the guitar jack, but it can be useful in effect pedals etc, to make a connection when nothing is pluggged in.

[Slushplop]

Hey just a quick question. those black wires you're using, with the ground braided around the signal, where did you get them?

At my electronics store, they only have patch cables which are too thick to work with.

thanks again!

[johnplanetz]

@Slushplop - I just had those wires lying around here. But I know stewmac, guitarpartsresource and guitarelectronics all carry shielded wire at varying degrees of price insanity.

[Slushplop]

amazing. where were you all my life?

[sixstringsmark]

Very informative video series! Thanks for taking the time to film and post these!

[xxcowslayerxxx]

instead of testing it with a multimeter i just hooked it all up and touched the wires on the prongs until i heard a sound from touching the pickups with a screwdriver is this bad considering i touched them opposite to where they go?

[johnplanetz]

As long as you're gentle when you touch the pole pieces with the screwdriver, that's a fine way of testing whether your pickups are connected.

[frg8526]

@johnplanetz Great tutorials (all 5). it's a little over my head being a newbster, but I learned a lot. I'm about to buy a sodering Iron, is the Weller WLC100 40-Watt adequate? Thanks

[johnplanetz]

@frg8526 Yes, that should be a great iron for the kind of work you'll be doing. Have fun!

[frg8526]

@johnplanetz Thanks

[187478]

thanx for putting up the vid

[baldejonathan19]

great job

[jill22079]

Very good info Im about to start my own guitar project and its good to see some of the soldering technics.

[MetalMonsterGuitar]

Awesome videos. There very helpful and i subbd u