Problem with P90 pickup on Wildkat

[JamesL]

Hello,

 

I bought a used Wildkat from somebody but it has a problem with the treble pickup.

 

The problem is that when I plug in the guitar the pickup does not work. I tried to find loose wires through the F-holes but could not find a problem there. The pickup-selector switch also works fine.

 

Now the funny thing: when I tap on the pickup with a small screwdriver it suddenly works. After a while it stops again and when I tap again with a screwdriver it ‘switches’ on again.

 

Has anyone encountered this problem or does anyone know how I can fix this?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Greetings,

 

James

[antwhi2001]

Sounds like a loose or damaged pickup lead, or loose / damaged wire inside the pup. I'd remove it carefully and see if you can spot anything of that kind. If you're not confident to do that, take it to someone who is. It doesn't sound like an expensive repair.

[carverman]

An intermittent p_up or pot can be really frustrating to find. Generally speaking, pickups are passive

devices and rarely (if left undisturbed by opening the cover) fail inside..however, you could have

a broken connection on one of the twisted/soldered wires that attaches to the p_up up lead (signal

and shield) that comes from to pickup to the volume pot. Another problem could be the volume

pot itself is gone "open" when the center wiper (contact) is not making a good mechanical contact.

it's hard to say without seeing it..but the first place to start would be the bridge p_up.

 

Here's what I would try in a similar case. Slacken the strings enough that you can wiggle the

p-up out and then "gently" push or tug on the p-up wire while tapping. Rotate the volume control

back and forth and see if the tapping sound increases/decreases..that will at least tell you that

the volume appears to be working. If it still happens, then the wiring inside is touching or

shorting out somewhere..it could be on the selector switch or somewhere inside.

 

Not an easy thing to see on a semi hollow body. To thoroughly check out the wiring , requires pulling the pots,

wires,switch and jack out and checking out the connections, insulating connections where necessary.

out and then fishing them back in after you found the problem. Perhaps as a last resort,before you have

to get someone to inspect the wiring, you can GENTLY probe/tug the wiring ( through the f-hole) with something

that is not going to damage the connections..but this is not the proper way to do it.

[lostindesert]

The Wildkat PU's use a connector so you can easely pull them out.

Maybe the connector isn't connected properly.

 

Former Wildkat owner,

 

Peter

[JamesL]

Hello,

 

Thanks everyone for your answers.

 

I had to restring the guitar anyway so I took out the pickup.

There were no connectors inside. I guess it was an early model (march 2000).

By the way, does anyone know when production started for the Wildkat?

 

I found no bad solder joints on the treble volume pot and the pickup switch.

 

So I put everything back inside, corrected the relief, intonation and action (action had to be set a little higher than I normally do because of some fret buzz).

 

The guitar now plays like a dream, the treble pickup only failed once since.

 

I will now try some contact spray in the vol-pot, and maybe the switch too.

 

I'll keep you posted if I find what causes this problem.

 

In the meantime if anyone encounters the same problem, please share it with us.

 

Greets,

 

James

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