DB Cooper Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 I've never opened up my Gibson SG Standard - or any other electric guitar, for that matter. I'm not really much of a 'fix-it' kind of guy, and I really don't want to screw up anything! BUT, just noticed that in the middle position, my bridge pick-up (treble) is not doing anything. Zero. Only the neck pup is working in that position. In the treble position, it's just fine. What could be the cause? How easy is this to fix? My guitar is only a couple months old. THANKS! ~DB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB Cooper Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 Since that post - 10 minutes ago - it's switched back and forth a couple times. In the middle position, sometimes the bridge pup won't work, sometimes the neck pup won't work. Arrggghhhh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G McBride Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Sounds like the switch may need cleaning or it may need to be replaced. A fix could be as simple as what you are doing. Work the switch back and forth repeatedly and see if that cleans it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB Cooper Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 Sounds like the switch may need cleaning or it may need to be replaced. A fix could be as simple as what you are doing. Work the switch back and forth repeatedly and see if that cleans it up. Yeah, now both pups are working in the middle position. Well, that's frustrating and confusing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 I had a similar issue, my pickup would stop working on the treble, then go back up if I played really hard. So I screwed the switch down, and now it works fine. Guess it was just loose, even though it really wasn't. Sometimes, the QC and stuff that happens is weird... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbreslauer Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 what do you have the two volume controls set to? try rotating them back and forth too. it took me a while with my first LP to get used to the interactive nature of the two volume controls. just a thought. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Well sorry to tell you but the guitar is now completely unusable and you should probably just throw it away.... Uh just let me know where you live and what day trash pick up is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB Cooper Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 It's all good now, but it was frustrating yesterday when it went back and forth. Hopefully it was just the guitar gnomes messing with me, and now they've moved on to hassle Andy and his rebuild project... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstMeasure Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 That's a dirty or bad switch, alright. It'll act up again, that's for sure. Just like cars, intermittent problems get worse with time, not better. My Strat was doing doing this, the bridge pick up was cutting out in the first position, but worked fine in the second position (bridge/neck combo). Blowing into the switch was a quick fix. After carefully taking the switch apart I just employed a little HO Model Train knowledge by using an eraser on the dirty contact points. That was at least 14 years ago and it's worked ever since, even outlasted the pick ups. Worst case scenario, you have a Bad switch that needs replacing. With a little soldering experience and some organized procedures you could do it yourself, or you could have a pro do it. Personally I don't think any pro could care for my guitar as much as me, so I learned enough to maintain my own stuff. Possibly, but unlikely, it could be a loose wire that's ready to come off the solder joint and working the switch wiggled it just right. Doubt that, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 It's all good now, but it was frustrating yesterday when it went back and forth. Hopefully it was just the guitar gnomes messing with me, and now they've moved on to hassle Andy and his rebuild project... Have you actually seen my project???!!! I'm fighting guitar Gnomes at every turn! I just glue some Mahogany on them and send them through the sander.! As for your switch my SG did (and still does occasionally) the same thing. It started doing it not long after I got it so it wasn't a getting old and needs cleaned issue. I think they just had a shoddy run of switches myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstMeasure Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Have you actually seen my project???!!! I'm fighting guitar Gnomes at every turn! I just glue some Mahogany on them and send them through the sander.! As for your switch my SG did (and still does occasionally) the same thing. It started doing it not long after I got it so it wasn't a getting old and needs cleaned issue. I think they just had a shoddy run of switches myself. My guitar wasn't old at all when it started cutting out, the switch was dirty from the factory. My Strat didn't even have 4 years on it when the problem started, it took me a few years to stop blowing in it and just fix the darn thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rguerra Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Funny, I had the same thing with my Epiphone Les Paul Standard. It failed the same way when it was a week old. Replaced the switch with a replacement Gibson one and never had the problem again. Looking at the removed switch it was just not put together well. That can happen with any switch. There are some good and some bad. They can't all be gems. I would just replace the switch rather than wait for it to mess up again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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