Chuck005 Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I bought a 2007 SG 61 Reissue a few months ago and am a bit confused about the operation of the volume controls. When the pickup selector switch is on either the neck or bridge pickup position, the corresponding volume knob works like I would expect. But if both pickups are turned on, neither volume control has any effect on the output until it gets to 0 and then goes mute. So basically when both pickups are switched on, the volume control is nothing but an on/off switch. Is that the way it's supposed to work? had another brand of guitar that was like that and I always wondered if there was something wrong with it, but when I got my Gibson and it did the same thing I figured, OK I guess that's right. But then after reading some comments in here about volume settings... now I'm wondering again. So, is my guitar working the way it should? Why can't I have, say, the bridge at 10 and the neck at 6 or whatever? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I am not sure I understand what you are describing...maybe you are describing good and I don't get it (I can be kinda dumb at times). But regardless, maybe this will help: In what is described as "50" wiring, the pups work the same when swtched by themselves, but when switched together (middle position), the volume knob with the LOWEST setting controls the overall volume for both pups at once. You can not blend volumes, or have one pup at say 10, and the other at 6. If one knob is at 6, both pups are at 6. Turn the other knob to 5, and both pups will be at 5. With "60s" wiring, you CAN get individual volume of each pup when both are on. You can blend in more of one pup than the other. The overall volume will not really change that much, but the tone will change as a result of one pup being dominant over the other deoending how you choose to set it. But another by-product of this wiring is that when one volume is turned all the way "off", there will be no output from either pup. This quirk (if you want to consider it that) can fool a guy into thinking something is wrong with the switch when one pup is selected and working and then when switched to the middle the sound goes away completely. Hope that makes sense and maybe helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoreyT Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 My 2012 '61 Reissue works as described by stein. I almost thought something was wrong too when if one of the volumes was turned off all the way when both pups were on, I would get no sound at all. Good to know it was meant to work this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Rutherford Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 But regardless, maybe this will help: In what is described as "50" wiring, the pups work the same when swtched by themselves, but when switched together (middle position), the volume knob with the LOWEST setting controls the overall volume for both pups at once. You can not blend volumes, or have one pup at say 10, and the other at 6. If one knob is at 6, both pups are at 6. Turn the other knob to 5, and both pups will be at 5. With "60s" wiring, you CAN get individual volume of each pup when both are on. You can blend in more of one pup than the other. The overall volume will not really change that much, but the tone will change as a result of one pup being dominant over the other deoending how you choose to set it. But another by-product of this wiring is that when one volume is turned all the way "off", there will be no output from either pup. This quirk (if you want to consider it that) can fool a guy into thinking something is wrong with the switch when one pup is selected and working and then when switched to the middle the sound goes away completely. Hope that makes sense and maybe helps. There is a 3rd option [ my favourite ] via a soldering iron, a variation of the 60s wiring, with the toggle in the middle blend position, and the neck PUP Volume at zero, the bridge PUP volume pot can be used as normal, BUT, there is a subtle tonal difference between the sound of the bridge PUP when in the middle toggle position and the sound when in the Treble toggle position, you can [ ahem ] wiggle the toggle, a la Pete Townshend and experiment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck005 Posted June 28, 2012 Author Share Posted June 28, 2012 1340863549[/url]' post= With "60s" wiring, you CAN get individual volume of each pup when both are on. You can blend in more of one pup than the other. The overall volume will not really change that much, but the tone will change as a result of one pup being dominant over the other deoending how you choose to set it. But another by-product of this wiring is that when one volume is turned all the way "off", there will be no output from either pup. This quirk (if you want to consider it that) can fool a guy into thinking something is wrong with the switch when one pup is selected and working and then when switched to the middle the sound goes away completely. What I'm finding is that when the toggle is in the middle position, both pickups are either at 10 or 0. Turning either one of the volume knobs does not give any gradual decrease in volume at all -- they both stay at the same volume output as the knob moves from 10 to 1, and then total mute at 0. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 What I'm finding is that when the toggle is in the middle position, both pickups are either at 10 or 0. Turning either one of the volume knobs does not give any gradual decrease in volume at all -- they both stay at the same volume output as the knob moves from 10 to 1, and then total mute at 0. But, is there a change in 'tone'? Does the sound qualities change? If not, then it sounds like something isn't right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck005 Posted June 28, 2012 Author Share Posted June 28, 2012 1340890558[/url]' post='1220143']But, is there a change in 'tone'? Does the sound qualities change? If not, then it sounds like something isn't right. No, nothing changes. I guess my original post didn't address the main problem correctly -- I don't care so much about having the pickup volumes set different from each other, but what does bother me is that I can't adjust the volume of my guitar as I'm playing. It doesn't seem like too much to ask to be able to have the volume at one level as I'm strumming along with the rhythm part of the song, and then turn the volume up for a bit of a lead break. I can't do that with the toggle in the middle position. The volume knobs don't change anything. It's weird that my first guitar (a Cort) worked exactly the same way. I haven't tested the feature on other guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 This is why all of my gigging guitars, Fender or Gibson, both flavors, all wired two pickups, one switch, one volume, no tone pots. My current les Paul still wired that way and hasn't been out of the house in years. One volume is all you really need, the nuances of blending pickups and stuff are all lost when you lay into Bad Moon Rising for the 1147th time. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Rutherford Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 The SG cavity should look like this, particularly check the toggle switch in the middle position [ as in the picture ] and the yellow wire connections and the brown wires for looseness or earthing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 One volume is all you really need, the nuances of blending pickups and stuff are all lost when you lay into Bad Moon Rising for the 1147th time. rct Priceless rct, LOL!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck005 Posted June 30, 2012 Author Share Posted June 30, 2012 Thanks for everyone's input. I'll take a look at the innards of my guitar to see if there is anything obviously hooked up wrong, and if I can't figure it out myself I'll take it to a shop. I'm actually glad to learn there may be something wrong with my guitar. In the 5 years or so since I bought my first electric, and now my SG, I thought it was weird how the controls worked, but I worried that if I asked someone, I'd hear, "Of course, you idiot. The volume controls always work that way. It's because ___________..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Something's not working right, Chuck. When the switch is in the middle position, both pickups should be able to be controlled by the corresponding volume control. At the same time, when you turn either volume control down to near 1, the overall volume will also decrease, even if the other control is on 10. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarsAnn Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 My 2011 SG 12 works like the 60s wiring as Stein described. GuitarsAnn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck005 Posted July 15, 2012 Author Share Posted July 15, 2012 I opened up the wiring cavity and everything seems to be connected properly. I was prepared to take it to a shop. BUT... I was playing around today and noticed something I've never noticed before: as long as one of the volume controls is set at anything less than 10, then the other one works like I would expect (gradually changing in volume as the knob is turned). So it seems that if either knob is at 0 I get no output at all (which I already knew), and if either knob is at 10 I only get full output from both. I can change volume the way I'd expect as long as both knobs are somewhere between 1 and 9. Still not sure if that's correct, but it's something I can work with. Thanks all. Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crosstownblues Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 I opened up the wiring cavity and everything seems to be connected properly. I was prepared to take it to a shop. BUT... I was playing around today and noticed something I've never noticed before: as long as one of the volume controls is set at anything less than 10, then the other one works like I would expect (gradually changing in volume as the knob is turned). So it seems that if either knob is at 0 I get no output at all (which I already knew), and if either knob is at 10 I only get full output from both. I can change volume the way I'd expect as long as both knobs are somewhere between 1 and 9. Still not sure if that's correct, but it's something I can work with. Thanks all. Chuck Chuck, I rewired my recently acquired '06 HC SG Standard to 50's style wiring when I replaced the 490R/498T pickups with the 57/57+ Classic combo (pics to follow in another post). It works exactly as you described: when one volume control is less than 10, the lowest volume control dictates the overall volume. The pickup with the highest volume will dominate the tone, though it will be slightly darker unless you have treble bleed circuit installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DG248 Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 I am not sure I understand what you are describing...maybe you are describing good and I don't get it (I can be kinda dumb at times). But regardless, maybe this will help: In what is described as "50" wiring, the pups work the same when swtched by themselves, but when switched together (middle position), the volume knob with the LOWEST setting controls the overall volume for both pups at once. You can not blend volumes, or have one pup at say 10, and the other at 6. If one knob is at 6, both pups are at 6. Turn the other knob to 5, and both pups will be at 5. With "60s" wiring, you CAN get individual volume of each pup when both are on. You can blend in more of one pup than the other. The overall volume will not really change that much, but the tone will change as a result of one pup being dominant over the other deoending how you choose to set it. But another by-product of this wiring is that when one volume is turned all the way "off", there will be no output from either pup. This quirk (if you want to consider it that) can fool a guy into thinking something is wrong with the switch when one pup is selected and working and then when switched to the middle the sound goes away completely. Hope that makes sense and maybe helps. That is a great description. Explains to me exactly what I was looking for. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.