Hi Forum Folke,
Believe it or not, I've worked with DC (mainly) and AC electricity for decades (electric forklifts and battery chargers)... but I'm not sure about this one.
I replaced the pickups in my electric guitar with some "hotter" ones than the no-name pickups that came with it. Haven't been able to get it to work right ever since... neck pickup only, then bridge pickup only, now nothing at all.
I'm pretty sure I understand the principles involved, and am more than capable of following the simple wiring diagrams; more likely it's a matter of workmanship than basic knowledge, but in troubleshooting why it isn't working (checking for grounds where there shouldn't be any, etc...), I wound up looking at a parallel circuit: two 500K potentiometers and two pickup coils (wired in series); three resistances in parallel. I'm taking readings at various points, relative to a common ground. The volume pot and the pickup coils are simple: 500K and roughly 13K... but the tone pot confuses me a little. The volume pot resistance is just the resistor track... the wiper isn't involved. The pickup coils are just two coils wired in series... again simple. The tone pot, though presents an problem (to me, anyway.) The reading would be through the pot wiper, and through a portion of the resistor track (depending on the wiper's position in it's travel), then to a capacitor lead, the other cap lead going to the common ground.
I'd *expect* that I'd get no continuity reading at all (infinite ohms, or open) through the cap, provided that the cap is good. Any reading would indicate a shorted cap (it appears to be a poly film; definitely not electrolytic, probably not ceramic), as far as I know.
My basic problem is simply that this thing has me so rattled at this point that I'm starting to question my understanding of the basics; it really *ought* to be working, but it isn't. In all cases, I've been sure if what I've been doing and why I was doing it, and when it repeatedly didn't work, well, confidence rarely thrives on failure. So I'm putting the question out here: should I or should I not be able to read continuity through a (presumed good) cap to ground? Or some "partial" reading, like reading through a resistor? Told'ja it was basic!
Thanks for reading this, and for any clarification (read: hand-holding) you might toss my way!
Believe it or not, I've worked with DC (mainly) and AC electricity for decades (electric forklifts and battery chargers)... but I'm not sure about this one.
I replaced the pickups in my electric guitar with some "hotter" ones than the no-name pickups that came with it. Haven't been able to get it to work right ever since... neck pickup only, then bridge pickup only, now nothing at all.
I'm pretty sure I understand the principles involved, and am more than capable of following the simple wiring diagrams; more likely it's a matter of workmanship than basic knowledge, but in troubleshooting why it isn't working (checking for grounds where there shouldn't be any, etc...), I wound up looking at a parallel circuit: two 500K potentiometers and two pickup coils (wired in series); three resistances in parallel. I'm taking readings at various points, relative to a common ground. The volume pot and the pickup coils are simple: 500K and roughly 13K... but the tone pot confuses me a little. The volume pot resistance is just the resistor track... the wiper isn't involved. The pickup coils are just two coils wired in series... again simple. The tone pot, though presents an problem (to me, anyway.) The reading would be through the pot wiper, and through a portion of the resistor track (depending on the wiper's position in it's travel), then to a capacitor lead, the other cap lead going to the common ground.
I'd *expect* that I'd get no continuity reading at all (infinite ohms, or open) through the cap, provided that the cap is good. Any reading would indicate a shorted cap (it appears to be a poly film; definitely not electrolytic, probably not ceramic), as far as I know.
My basic problem is simply that this thing has me so rattled at this point that I'm starting to question my understanding of the basics; it really *ought* to be working, but it isn't. In all cases, I've been sure if what I've been doing and why I was doing it, and when it repeatedly didn't work, well, confidence rarely thrives on failure. So I'm putting the question out here: should I or should I not be able to read continuity through a (presumed good) cap to ground? Or some "partial" reading, like reading through a resistor? Told'ja it was basic!
Thanks for reading this, and for any clarification (read: hand-holding) you might toss my way!