Just Finished My First CBG. Yay!!!!!!!!!!!! It Doesn't Work. (Insert Bad Words Here!!!!)

First, there is a duplicate, almost, post of this out there in this site somewhere but I can't find it and have no idea where it went. I think Rod Serling ate it. If someone with God-like powers in here finds it please feel free to delete it

I just finished my first cbg and I was so proud until I tried to play it. I plugged it into my amp and got nothing. Not a sound. Dead, quiet, nada, nothing........damn. The only noise it makes is that popping sound when I plug it in or unplug it from my amp.

I am now officially cranky.

The pickup I used is the pre-wired 4 pole from Gitty that has the volume and tone controls and the output jack all ready to go. The one thing I did do was replace that puny little output jack with a longer one so it would reach through the bracing at the tail of my cbg. I took one wire off the Gitty and soldered it to the corresponding terminal of the longer one. Rinse and repeat for the second wire. Before closing up the cbg after I was done I rechecked the wiring 14,251 times just to make sure everything was connected.

The only anomaly is that the pickup is a bit far from the strings, about 3/8s of an inch. I temporarily lowered the strings and still get no sound. That means I am still cranky.

Before I break back in to this demon cbg I was curious if anyone can give me a hint as to what to check for other than making sure all wires are secure and connected properly. Any help or hints will be greatly appreciated. Is there a way to check a pickup before you even install it? I have no idea if I did something wrong or if the pickup is bad. That makes me cranky by the way.

Everyone have a good day. (Except me of course)

Signed,

CBG (Cranky Boy Guitars)

Views: 312

Replies to This Discussion

I have had the same problem.  Mine turned out to be a bad jack.  The crimp around the outside threaded shaft where it meets the base was not conducting.  I soldered the crimp fit to correct the problem. (and then changed brands of jacks for my future builds)  Switchcraft makes a good quality jack.

Some of those Chinese pickups may have wiring issues. I would connect the pickup directly to the jack and test it that way, then reconnect each component one at a time to see where the disconnect may be.

Thanks for the responses folks.

Dan Sleep hit the target. I spent about an hour checking all of the connections and everything was fine.

I then carefully unwrapped the protective plastic on the pickup and the two wires going into the pickup were not connected to anything. I have two very tiny copper wire ends on the coil going in opposite directions that are swinging free in the wind. The wires going into the pickup were never soldered to anything. I am not even sure if those two loose copper wires are the ones that were suppose to be soldered since I have never opened up a pickup before but they appear to be wound in opposite directions. They are too long to be part of the same wire.

If I can't find another pickup that fits the same hole I carved in to the lid that wasn't made in China I am going to get even crankier. Oh well. It's not the money I wasted on this it is the time I put in to it. For an old fart I was really getting excited to play this thing. I don't get excited often.......it was a good feeling......:<)

I have an old Epiphone humbucker laying around and I wired it in and guess what? It worked but that darn thing is almost as big as the cigar box. I do not want to go hacking on that lid again.

Phooey, I guess it's off to the music stores tomorrow in search of something made with a bit more  care.          You folks have a good day. I am going to go pet my pooch and have a drink.

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