Strat 2nd and 4th positions sound the same as 3rd

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JoshBernstein
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Strat 2nd and 4th positions sound the same as 3rd

Post by JoshBernstein »

Hi all,

I recently put together a strat from used ebay parts. I'm using a fender body and a maple WD neck that I got used for a pretty good price, with sperzel locking tuners. The guitar plays and sounds great, but I'm having an issue with the 2nd and 4th positions. They sound exactly the same as when I'm just using the middle pickup. I know the correct pickups are working, as I have tested them by holding my phone speaker up to the individual pickup while playing music. The bridge and middle both work in 2nd position and neck and middle both work and neck and middle work in 4th. But I'm not getting any of that quack that I should be. The 2nd 3rd and 4th positions all sound exactly the same.

The pickups I am using are :

Neck: Lace Sensor Silver ~7.1k ohms
Middle: Van Zandt rock series, reverse wound/ reverse polarity. ~7.8k ohms
Bridge: Lace Sensor Purple ~10.5k ohms

Ant thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
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Phil_S
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Re: Strat 2nd and 4th positions sound the same as 3rd

Post by Phil_S »

Bad 5-way toggle?
Not wired correctly?
http://www.lacemusic.com/pdf/1.pdf
You've got a reverse wind in the middle and a HB in the bridge, so that's not covered in the diagram.
I think I'd send Lace Sensor an email and see if they will give you a drawing. They've got 2/3, so I'd think they'd want to help.
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JoshBernstein
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Re: Strat 2nd and 4th positions sound the same as 3rd

Post by JoshBernstein »

I think the first thing I'll do is replace the toggle. The one I have in there is kinda shitty. I'm pretty sure the wiring is correct based on the diagrams but I'll go over it some more once I change out the switch. And if that doesn't do it, I'll shoot lace an email.
Thank you for the help!
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JoshBernstein
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Re: Strat 2nd and 4th positions sound the same as 3rd

Post by JoshBernstein »

Also, I thought the purple was a single coil as well. It sounds pretty single coily to me, is it actually considered a humbucker? It's got the same set of wires coming out of it as the silver
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Phil_S
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Re: Strat 2nd and 4th positions sound the same as 3rd

Post by Phil_S »

My bad on the purple. It is single coil. I was confused by the Lace website and confused it with the purple/emerald. Sorry.
Here's what they say about the purple: "The Purple Lace Sensor Pickup - Hot overwound single coil electric guitar pickups tone, between a Burgundy Sensor & Blue Sensor. The Purple Sensor is made for bridge placement or a P90 sound in the neck position."

I think I'd do the switch, too.
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JoshBernstein
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Re: Strat 2nd and 4th positions sound the same as 3rd

Post by JoshBernstein »

I'll definitely do the switch and post results.

While I'm here, I'd like to get some other people's opinions on lace sensors. They seem to get pretty mixed reviews, but as a person who was never into traditional single coils, I love an. I like their compression and sort of glassiness. Maybe I'll start a new thread about that

Thanks again phil
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pompeiisneaks
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Re: Strat 2nd and 4th positions sound the same as 3rd

Post by pompeiisneaks »

I have a strat with three gold lace sensors and love them.

the other Phil ;)

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JazzGuitarGimp
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Re: Strat 2nd and 4th positions sound the same as 3rd

Post by JazzGuitarGimp »

Which pickups are working in the 3rd position - have you tried this? If it is indeed just the middle pickup, I would swap the wires of the middle pickup and see if you now can hear a difference between the three positions.
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JoshBernstein
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Re: Strat 2nd and 4th positions sound the same as 3rd

Post by JoshBernstein »

In the 3rd position it's definitely just the middle pickup. I'll give that a try too if the switch doesn't solve the issue! Thanks!
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joeboo88
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Re: Strat 2nd and 4th positions sound the same as 3rd

Post by joeboo88 »

That's a sweet lookin geetar , Josh

hope you get the switch wiring sorted out
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