Hello,
I have a guitar that recently quit working on me. When it's plugged in, the pickups are magnetized but I can't get any sound out of it. I tried plugging in another guitar with the same cable and everything and it played just fine, so I know it isn't the cable or amp. I checked all the wires inside and they seem to all be connected. Any thoughts on what the problem could be? Pickups aren't active, so no batteries to be replaced. I'd rather not take it in and pay to have it fixed at the local shop, they're pricey and I only paid $99 for this guitar. I've got a soldering iron here at home. Any help would be very much appreciated! I love this guitar(:
I would guess an open circuit somewhere in the guitar.
I'm not a guitar tech, but I would start with a volt-ohm meter and try to find out where it is. Look at the plug (female), check for wires that have come loose, make sure the place were the tip of the jack (male) touches the flange is making good contact and is clean. If that doesn't work, unplug and go a section at a time with the resistance setting on your meter.
If you have more than one pickup, and both are not working, it should be somewhere between (and including) the switch and the plug.
If you can't find an open circuit it could also be something is shorted out, but I wouldn't go there first.
As I said, I'm not a guitar tech, so if someone wants to supply more detailed help, please add or correct.
Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton
Owner, Norton Music http://www.nortonmusic.com Add-on Styles for Band-in-a-Box and Microsoft SongSmith
The Sophisticats http://www.s-cats.com >^. .^< >^. .^<
Alright I talked to the local shop over the phone and talked them into giving it a look for no charge, the problem ended up being the output jack. I guess metal of the ground was touching metal of the "hot", so instead of paying to replace the jack all together, some electrical tape seemed to do the trick. Thank you for your time, I appreciate it! (:
