I have a Kramer 84 reissue, and it is great when the volume knob is all the way up, great distortion and highs, but as soon as I start to roll it back, it gets real muddy and full of bass, all the highs go away. It doesn't clean up, and stays distorted, but without any highs all the way until it is off. I have been told that the 84's sometimes had the wiring done wrong form the factory.
I opened the guitar control cavity up and compared it to a wiring diagram from the Seymour Duncan WebPage. It is very different from what I have in the guitar; these are the differences I see:
Wire from Pickup is going to center prong, SD Web shows it going to left
Tip wire from jack is going to right prong, SD Web shows it going to center prong
Sleeve wire from jack is going to left prong, SD Web shows it going to right prong
My question is this: Should I redo it so it is like the SD diagram, and is this what the problem has been, or does it not really make any difference, and is not going to get any better.
Thanks
Just curious. Is there a proper wiring diagram available from Kramer? (might even have to contact them?) Might be worth a look to see if different than current reality and different from SDs site.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
If it's a linear pot then the wiring you describe is fine. Everything should work but it sounds like the volume pot would work backwards. Do you turn the pot CW or CCW to increase the volume? If it's an audio taper pot then from your description not only would the pot direction be backwards but the taper would be in the wrong direction. Is the pot audio taper? Does it have something like A500K or 500A on it?
As for losing the high frequencies when you turn down the volume that is to be expected. If you want to change that you will need to add a treble bleed across the pot - a resistor and a capacitor in parallel between the in and the out terminals on the pot to let some high frequencies bypass the pot. Have a look at the Seymour Duncan site you were looking at for their treble bleed circuit. http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=treble_bleed
Pop music is about stealing pocket money from children. - Ian Anderson
I turn CW to increase.
I appreciate the help!
I turn CW to increase.
I appreciate the help!
Ok, that doesn't make sense given your wiring description above. If you turn it CW from the front of the guitar then on the back of the guitar that's the pot turning CCW to increase the volume. That means that your turning the wiper (the middle lug) towards the left end of the pot (left lug). So, you are taking the pickup output (wiper / middle lug) and moving it closer to the ground (sleeve connector / left lug) and away from the signal out (tip connector / right lug). That means the the resistance between the signal and the ground drops and the resistance between the signal and the output increases.
Are you sure that you've got that wiring right? Are you labeling the lugs (left and right) as viewed from below and with the lugs between you and the main body of the pot?
Pop music is about stealing pocket money from children. - Ian Anderson
Yes, the volume knob turns CW from the front to increase volume. The wiring I explain is as looked at from the rear, prongs pointed down.
