The *F*? Did i just "blow" a P\U in my Geet?

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DriftingByTheStorm
DriftingByTheStorm Posts: 8,684
edited April 2012 in Musicians and Gearheads
Uh...

Playin' on my shitty Epi Les Paul Sunburst (didn't i tell ya'll I was Slash in another life?) ...
through my even shittier Roland Cube 20x ...

Went to "tuner" mode, to make sure i wasn't out of tune ...

switched back to playing mode ... and i was in "metal stack" on the distortion channel, so the bitch should sound CRANKIN' ... sounded like i was fartin' out tin riffs on the "acoustic" setting.

First thought was that i had the knob on the cube in the wrong position ... so i switched around a bit ... nothing seemed to help until i flipped the toggle from Rhythm to Lead on my guitar (note here, that the jackass at Guitar center who replaced my broken toggle years ago reinstalled it upside down - or mis-wired? - so "Rhythm" is actually "lead" and vice versa) and BANG BANG BOOM shit sounded "great".

I nearly forgot that there was a problem (in my head writing it off as a "settings" issue) ... but i just picked up the guitar again, and with the amp still on "metal stack" i started playin' Mr. Brownstone, and was like, WTF?

If i switch it to "Lead" (note: actually rhythm pickup) it sounds BITCHIN.
If i switch it to "Rhythm" it is stupid wussy.
If i turn the amp selector switch to "tube drive" with the selector in "Rhythm" it nearly sounds clean with actual "fuzz" like distortion that I am pretty sure is coming from the guitar itself (ie. sounds "blown") ...

what the hell?

I didn't even know you could fukin' blow a pick up.
yay? nay?

Also ...
how on earth did this happen in TUNING MODE !?!
Seems pretty ridiculous to me.
:( :( :(
If I was to smile and I held out my hand
If I opened it now would you not understand?
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • DriftingByTheStorm
    DriftingByTheStorm Posts: 8,684
    yeah. so if i crank he amp and use my pick to hit the screws on my neck pickup with the toggle in "treble" (actually rhythm due to backwards toggle) i hear "click click click" pretty loud.

    If i switch the toggle and hit the screws on the bridge pickup, i don't hear shit.
    :( :( :(
    If I was to smile and I held out my hand
    If I opened it now would you not understand?
  • DriftingByTheStorm
    DriftingByTheStorm Posts: 8,684
    Ah-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

    Some sort of short in my bridge pickup tone knob!

    Hmmm.

    Wiggled it around alittle and heard a lot of popping then BANG BOOM ... pickup reactivated.

    What i need to do, clean the pot?

    Funny.
    I just stopped smoking pot at 15 years,
    and NOW i'm having pot trouble?
    If I was to smile and I held out my hand
    If I opened it now would you not understand?
  • mcthud
    mcthud Posts: 366
    Full disclosure: I am a complete novice at this sort of thing. But the first thing I would do would be to re-solder all the pot connections and test the connections.
  • Pacomc79
    Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    yeah you may need to potentially replace that pot actually depending on how bad the short is. If it's scratchy and going out it could just be really dusty this happens all the time in wah pedals.

    You could try cleaning it with contact cleaner (IE Caig Deoxit) If that doesn't work you need to just get a new tone pot.

    If it's a les paul made after 1987 or so it's a long shaft and probably 500ohm. CTS is generally the manufacturer used by Gibson I believe.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.

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