Help with Jag-Stang sound issues

MadMax

Hello All!

New member here trying to get help with my Jag-Stang. So I have a Fiesta Red Jag-Stang that my parents bought me in high school in 1995. Through all the guitars I have had that is the one I swore I would never sell as it was the first guitar my parents bought me after a $20 pawn shop guitar. Anyways, it got heavy use for plenty of years and just fell out of rotation more and more. It was sitting in a soft case in a bedroom for a few years without play.

I decided to give it a try and got no sound out of it. I opened it up and there looked to be some white residue around the switches. I used switch/contact cleaner and tried it again. There was some sound but it was pretty low. Then when I would turn the volume up it would get to normal volume for about half a second. I figured it was the pots so I replaced them with these...

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/0990834000--fender-500k-split-shaft-potentiometer-volume-or-tone

Plugged it in and nothing. Just buzz, that's all! Did I install something wring or is it possible the switch need replacement?

Also secondly...these pots are way bigger and I seemed to have misplaced the original knobs at one point. Anyone know where I can get knobs that look like the original knobs that fit these pots?

JamesJ

Are you getting no sound from either pickup, in any switching position? Have you checked the cable you are using? Is the amp functioning 100% correctly? Knobs wise you'll need to get a set of the 65 Mustang knobs with the set screw. They'll work on split shaft POTs.

MadMax

James J said:
Are you getting no sound from either pickup, in any switching position? Have you checked the cable you are using? Is the amp functioning 100% correctly? Knobs wise you'll need to get a set of the 65 Mustang knobs with the set screw. They'll work on split shaft POTs.

Correct..No sound from either pickup in any switching position. If I adjust the tone knob I can hear the buzz change tones so that's working. Yes Cable and amp are 100% working. Tested with a Jackson KV-1 with no issues.

JamesJ

gespinoza3 said:
Correct..No sound from either pickup in any switching position. If I adjust the tone knob I can hear the buzz change tones so that's working. Yes Cable and amp are 100% working. Tested with a Jackson KV-1 with no issues.

So you obviously have signal. What you could do is bypass each switch by wiring the pickups one at a time, to the volume pot, to determine if the switches are bad. Post a picture of your wiring also.

MadMax

James J said:
So you obviously have signal. What you could do is bypass each switch by wiring the pickups one at a time, to the volume pot, to determine if the switches are bad. Post a picture of your wiring also.

Here are the photos....

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DPZPTJyEQwbzPPsZ8

JamesJ

gespinoza3 said:
Here are the photos....

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DPZPTJyEQwbzPPsZ8

Everything looks in order. I'd try wiring the bridge pickup directly to the volume pot bypassing the switch to see if I could get single.

MadMax

James J said:
Everything looks in order. I'd try wiring the bridge pickup directly to the volume pot bypassing the switch to see if I could get single.

OK, I am a bit new to wiring a guitar. Do I need to de-solder everything before doing this? Also where exactly do I connect it on the volume pot?

JamesJ

gespinoza3 said:
OK, I am a bit new to wiring a guitar. Do I need to de-solder everything before doing this? Also where exactly do I connect it on the volume pot?

You'll be desoldering the pick ups only from the switches. If my memory serves me right, the white wire on the stock pickups is the hot, and the black is the ground. I would start with the bridge pickup. Solder the white to the middle lug of the volume pot, and the black to the back of the pot. You don't need to put the whole guitar back together. Plug it in, and take a screw driver, tap the pole pieces on the pickup. If you get signal, you know the pick is working properly.