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  #1  
Old 05-06-2022, 01:42 PM
Bushleague Bushleague is offline
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Default One pickup going quiet?

On my daughter's Squire guitar the bridge pickup has become far more quiet than the neck and I'm looking for some help diagnosing the problem.

The guitar is a little over a year old, so it seems unlikely that the pickup itself is the problem. The guitar has volume and tone knobs for each pickup, it seems like this could possibly be the problem but none of the knobs crackles or makes any noise... so to me it seems like the switch would be the best place to start, but it isnt making any noise either.
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Old 05-07-2022, 05:13 AM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
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It would be helpful to know the model. Sounds like a model with a toggle switch...

Try cleaning that switch with contact cleaner. Toggle switches are much more likely to develop bad contacts than blade switches which are self cleaning. If it is a blade switch, don't bother cleaning the contacts. Most low end toggle switches are enclosed which makes replacement easier than repair/cleaning. If it is enclosed, try shorting the bad pickup to the switch output (going to the jack) to diagnose the switch.

If the toggle switch seems OK...

Next try reflowing the solder joints on the quiet pickup volume control.

Next try reflowing the solder joint on the switch for the quiet pickup.
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Last edited by jonfields45; 05-07-2022 at 06:36 AM.
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Old 05-07-2022, 08:05 AM
Dru Edwards Dru Edwards is offline
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+1 on jonfields45's comment that it might be a toggle switch. I have a 3 way switch on an Epi Les Paul that I need to clean or replace because when I switch to the neck pickup the volume drops in half. Sometimes if I move the switch back and forth I'll get the full volume.
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Old 05-08-2022, 10:39 AM
rmp rmp is online now
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get some dexoit spray, and squirt a blast or two in there on either side of the shaft.

then work the switch back and forth for about a minute.
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Old 05-08-2022, 11:05 AM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rmp View Post
get some dexoit spray, and squirt a blast or two in there on either side of the shaft.

then work the switch back and forth for about a minute.
This actually seems like a really good idea that did not occur to me. On the left is a decent quality brand-X toggle and on the right is a one step above the usual bottom-of-the-line enclosed toggle (branded JA and made in Korea). You can see that the toggle switch shaft would funnel contact cleaner to roughly the right place (guitar laying on its back face up). Since this is a switch, and not a POT, you can use the contact cleaner they sell at Home Depot and the like.

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Last edited by jonfields45; 05-08-2022 at 11:20 AM.
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  #6  
Old 05-09-2022, 07:55 AM
rmp rmp is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jonfields45 View Post
This actually seems like a really good idea that did not occur to me. On the left is a decent quality brand-X toggle and on the right is a one step above the usual bottom-of-the-line enclosed toggle (branded JA and made in Korea). You can see that the toggle switch shaft would funnel contact cleaner to roughly the right place (guitar laying on its back face up). Since this is a switch, and not a POT, you can use the contact cleaner they sell at Home Depot and the like.
I can't count the times I've fixed something annoying like this with a blast or two of this stuff, it often can work like magic if it's not something "mechanical" in the hardware itself.
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