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Topic: Repairing the 3-way switch on my D10 fessy? |
Dave Stroud
From:
Texas
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Posted 23 Jun 2016 5:11 pm |
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The 3-way switch on my Fessenden isn't working properly, and starting today it is intermittently cutting out the e9th neck while playing. Do I need to just re-solder those connections? Never done that before, but I've gotta learn how to do that sooner or later... Here's some close ups of the connections...
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Ned McIntosh
From:
New South Wales, Australia
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Posted 23 Jun 2016 5:28 pm
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Yikes! All those stray wires are just looking for an opporunity to short out the switch and cause all sorts of annoying, intermittent problems.
Yes, fix those bad connections ASAP. Whilst you're at it, a brand-new switch at the same time isn't a bad idea either.
_________________
The steel guitar is a hard mistress. She will obsess you, bemuse and bewitch you. She will dash your hopes on what seems to be whim, only to tease you into renewing the relationship once more so she can do it to you all over again...and yet, if you somehow manage to touch her in that certain magic way, she will yield up a sound which has so much soul, raw emotion and heartfelt depth to it that she will pierce you to the very core of your being. |
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Dave Stroud
From:
Texas
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Posted 23 Jun 2016 6:03 pm
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| I took a sharpened pencil and shoved all the little wires back to where they should be. It works fine now. Would it cause problems to try soldering the little stragglers back in place to their connections? |
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Ned McIntosh
From:
New South Wales, Australia
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Posted 23 Jun 2016 6:32 pm
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Dave, I would de-solder all the wires and remove them (one by one) from the switch, cut them back so there are no frayed bits sticking out at all, strip the insulation off a section about 1/8" long, tin that section of the wire and solder it to the terminal on the switch in a vertical orientation so the wire comes straight off the terminal and not off to one side.
That may require the switch to be removed from the cabinet, although I have successfully soldered to the switch on a couple of steels with the switch still in the cabinet.
If you have to take the switch out, replacing it with a new one is a good precaution.
_________________
The steel guitar is a hard mistress. She will obsess you, bemuse and bewitch you. She will dash your hopes on what seems to be whim, only to tease you into renewing the relationship once more so she can do it to you all over again...and yet, if you somehow manage to touch her in that certain magic way, she will yield up a sound which has so much soul, raw emotion and heartfelt depth to it that she will pierce you to the very core of your being. |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 24 Jun 2016 5:07 am
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As long as they don't touch and the switch works fine, I'd just leave it alone. It's not going to move and as long as the pull rods don't interfere, it should be OK.
If it's possible to clip the loose ends with a small side cutters or end nipper, that might be another option...but be careful. |
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Carl Mesrobian
From:
Salem, Massachusetts, USA
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Posted 24 Jun 2016 10:56 am
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Do what Ned said. Looks like a poor repair attempt - the untinned copper is a dead giveaway. I'd be very surprised if that is a factory solder joint! The switch might be fine - no telling. new ones are cheap enough.
If you leave it as is there's a high likelihood that you'll have the problem again, and it usually happens in the middle of a solo at a gig with annoying buzzes and pops that send people running for cover. If you don't play out, it will annoy someone in the house or your dog or cat.
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--carl
"The better it gets, the fewer of us know it." Ray Brown |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 24 Jun 2016 9:48 pm
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Ned's advice is right on the money. My guess is that someone (not a soldering maven) along the way changed out pickups. I would be stunned if that was a factory job. If you haven't done much soldering, this is an ideal project. Good luck!
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Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
www.musicfarmstudio.com |
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