G&L Club Part 7

[soulman969]

G&L (on-line shop) do not sell the 3-position toggle switch.
Available from Mouser, Farnell, Amazon, ebay, etc.
Multicomp 4PDT on-on-on ref. 1M46T1B5M1QE.

No, they do sell the Multicomp Switch:
Switch - DP3T (on/on/on)

Thanks so much for your help as well guys.

Looks like a little surgical "switchectomy" is gonna be needed to get me back in business. Man, working inside that cavity is gonna be like micro surgery compared to a Tele or a Fender bass. LOL

Guess I can just pull the switch out, solder the wiring to the new one, and remount it. Damn thing is still small though.

Every new guitar or bass begins a new learning process.

 

[Camaro69]

Thanks so much for your help as well guys.

Looks like a little surgical "switchectomy" is gonna be needed to get me back in business. Man, working inside that cavity is gonna be like micro surgery compared to a Tele or a Fender bass. LOL

Guess I can just pull the switch out, solder the wiring to the new one, and remount it. Damn thing is still small though.

Every new guitar or bass begins a new learning process.

Sounds like the easiest way

Is your G&L tech for Denver at drumcity Guitarland?

 

[gunai]

I am aching for some quality SB-1 recordings showcasing how the volume and tone knobs affect the tone.
Everything about the MFD sounds great in principle and from the few youtube videos I did find of MFD SB-1/SB-2, but a more thorough demonstration would be extremely welcome. I find it surprising how goddamn difficult it is to find raw recordings of it.

 

[soulman969]

Sounds like the easiest way

Is your G&L tech for Denver at drumcity Guitarland?

That would be one yes. I can usually do all my own work but if there's some chance I might get something messed up (tough to do if it's only a switch issue) then I have no problem asking a tech to do the work. The only issue here is I bought the bass from another dealer out of state but then Jason didn't have comparable used one anyway.

 

[Glazenn]

No, they do sell the Multicomp Switch:
Switch - DP3T (on/on/on)

This 1MD6T1B5M1QE toggle switch at the G&L store is with 6 lugs.
It's a replacement for the pickup selector, the passive/active/treble boost switch, or the Series/SC/Parallel coil selector on basses with a single MFD (L100x, modded L150x, Kiloton, and older models).
On basses with two MFDs (L2x00, M2x00 and ASAT Bass), one needs a 12-lug 4PDT on-on-on switch (Multicomp 1M46T1B5M1QE) to get the Series/SC/Parallel functions.

 

[delta7fred]

Thanks Fred. Those diagrams are what I lacked. Did you remove the switch to clean the contacts or just leave it in place?

I left it in place.

I put a squirt of switch cleaner into a bottle cap then dipped a small screwdriver/piece of wire/matchstick into it and touched it on the toggle with the guitar laid on it's back. It's a long time ago but I maybe put a couple of drops on, you can tell when you have enough because the switch is gets easier to operate.

While I was at it I also did the other 2 switches because the action on them felt a little stiff.

 

[soulman969]

I left it in place.

I put a squirt of switch cleaner into a bottle cap then dipped a small screwdriver/piece of wire/matchstick into it and touched it on the toggle with the guitar laid on it's back. It's a long time ago but I maybe put a couple of drops on, you can tell when you have enough because the switch is gets easier to operate.

While I was at it I also did the other 2 switches because the action on them felt a little stiff.

Thanks Fred. I'll give that a try as well. Might as well spend a little more time with that before I order a switch.

 

[SeSt]

Is there any trick to clean the rust from the poles of my L2000?

 

[jmlee]

Is there any trick to clean the rust from the poles of my L2000?

I just used a bit of fine sandpaper when I did that for an old Trib L2000 years ago. There's nothing magic about them.

 

[soulman969]

I left it in place.

I put a squirt of switch cleaner into a bottle cap then dipped a small screwdriver/piece of wire/matchstick into it and touched it on the toggle with the guitar laid on it's back. It's a long time ago but I maybe put a couple of drops on, you can tell when you have enough because the switch is gets easier to operate.

While I was at it I also did the other 2 switches because the action on them felt a little stiff.

Tried that as well and no joy so a new switch it will be. Thanks again for the guidance Fred.

 

[delta7fred]

Tried that as well and no joy so a new switch it will be.

Have you checked the solder joints on the back of the switch, the 3 wires need to connect to 2 terminals each. If one is dry (cold) then it could produce the results you are getting.

 

[soulman969]

Have you checked the solder joints on the back of the switch, the 3 wires need to connect to 2 terminals each. If one is dry (cold) then it could produce the results you are getting.

They look good but are you saying they should contact all six switch terminals? They don't. Each is connected only to one terminal on the right side of the switch. Green (top), White (middle), Red (bottom) as I recall. I haven't looked at the wiring diagrams yet. I've only had time to try your suggestion about using some contact cleaner.

So are you saying there should be jumpers connecting them to the terminals on the left side of the switch? Or should there be jumpers between the two outer terminals and the middle terminal only on the left?

Guess I need to have a look at that wiring diagram huh? My bad.

 

[68Goldfish]

OK, here's where I could use a little help from those who've worked "under the hood" a bit more. Man that's some tight quarters with a whole lot going on in there. Based on what you all have said it's seems it's either some oxidation on the switch contacts or I have an incorrectly wired issue here. So let's find out which. Seems like it should be one or the other.

Trying to inject some cleaner into the switch and working it didn't solve the problem. Still no neck pickup in the middle (both) setting. So, would removing the switch help me to get at the contacts more easily if indeed that's actually the problem.

Let's also review the wiring for that pickup selector switch if that's OK with you guys.

I can't draw it out and upload it but it's easy enough to describe. There are three wires attached to the three right side terminals of the switch. Green (top), White (middle) and Red (bottom). Is this correct or am I lacking a connection from the neck pickup to one of those terminals or a terminal on the left side of the switch?

Just trying to trouble shoot what may be the most obvious and likely problem and I sincerely appreciate any guidance anyone can give that might allow me to do a quick repair here. If it's beyond me to solve it I can take it to a G&L tech here in Denver.

 

[68Goldfish]

If I understand your issue correctly you should be looking at the pickup selector switch which is the six lug switch with the three wires going to it. Best thing to do would be to snap a picture of the inside of the wiring compartment so we can eyeball it as sometimes there's differences in the way their wired.

 

[delta7fred]

They look good but are you saying they should contact all six switch terminals? They don't. Each is connected only to one terminal on the right side of the switch. Green (top), White (middle), Red (bottom) as I recall. I haven't looked at the wiring diagrams yet. I've only had time to try your suggestion about using some contact cleaner.

So are you saying there should be jumpers connecting them to the terminals on the left side of the switch? Or should there be jumpers between the two outer terminals and the middle terminal only on the left?

Guess I need to have a look at that wiring diagram huh? My bad.

IIRC the pickup selector switch is an on/on/on switch that needs the 3 wires linked across to work correctly.

Before ordering another switch I would bridge those with 3 bits of wire and see if that is any better.

 

[soulman969]

View attachment 2822237

Wow, the wiring on mine is completely different. All three wires, Green, White, Red are wired to the three terminals on the right side of the switch. No jumpers at all.

 

[soulman969]

IIRC the pickup selector switch is an on/on/on switch that needs the 3 wires linked across to work correctly.

Before ordering another switch I would bridge those with 3 bits of wire and see if that is any better.

Will do. There are no jumper bridging the terminals on the left side of the switch to those on the right where all of the wiring is attached. It's gonna take me a bit to understand this scheme vs the stuff I'm used to working on but that did seem odd.

 

[soulman969]

If I understand your issue correctly you should be looking at the pickup selector switch which is the six lug switch with the three wires going to it. Best thing to do would be to snap a picture of the inside of the wiring compartment so we can eyeball it as sometimes there's differences in the way their wired.

First of all let me thank you for your time helping me out with this Goldfish. And yes, it's the pickup selector switch I'm dealing with. The "both pickups" position isn't functioning. Just neck only and bridge only.

I'm having some trouble uploading photos at the moment but describing it is very simple and straightforward. This is as you'd be looking down into the control cavity.

There are three wires connected to the selector switch. Based on how the switch is positioned all are soldered to the top (or right) side terminals. Green (left), White (middle), Red (right). Or, if we name and number than as A (bottom or left) 1, 2, 3, and B (top or right) 1, 2, 3, all three wires are soldered to terminals B 1-3, Green, White, and Red. There are no jumpers between the terminals on the A side and those on the B side.

If I use your diagram as an illustration then based on the orientation of the switch it's the same. We have a top row of three terminals we'll call B row and the terminals 1-3 left to right and a bottom row of three we'll call A row with terminals 1-3 left to right. Unlike your diagram all three leads are attached to the B row 1-3; Green - 1, White - 2, and Red - 3. The jumpers you depict between each of the terminals in A row and B row don't exist. I guess that's what's missing.

So......tomorrow when I have natural light that I can work from I'll solder a jumper wire from each of the B (top) terminals to the A (bottom) terminals and see what that gets me. I thought it was a little strange to find no connections at all between sides of the switch.

By now I know there's nothing volatile in a guitars or basses wiring so nothing will blow up. Get back to you all tomorrow with results.

 

[68Goldfish]

Well, I wouldn't be to fast about soldering anything to it just yet. There's many ways those switches can be constructed. It does seem like something is missing though. If it were me I'd use a dvom (ohm's) and map out what terminals are connected to what terminals in each switch position. That way you'll be able to understand how the innards of the switch works. Two of those wires should come from the coil tapping switch (inputs from each pickup) and one should go to one of the pots (out to the rest of the controls). Basically, the output wire should be connected to one of the inputs in one of the outside switch positions, the output wire should be connected to the other input wire in the other outside switch position and the output wire should be connected to both inputs in the middle switch position. I hope I said that in a way you can understand....I think the only way to know for sure is to ohm it out. Or have somebody with the same year bass take a pic of the inside....
Oh, and it's not my wiring diagram. I'd give credit but I don't know who made it....

 

[68Goldfish]