Toggle Switch & Pickup Troubleshooting & Repair

[@RobArnoldWorld]

➜ Join My Patreon Community to be among the FIRST to hear and own my upcoming solo album! 👉 ​​www.patreon.com/RobArnoldWorld 🔴🙏 HUGE thanks and shout out to my Patreon supporters! 👇READ MORE BELOW!👇 THANK YOU 👊 Brian W. Rogers THANK YOU 👊 Joel Brandon THANK YOU 👊 Mandm Randall THANK YOU 👊 Mike Franco THANK YOU 👊 Alex Legend THANK YOU 👊 Vasilii THANK YOU 👊 Paul Thomas Presley THANK YOU 👊 Terrence and Bob of Mechanization THANK YOU 👊 Olivier Rouleau THANK YOU 👊 JR Tasker THANK YOU 👊 Kevin Smith THANK YOU 👊 Dougy Reid THANK YOU 👊 Anthony Maroni THANK YOU 👊 Steve Martin THANK YOU 👊 Josh Maurer THANK YOU 👊 Todd Irish THANK YOU 👊 Todd Jay THANK YOU 👊 Hervé Franco THANK YOU 👊 Brian Stadden THANK YOU 👊 Philippos Kasotis THANK YOU 👊 Mike H THANK YOU 👊 Роман Козлов THANK YOU 👊 Anthony Best THANK YOU 👊 Rocko Marrufo THANK YOU 👊 Russell D Morrow III THANK YOU 👊 Travis Tutwiler THANK YOU 👊 Dillon Brown THANK YOU 👊 Donnie Yazzie THANK YOU 👊 Gavin Courtney THANK YOU 👊 Marc Laakmann THANK YOU 👊 Thomas Spoor THANK YOU 👊 Ryan Tibbert THANK YOU 👊 Ismael Ocegueda THANK YOU 👊 Jason Sherrington THANK YOU 👊 Lucas Van Cleef THANK YOU 👊 John Robedee THANK YOU 👊 Ryan Lesnick THANK YOU 👊 Samuel Zuker THANK YOU 👊 Rich Arnold THANK YOU 👊 Andy W THANK YOU 👊 Jeff Holland THANK YOU 👊 Curtis THANK YOU 👊 Midwest Slaunch Mob THANK YOU 👊 Michael Wagner THANK YOU 👊 Andrew Brady THANK YOU 👊 Kevin Matthews THANK YOU 👊 Anthony Bluhm THANK YOU 👊 Ivan Zemchanka THANK YOU 👊 Joshua Robbins THANK YOU 👊 Dakota Winston THANK YOU 👊 Brandun Keck THANK YOU 👊 Alex White THANK YOU 👊 Nate Bunnage THANK YOU 👊 walkamong theignorant THANK YOU 👊 Michael Mckee THANK YOU 👊 Chad Bolton THANK YOU 👊 Ingo Deißenroth THANK YOU 👊 Brady Clark THANK YOU 👊 Tim Day THANK YOU 👊 Mohamad Hafiz THANK YOU 👊 Kevin Henderson THANK YOU 👊 Jan Schneemann THANK YOU 👊 Aaron Prentice THANK YOU 👊 Cesar Brena THANK YOU 👊 Kris Hotchkiss THANK YOU 👊 Paul Turnbull THANK YOU 👊 Geovanni Machado THANK YOU 👊 Randy E. And a special thanks to all of my Patreon supporters not mentioned here!🙏

[@ccj2]

This doesn't help me solve my current issue particularly, but your breakdown of how these switches work is super informative and may still get me one step closer to my goal. Great job!

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Totally man! I feel that way about a lot of things. Although I may sometimes not completely uncover a solution I was after, I'm often left with some sort of valuable information, none the less!

[@mattg082]

My Les Paul 94 og owner, 12 years now has done this thing where maybe once a year or very seldom the volume drops on the bridge, like it’s fading out and a crackle then you flip it a little and all good. Kept thinking my amp tubes? Then I’d flip it up a few times back and forth…another few years no issue. Recently came back playing weekly 12hrs or so. Had it in the shop for other stuff, they saw no issues with wiring. As it’s happens very rarely. I’m almost certain it’s the selector or something is off. It seems to appear more when I’ve messed with my tone knobs. If I don’t touch them sometimes go a long time and never hear it. Problem is I have to be ready and get video on it..because most places can’t hear or find it. Video was very informal! Hopefully I can find it! It could very well be this exact same issue with it sometimes not touching, and flipping it around a few times it work again for a long time. It’s def a scary thing to hear when you’re plugged into a nice expensive tube amp…because you’ll think power tubes or caps are failing…but it’s my guitar.

[@naits95]

i have the same issue on my bc rich warlock extreme, for some reason, the bridge pickup works occasionally but if I flick the selector from neck to bridge it will stop functioning, then I flick it back to mid and down again to bridge and it works again lol, probably gonna have to check this out before I take this guitar live

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Take a look at what I'm demonstrating in this video and I bet it will help you resolve your issue!🎸

[@ragztheking]

Same..

[@naits95]

@@ragztheking the thing in the video worked to some extent for me, but it can suddenly lose connection again so i guess i have to use more force or something

[@ragztheking]

@@naits95 maaan,, I appreciate you replying but daayuuammn I'm on the same shit cruise as you ...

[@ragztheking]

@@RobArnoldWorld but this did help to an extent so thank you ♥︎

[@619dar]

Details of knowing if it's something like a change of a toggle switch is needed of not, does make a difference. And knowing how to check it out. This happened to me once with my Jackson V toggle switch. It was a three way toggle switch that only work in the middle and not the left and right. So my friend changed it and it worked much better after that.

[@ryanriffs_1349]

Awsome video like always man. Very informative. No bull just straight to the point. I always learn something new. You are the sensei

[@RobArnoldWorld]

My man👊

[@wrb523]

Very good! I have a toggle switch where the center position bridge contact was open, a little force on the contact corrected the problem.

[@sethmullins4522]

Thank u for making this video. I spent hours resoldering connections and wasting a lot of time. After watching your video I had it fixed in 10 min. Thanks again!!!

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Dude! That's great to hear!

[@Tylerklessmusic]

The toggle on my bass is like the switch you showed @7:42. It doesnt make contact when in the center position. I can see it. Any recs on how to fix?

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Can you bend it back into position like I did?

[@BenScooter1]

I fixed my guitar!! Thought I'd share some info... I've got one of the Epiphone 1959 Outfit Les Pauls last year (brilliant guitar by the way, highly recommend.) One previous owner who didn't have it long but not sure whether or not they worked on it. All of a sudden the Bridge pickup stopped working. Was tempted to just take it to a guitar shop but - despite knowing literally nothing about electronic - I thought it was perhaps worth opening the back just in case anything looked obviously wrong. Immediately it looked as if there was a lot of wood debris in there, so I blew it out and gave the guitar a bit of a shake for good measure. Then I plugged it into my HX Stomp and started jiggling the wires, listening out for any sounds that might come through. Eventually, it worked! Put the control cover back on and back to playing! It really is worth having a mess around just in case it's an easy fix 😃

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Good advice! Never hurts to take a peak under the hood!

[@ScaryJerry7]

Great job. Patience pays off.

[@santinhoww]

Thanks so much. I tried this in my super switch and it worked. I think. Need more tests

[@troywest]

Thank you for this video bro, I just bought a PRS SE on consignment - it has passive pickups HH - 3 way toggle, and the middle position is so low output hat it sounds like I'm playing on a quiet clean channel ... but individually the neck and bridge pickups seem pretty ok... I'm going to have o pull the switch apart and look at the contacts - that was my first intuition - kind of a bummer because the previous owner purchased it new and had it for 2 months and felt it had "weak output" for metal guitar ... maybe it was just bad switch from the factory ...

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Super happy to hear that this video may help bro! Good luck and congrats on the new PRS!🎸

[@Perrified21]

Great to see how you found the fix to this… will always remember before I go ripping every wire out troubleshooting any guitar electronics issue! 🤘🏻 guitar sounds epic too! Thanks Rob!

[@gus26_77]

I'm dying with the intro! More like this!

[@roybenavidez6098]

Man, thought you were going to play some Meshugga. Cool, now I know what to check for if I have toggle issues. Thanks 🤘😀

[@gigaphonicon]

I've got an Ibanez rg 1530 that I need to change to selector on. It comes with a bridge humbucker but its split to the back single coil in position 5 and a blend of middle single coil and other half of the bridge humbucker in position 4. I love a humbucker tone and dislike single coil tones in the bridge.

[@derekshackle8780]

Thanks for making that video man. I was kind of joking yesterday when I made that comment I didn't think you would actually do it but I was curious to see what kind of problem you were having which was very similar to the one I was having a while back. My problem was one of the solder joints I made was a little sloppy so I just had to clean that up and it worked but now the three-way sounds kind of scratchy when I flip it back and forth. Keep up the good work. Been a huge fan since pass out of existence, I even have a copy of it signed by the whole group that I bought at a show at the time.

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Maybe try cleaning the connection points a little! Spraying some compressed air might even do the trick!

[@diluted8]

Thank you! I am opening the back of my bass guitar today?

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Glad to hear it! Good luck!🎸

[@peytonmyers9512]

Fixed my problem!! thank you for not making me have to go in to my local shop where everyone gives me stink eye for walking in the door lol

[@RobArnoldWorld]

My pleasure dude! Happy to help! And as a matter of fact, I've got a shop around town I've visited, where they make you feel like you're burdening them by coming in for service too! I just don't get it!

[@DixonErHands]

Idk what I even did but I was checking the connections and it magically started working

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Great! Sounds like a loose connection. And so the problem may occur again. But hopefully it won't!🎸

[@anythingnothing1874]

Hope I don’t have to work on mine but it’s inevitable so now I know if I have this problem, thanks man🤘🏻😊👊🏼

[@abhinavaggarwal4062]

Hi ! I just received a new original series fender strat ordered online. To my dismay, it sounds very weak and not chimy and resonant like a strat is supposed to. The sound of the guitar is very weak and kind of muffled and it is barely audible even at volume 5. As opposed to my other strat which sounds big and open and chimy even at volume 4. I have not yet opened the pickguard of the guitar. Do you think this is something I can troubleshoot and fix myself or should I just return the guitar. I really wanna keep this guitar because acoustically it sounds good and feels good. Please help !

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Congrats on your new guitar! Sorry though about your troubles. And that's the thing... you shouldn't have to deal with any issues like that with a brand new instrument. Opening it up and having to troubleshoot electronics on a new guitar is not only unacceptable, but it ruins the joy and inspiration you should receive from a new guitar purchase! That being said, I really don't know how to help or troubleshoot without hearing and seeing the issue with my own eyes and ears. It's possible that it's fine, but maybe there's something you're overlooking? But chances are there is a problem, because you should be able to just plug in a new guitar and strum away with it sounding great right off the bat. And especially when you have another guitar to compare it to, and can tell there is in fact a problem. Obviously having ordered it online, returning it will be a pain in the ass. Packing, shipping, waiting, and all that nonsense... It just sucks. You shouldn't have to worry about those things. But, every now and then, like the occasional new car purchase, we receive a lemon. I guess if it were me, I'd call customer support from wherever you got it, and explain your issues. Perhaps they can troubleshoot over the phone and if not, get you started with the return/exchange process. I'd assume most, if not all new Strats, come with passive pickups... but just in case it has active pickups, just make sure the battery is fresh. That could be the culprit. Good luck!🎸

[@metalheadofmordor9169]

Nice! Thanks for making this video. Now I can sleep peacefully. 😁

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Mission accomplished!

[@PleaseForgiveYourself]

Hahaha I knew you'd figure it out Rob. Siiiick.

[@Androidsniper1]

Ended up finding the smallest minimal wire sticking out and souldered it back and worked well… it was hard to see

[@RobbieFitzgerald]

Thanks Rob, very informative!

[@t_separator]

Excellent video Rob!

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Hey thanks man!

[@FossyPickles]

assuming your still answering comments on this video, maybe i can ask for a lil help, my guitar only works with one setting selected on the pickup switch (i have a contemporary active starcaster) and it only works when set to neck pickup, the middle option or right option creates pure silence, im not sure if its a broken pickup or a broken switch

[@RobArnoldWorld]

I would say with 99.9% certainty, that your issue has to do with the switch and/or wiring, and not the pickup. And since your issue is exactly what I describe and remedy in this video, I hope you'll find it useful after watching.

[@FDCSTUDIO]

Eres mi ídolo Rob, gracias a ti pude reparar mi guitarra.

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Awesome bro!👊

[@Edgecrusher66]

hi rob. do you have a vinyl player yet? if so, which one did you get?

[@RobArnoldWorld]

I do not!

[@IndependenceGuitar]

Was wondering how that was going to end up. I was thinking it was going to be an oxidation thing. Really weird how that plate got bent. Anomaly is definitely an appropriate word for it lol. Just trying to think how that could happen as if I was the last guy to play it when it worked. If I had to guess, I would bet that the guitar took a nice hit on the front of the body or got dropped or something, and the blade switch got hit hard enough to bend that piece out. I’ll bet the toggle switch took most of the hit which is why there isn’t a dent on the front of the guitar. That would be something to look for is little dings on the fretboard and body that might indicate it had been dropped on its front. That would be my best guess.

[@RobArnoldWorld]

That's an excellent theory my good man!

[@ericsmith6633]

I had that same guitar for a while, sold it cause I got out of 8strings just stuck with 7s, but what tuning did mark end up with? Drop E? Or F# standard?

[@RobArnoldWorld]

E!

[@ericsmith6633]

@@RobArnoldWorld oh ya! Having 3 E strings is great lol! When u do bar cords on clean, it sounds like a piano lol!!! What’s weird is, U can’t really play riffs like you would on a 6 or 7, you have to play single notes cause it gets too muddy you know. But the single notes do sound nasty tho lol

[@Rikster_79]

I did wonder when I saw the notification pop up if this was about Mark’s guitar.

[@petepetrich7828]

Hey, Rob! Did you know that Chimaira was a favorite of Blood Red Throne's guitarist Dod?

[@RobArnoldWorld]

I did not!

[@thehorrorroadsidesshow3274]

Good job bro. I want to hear you do some heavy 8 string riffs

[@RobArnoldWorld]

I did a little diddy at the end! Did you catch it?

[@thehorrorroadsidesshow3274]

@@RobArnoldWorld I did! I think it would be cool to hear you write song on one. Loved the video of you writing that last song. It gave me hope for new chimaira stuff. We all want it. Lol big fan of you bro.

[@RobArnoldWorld]

@@thehorrorroadsidesshow3274 Cheers brother! And please continue to stand by because I have some KILLER music on the way!🤘

[@thehorrorroadsidesshow3274]

@@RobArnoldWorld awesome! Looking forward to it. Cheers!

[@TheCarTakerGarage]

Aweeeeesome video.You know Im a car technician, and a diagnostic technician..so this was cool to see how you figured this one issue out :) Do you have a like "maintenance" schedule for your guitars when it comes to the electrics? do you clean all the switches and potentiometer from time to time..or do you only fix stuff that " stops working" ? Guitar sounded good in the end though..i was just waiting for the opening riff for "SPLIT" :) Thanx for video man,Hope you are doing great.Greetings from theCarDrummerMetalViking from Norway ,Stefan

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Awesome Stefan! So as I diagnostics tech, I know you share my love for this stuff! I don't have any specific schedule, and so yeah... I basically just address problems and stuff as needed. Sorry I didn't rock Split!🤘

[@TheCarTakerGarage]

@@RobArnoldWorld There will be a time for SPLIT i hope :) Do you see a change in product quality now these days..compared to say 10 -20 years back? do you see unexpected failures at all? in the automotive field,,the quality of the parts have declined drastically..things might be defective or just poor out of the box.Cheers man

[@RobArnoldWorld]

@@TheCarTakerGarage There are definitely things I think that about from time to time. Not necessarily with guitar parts, but certainly with other everyday items.

[@TheCarTakerGarage]

@@RobArnoldWorld That is for sure man.Its kinda scary it has turned out that way ,But hey , we can fix the broken stuff :)

[@thehaunted1]

Well done dude

[@trevorphilips9484]

Have you tried the EMG X series pickups in any of your ESP's? I always think people overhype the differences with pickups. They seem to believe there's night and day differences, when alot of the time, it's not all that noticeable, to me at least.

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Yes I have! And before I even read what you said after your question, I already had my answer ready, which is this... I noticed zero difference between the EMG 81's I always use, and the EMG X's! So I'm with ya!

[@trevorphilips9484]

@@RobArnoldWorld So it's not just me 😂. Cheers for the fast reply, Rob. Legend 👊🤘

[@datrain780311]

i used to think the same until i replaced my Duncan Designed blackouts with ACTUAL SD Blackouts.. the difference IS legitimate.

[@trevorphilips9484]

@@datrain780311 I can tell with cheaper pickups Vs expensive ones. Like stock Jackson pickups or LTD pickups, you end up feeling like you need to compensate by picking harder and upping your amp settings. But from one EMG to the next, the difference seems pretty negligible. Great pickups though.

[@RobArnoldWorld]

@@trevorphilips9484 👊🤘

[@samfromsalem]

rob channeling his inner william shatner for a minute there

[@ampecsu]

My bridge pickup on an Affinity strat stopped working... i opened it and found a bit of solder laying in there but for the life of me cant tell where it came from....

[@RobArnoldWorld]

I'd say you've just got to hunt it down... make comparisons, use process of elimination, wiggle wires and look for changes in sound, etc. But if you simply can't figure out the problem, then you may have to bite the bullet and take it to a shop.

[@micahbell9412]

I have 2 singles coils and 1 hum bucket in my guitar and when I move the toggle switch nothing happens. There’s one spot where it’s a bit warmer but all the pickups stay on and I have no clue what to do I spent a lot of money on this guitar too

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Ahh that's a bummer man. If you're not confident taking a look through the electronics cavity and doing some trouble shooting, then your best bet would probably be to search around for local music shops and have it looked at.

[@kaikuangyngwie3882]

I have the same issue with my ibanez rg350dxz.. Mine is the neck pickup

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Hopefully this video prompts you to open it up and remedy the situation!

[@M.C.R.SYNTRN]

Rob Do you like Testament? And have you heard their album the gathering? I listened to it last night and thought i wonder if Rob has heard this one haha

[@RobArnoldWorld]

I'm not too familiar with Testament actually. I had the Souls Of Black record when I was a kid and liked it a lot, but never really dove in much further after that.

[@M.C.R.SYNTRN]

@@RobArnoldWorld Seriously? Aww man im telling you, put the gathering on! Google the lineup for the album too ;)

[@SentientSeven]

Perhaps the switch got knocked against something causing the inner part to bend?

[@RobArnoldWorld]

I suppose anything is possible!

[@bigtinymanowarrior7330]

Hey Rob, how's it goin man? Hope all is well bro 😎👍

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Going good bro!🤘

[@Danoz658]

Out of all the other guitarists you toured with over the year's. Who do you think has the best tone and or gear ?

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Dime! Although we only had the opportunity to play with him a couple of times during the Damage Plan years. Hatebreeds tone always crushed hard too!

[@autobotsNdecepticons]

I had a factory wired guitar that had this kind of issue--neck pickup in my case. I also had a $3000 amp whose on/off switch failed after using it just a couple times. Got an exchange by mail just for that. You just never know.

[@JM-co6rf]

starts at around 9:00

[@GrMfull]

Interesting

[@maxkossack351]

Aaaaaah crazy! Things you never would think about.... ironicly i had sc207 with same issue! i swaped out the stock pickups ...had some stock esp pickups and bought emgs. And the bridge didnt worked... my problem was that the connector from the pickup was in the wrong direction... so i mean where the pickup meets the cable... i didnt found the problem for 4 month! even 3 guitarshops did not found the issue! the 4th shop was like "ok fuck it, we take it appart and take million pictures how it was"... very quickly he saw that the connector from the "neck" PU was different to the bridge connector.. me and the other shops only checked the connection from the bridge... but no one knew how it should be. So the issue was: THE CONNECTION WAS IN THE WRONG WAY... IT WAS FLIPED ... took of the connection... turned it... put it back on the Pickup... everything worked.... so guys: just check ALL the connections and parts 😅 dont freak out... never give up... dont sell guitars... there is always a solution❤ thank you rob for tips n tricks❤

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Great advice! In my experience I've found that like your situation, it's always something stupid! A wire is backwards, something is muted, a cable isn't plugged in, etc.

[@maxkossack351]

@@RobArnoldWorld absolutely! Thanks for those videos! Have a great day! :)

[@samchivers6129]

I used to think the pickups just pick up the vibration of the strings, I didn't realise different pickup selection made a slightly different tone

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Yeah! Having more than one pickup gives you more flexibility with your tone. In most of my guitars, I only have one pickup though, because I'm not interested in that additional flexibility. But I'm in the minority with that mindset!

[@samchivers6129]

I'm with you on that one, I only use the bridge pickup, sure wish I could find a bridge pickup fixed bridge guitar that didn't cost too much and sounded good

[@RobArnoldWorld]

@@samchivers6129 They're out there!

[@papaemeritus4544]

Look at yer... Giving out tips and trixxx free of charge... Look at yer...

[@gigaphonicon]

I'm kind of surprised the body cavity isn't shielded on a pricey ESP.

[@Augrills]

It is weird. I have an LTD SE-1000, so lower model and it’s got shielding

[@MadDjentah]

Have the exact same model of the guitar. No problems with electronics so far, phew. Nevertheless, threw out middle pickup and changed it with a blank from aliexpress, my toggleswitch is a killswitch now. Dunno why Mark decided to change base EMG808 with X's, I am very glad with the original one. The instrument is too heavy weight to play live even with one pickup threw out, but great for studio recording, we've done this with SC608B kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6KxnqeCf55ng5I

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Sick stuff!🤘

[@petru-robu64]

10:55

[@Bioniquenet]

You can just tap the pickup with a screw driver before putting the strings back!

[@RobArnoldWorld]

For sure! That's a technique I use often! But in this case, the fact that the pickup was getting just a tiiiiiiiny bit of signal, was misleading. I needed to be sure before I started ripping stuff apart. But anyway, still a great tip for anyone else who reads this!🎸

[@Bioniquenet]

@@RobArnoldWorld you right! Make sense.

[@jahall816]

Mark needs to stop messing around in there. Also it's a lever switch. Lol. I'd still replace the switch. Dust and cold solder joints are the biggest culprit. Miss yall.

[@RobArnoldWorld]

Miss you too John! Been meaning to catch up! What's a "cold" solder joint?

[@jahall816]

@@RobArnoldWorld You want a good shiny solder joint. If they are dull they are most likely cold. Could be bad solder, too low of a temp or just bad work. Tinning solder points ahead of time is essential. Otherwise you can cook a part or not go enough and have a sloppy cold joint. I think.

[@RobArnoldWorld]

@@jahall816 If you ever move back to Cleveland and get your shop set up again, we could team up and make guitar maintenance videos all day long!

[@andrewjacobs5579]

If I had a dollar for every time this drummer has been through this with a guitarist & I say Check the selector & wire connections 1st & I was given dumb drummer jokes then a mumbled admittance later on that I was correct & they could've saved $50, I could have my neck surgery. lol

[@magyarharcos207]

buy a multi meter