USA Fallout pickup question?

[Driver3]

Hey all. I have a early 2013 USA Fallout. It was produced so early it didn't have the coil tap on the JB bridge pickup. I added the Push/Pull pot from G&L and it works. However, in the middle position the sound is weak and thin. I figured the pickups were out of phase so I swapped the leads for the P90 and that fixed the thin sound in the middle position but now the guitar is extremely noisy on the neck pickup, to the point it is essentially unusable. I know it is a grounding issue because touching the bridge quiets the guitar down substantially, not totally but makes it much quieter.
Before I swap the leads back and live without the middle position, is there anything else I could try to quiet this setup?
Thanks, I know there are some very knowledgeable folks on here and may have dealt with this very thing in the past.
I mistakenly posted this in the early guitar topic section. If someone moderates this that post may as well be removed.
Thanks.

[Craig]

Hey all. I have a early 2013 USA Fallout. It was produced so early it didn't have the coil tap on the JB bridge pickup. I added the Push/Pull pot from G&L and it works. However, in the middle position the sound is weak and thin. I figured the pickups were out of phase so I swapped the leads for the P90 and that fixed the thin sound in the middle position but now the guitar is extremely noisy on the neck pickup, to the point it is essentially unusable. I know it is a grounding issue because touching the bridge quiets the guitar down substantially, not totally but makes it much quieter.
Before I swap the leads back and live without the middle position, is there anything else I could try to quiet this setup?
Thanks, I know there are some very knowledgeable folks on here and may have dealt with this very thing in the past.
I mistakenly posted this in the early guitar topic section. If someone moderates this that post may as well be removed.
Thanks.

See this post in our Gallery: Album: G&L USA Fallout Wiring Diagram.

Hope this helps.

[Driver3]

Hi Craig.
I used that schematic to wire the tone control in when I did it.
If you notice, there is no wire color called out on the P90. Just shield and center lead.
Mine has 4 wires with no shield. This P90 is very sensitive to amp interference with direction and angle to amp unusually critical noise wise.
I'm thinking I'll have to try the other leads and see if one pair is the correct polarity

[Craig]

Hi Craig.
I used that schematic to wire the tone control in when I did it.
If you notice, there is no wire color called out on the P90. Just shield and center lead.
Mine has 4 wires with no shield. This P90 is very sensitive to amp interference with direction and angle to amp unusually critical noise wise.
I'm thinking I'll have to try the other leads and see if one pair is the correct polarity

Did you buy this guitar new or used?

If used, I would say that a previous owner replaced the original G&L P-90 pickup with some aftermarket pickup.
Please post some photos.

[NickHorne]

From the schematic, solution would seem to be:
1: Put the P-90 wiring back how it was (presumably it didn't hum originally, or at least not massively like it does now).
2: At the switch and pot, reverse the connections of the Red and White conductors of the JB, which will reverse the phase of that pickup instead of the P-90. This will fix the out-of-phase issue, without ungrounding the P-90. If your JB wiring colours matches the colours in the schematic, this should be all you need to do.

[Fumble fingers]

the middle position is the best position for clean IMHO ...... mine balance good , I did eventually change my JB to a Invader , basically sound the same but the JB I always had turned tone midway down and the P90 was up full tone on single pick up mode ..... with the Invader I can leave the tone up on both pick ups now and still sound good together

[Driver3]

Nick, that did it. The guitar sounds awesome. I took some pictures I'll post tomorrow.
Craig, the guitar was sold as new but I think it spent a little bit of time as a demo.
The set-up needed some attention. The saddles were flat on the base of the bridge and the action was still too high.
I shimmed the neck with a .5° shim from Stewart MacDonald and that made it to where I could make the necessary adjustments. After I set things up how they're supposed to be the guitar plays fantastic.
Thanks again guys.
Dennis

[Driver3]

This is the cable coming off the P90. 4 wire with a shield



This is what the wiring looks like now. Guitar sounds and plays awesome.

[NickHorne]

I'm glad it's all worked out well. Enjoy!