1st Project Guitar washburn nuno questions, suggestions, ideas...

[FTLOSM]

I wanted a winter project, saw a cheap guitar on craigslist not working for $50 so why not right? It's a very basic nuno washburn N -11 it says on the neck but online I can't find a N - 11 this seems very entry level based on the trem vs other N's I have seen. The guy tried to put in new pickups and said he messed it up so the guitar wasn't working sold me the guitar (in good shape), with the pickups he tried installing, what he said were the original pickups (altho they don't have that W or nuno on them), and 1 more pickup he said was from an explorer all for $50.

This guitar is a 2 pickup both dual humbucker with a 3 way switch and one knob (volume?) and the guitar input.

I can solder and I can follow read basic directions/info layouts, but am not familiar with what parts i should be using on this project and although I have even made effects pedals from schematics I have never wired a guitar up or changed a pickup even, my idea was mainly cosmetics over the winter fix up the body do some airbrush to it or a custom swirl paintjob, but after i got into the guitar (taking it apart) I realized how wonky it was just gobs of wires none soldered cleanly some not connected even - just a big mess.

So my thought was this (and suggestions are welcome) to gut it 100%, try to determine what I have pickup wise here, maybe cut a 2nd hole and have a volume and a tone knob on this, replace the 3 way switch (might as well go new plus this one feels gritty cheap), input jack seems fine but if its cheap and there is something I should use instead point me in the right direction, and ultimately by spring put it back together as a hopefully decent working guitar.

I have an old home stead acct so I started up a basic page for it for fun to show pics get answers suggestions etc I appreciate any starting pointers especially on the parts I should use or replace how you would do it (keeping it on a decent budget) and whatnot.


Nuno Guitar Project Home

Bill

[Steve Conner]

Looks like a good first step would be to put it back together, throw some strings on, set up the action and neck relief. That way you can see if it plays well, or if it's a complete dog that isn't worth putting effort into. I doubt that would be the case, modern CNC manufacturing means that even the cheapest guitars work fine nowadays, but I'd still want to check.

Then try out all the pickups in your pile and see which ones you prefer the sound of. They all look pretty cheap and nasty, but that doesn't necessarily equate to bad tone.

If you have a multimeter, you can take DC resistance readings of the pickups. Use the higher resistance ones in the bridge position.

As far as I know, the bare wire is ground, and of the two remaining wires, one will be the full pickup coil and the other will be a coil tap, which you can ignore for the time being.

So, measure between the bare wire and the two other wires in turn. The full coil should have double the resistance of the coil tap.

If you don't have a multimeter, you can get one for less than 10 bucks at Harbor Freight or a similar place. They're very handy for even the most basic guitar electronic work.

My gut feeling would be that this is a Chinese ripoff of one of the Washburn Nuno models, but it's still an OK deal for $50.

[FTLOSM]

I almost did put strings on it but knowing he said nothing worked after he put those pickups in I just figured gut it mess with paint the body and worst case it turns out to be wall art (non working).

The electronics part I will admit I am pretty lost, I don't have or want to dump a ton of $$ into it but I thought since the body has a decent cavity area I would consider adding a tone knob and upgrade the volume pot, get a new 3 way switch, some new wire lay it out right start fresh in those respects, but I do need to find or figure out how the wires are all supposed to run cuz this was a jumbled mess inside.

I do have a multimeter, which dial setting should I use on it to test these, I will do that mark the higher reading one as bridge etc of these 2 sets if one has higher readings in general that "SHOULD" be the better sounding pickup correct?

Bill

[Steve Conner]

with the multimeter I would use bare and test against the other two one at a time?

Yes

What setting would I use on the multimeter and what am I looking for response wise?

Use the resistance setting. A humbucker should measure between 5,000 and 15,000 ohms. (1000 ohms = "1k") So if your meter doesn't autorange, use the 20k range or similar.

If i test both sets here in the same manor will the multimeter give me an idea of which set might be stronger or better?

All other things being equal, higher resistance reading means more turns of wire, which means a stronger output but also a muddier tone.

[FTLOSM]

My pickup readings

Ok got out the meter wasn't sure which setting but kept turning it till i saw results on meter.

The 2 that were in it that were from an Ibanez he said
One marked F reads at 12.7 on white wire, 6.3 on red wire
One marked R reads at 12.9 on white wire, 6.2 on red wire

The 2 that he said were in it originally (samshin on backs)
Neither is marked F or R only 2 wires on these
One reads 8.5
One reads 8.2

That one pickup that he gave me from an explorer has 3 wires and no markings on it
7.6 white wire, 3.8 red wire

If I am going by highest numbers it sounds like the ibanez might be the choice to start with on a rebuild here (is that correct the higher the number the more powerful it will be), and position wise use stronger in bridge and less powerful in neck position?

At least this is a start though if I am understanding things here.

Bill

[FTLOSM]

I was looking online to find how to wire this up and saw this, 2 humbuckers 1 volume 1 tone and 3 way switch (currently don't have a tone knob but I was thinking I would add one), so if I follow this diagram am I on track?

Guitar Wiring Diagram 2 Humbuckers/3-Way Toggle Switch/1 Volume/0Tone/000

[FTLOSM]

I found this online that shows wiring for 2 humbuckers 1 vol 1 tone 3 way switch, that was my idea (to add a tone knob) if I follow this I should be on the right track right?

Guitar Wiring Diagram 2 Humbuckers/3-Way Toggle Switch/1 Volume/0Tone/000

[FTLOSM]

Sorry that posted twice about the diagram, I contacted guitarelectronics about that diagram and explained how I have a 3 wire pickup and what my readings were for the red and white wires (red 6's / white 12's on meter), and asked how do i wire that to work in the layout they show in that diagram.

They replied I run the bare to ground of course, but that I wire the red wire as the north bridge and tape off the white wire, that confused me since my white wire has the higher output rating on the multimeter, I guess WORST case I could hook it up the way they describe, then reverse it and see what the difference is sound wise?

Also do I need to do that cavity lining stuff in the body for shielding? And I know they show a capacitor on the tone knob, what value would or should I use, the pots I was going to go with were 2 CTS 500K's one volume one tone btw.


Bill

[FTLOSM]

I confirmed with washburn this wasn't a knockoff or anything they said it's one of the very first N1 series guitars, seems like I am getting all my ducks in a row here just time to start finalizing the parts list order them up and start on that body!

[Steve Conner]

There's no standard for wire colours on guitar pickups. Whichever wire shows the highest resistance is the one you should use, and tape off the other one. Otherwise you're only using one of the pickup coils.

You don't need to shield the control cavity, but the guitar will hum a bit less if you do.

I can't remember off hand the usual value for a guitar tone cap.

[FTLOSM]

Thanks Steve, yeah I was thrown by them telling me to wire up the lower rated wire vs the higher rated wire and capping the other, my thought was just the opposite, I guess worst case I wire it all up as they instruct play it for 10 mins, take apart wire it up using the higher resistance wire and just see which sounds better, for the few bucks I might just have to do that cavity shielding I just wasn't sure if it would make a difference or not thanks for the help on this stuff I DO appreciate it!

Bill