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Raptor Special wiring

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:40 pm
by lostboy
Hi, I've had a Peavey Raptor Special for a few years now and haven't played it for too long as I had other commitments, and I broke it.

I've recently looked at the wiring again but cant remember how it solders back in place, I was wondering if anyone could put me right on this, here is a pic of how the underside of the plastic cover looks at the moment.

Image

I know the black wire goes between the four springs on the back of the guitar.

Re: Raptor Special wiring

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 10:59 am
by lostboy
Any help? I cant find anything on google as it brings up wiring for Peavey amps, I would like to play it again.

Re: Raptor Special wiring

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 11:01 am
by Glen C
Hard to tell from your picture but I'll take a stab - can't guarantee though

The five way switch in your picture from the left start pin 1 - Goes to bridge p/u. Pin 2 goes to middle pickup Pin 3 goes to neck pick up. Pins 4 & 5 should be ganged together(wired together) with a wire going to the tab on the right of the volume pot as seen in your picture. Looks like nothing is attached to pins 4/5. Pin 6 is unused. Pin 7 & 8 should be ganged and a wire running to the middle tab on the tone pot, looks like yours is running to the volume pot - there is no wire on the tone pot except for the ground - no tone control that way.

Again looking at your picture do the following:

Remove the white wire that is running from the 5 way to the volume pot loose at the volume pot and move it to the center post on the tone pot

The unattached end of the white wire on the volume pot should be attached to pin 4/5 of the 5 way switch.

The black wire grounds the tremolo -attach it there

The yellow wire goes to the output jack - the center wire is the signal and the bare shield wire is the ground.

Hope you can make sense of what I have typed. If you wire it up as I have described it should work just fine.

Re: Raptor Special wiring

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:48 pm
by lostboy
Yeah I think I get what you mean mate :D what's the worst that could happen if I wire it up wrong? Electric shock or just pop a fuse?

Re: Raptor Special wiring

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:47 pm
by lostboy
Sorted in a fashion, I've had some sound through the amp in clean and overdrive but the guitar volume button is a bit dodgy, a slight knock and the sound stops, knock it again and it works. Will have a look at that tomorrow, Thanks Glen C.

Re: Raptor Special wiring

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:50 pm
by GennyFan
Glen C wrote:Hard to tell from your picture but I'll take a stab - can't guarantee though...

Remove the white wire that is running from the 5 way to the volume pot loose at the volume pot and move it to the center post on the tone pot
Not sure I would recommend removing anything else, it looks like he just needs to resolder the ground and the output jack, and then that one white wire needs to go somewhere?
Glen C wrote:The unattached end of the white wire on the volume pot should be attached to pin 4/5 of the 5 way switch.
Sounds good to me!
Glen C wrote: The black wire grounds the tremolo -attach it there

The yellow wire goes to the output jack - the center wire is the signal and the bare shield wire is the ground.
Yup.
lostboy wrote:What's the worst that could happen if I wire it up wrong? Electric shock or just pop a fuse?
Neither. The worst thing is you get silence. Or you could get a thin, out of phase sound... The voltage from pickups is measured in millivolts, not enough juice to damage you, the fuse, or any components in the guitar or amp.
lostboy wrote:...I've had some sound through the amp in clean and overdrive but the guitar volume button is a bit dodgy, a slight knock and the sound stops, knock it again and it works.
I think you're probably just looking at worn out pots and a worn out switch.

My guess is that you could spray some contact cleaner in there and buy some more time, but at this point, that guitar is probably twice as old as those parts were intended to last...

Those potentiometers are called "alpha pots" and they are essentially the cheapest, lowest cost part you can get. Same thing with that "box" switch. They are intended to work for 2-5 years, which is usually plenty for a beginner guitar...

However, those Raptors are decent playing little guitars, much better than comparable Squiers, in my opinion.

Like the saying goes, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right."

Since you've already got the pickguard off and you've got a soldering iron, I think you could probably get a complete upgrade kit for around 20 pounds. See the Stratcaster Wiring Kit at the link below:

http://www.axesrus.com/axeknobs.htm

They've got wiring diagrams too.

Again, you could probably get away with just spraying the pots and switch with electronics contact cleaner, but if it's a guitar you plan to keep, I recommend that you upgrade the parts.

Hope this helps, good luck!

Re: Raptor Special wiring

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2011 5:46 pm
by lostboy
GennyFan wrote:Since you've already got the pickguard off and you've got a soldering iron, I think you could probably get a complete upgrade kit for around 20 pounds. See the Stratcaster Wiring Kit at the link below:

http://www.axesrus.com/axeknobs.htm

They've got wiring diagrams too.

Again, you could probably get away with just spraying the pots and switch with electronics contact cleaner, but if it's a guitar you plan to keep, I recommend that you upgrade the parts.

Hope this helps, good luck!
Extremely grateful for that link, thanks mate :D, at this moment in time I'm spending all my money getting my project car up and running (not far off :) ) once that is done I need to get back into playing the guitar and will buy that kit (link saved) I just need to have some patients and learn proper chords instead of using power chords :lol: just doesn't sound the same :(

Thanks again for your help Glen C and Gennyfan.