NEWBIE installing new pups and tone control

[grillking]

Hey guys-
I am have been searching the forum and reading and learning alot for about two weeks now. I have some questions I hope you guys can help me with. Let me give you some background info on my setup.

Type of guitar: Ibanex Rx240 (strat copy)
Guitar body/neck: Maple/maple
Volume control:1
Tone control:1
Current pickup layout: s-s-h
Type of switch: 5 way

I am looking to put 2 mini' humbuckers in the neck and middle positions and a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge.
I want to install a 2nd tone control to control the tone of the neck and middle pups. I have the original 500k pot that is in the guitar and purchased and additional 500k and another 250k pot (not sure which one to use). The doozy is this....both the neck and middle mini buckers are made for the neck position. When I originally bought them I didn't know that they made em in two types and the store wont allow a return or an exchange so I am stuck w/ em. I am willing to go forward and install them because after doing some further research I learned that maple tends to be a brighter "sounding" wood and might brighten up a pickup that might sound a little darker/muddier than normal. I also understand that installing a 250k pot to control the tone of the "darker" sounding neck/middle pickups might help brighten the sound up. My question is..... are my presumptions correct???.....what kind of capacitors should I use???how should I wire up the new tone knob???

Thanks

[UnklMickey]

hi Darren,

when you say "mini humbuckers", do you mean single-sized humbuckers?

or do you mean the mini-humbuckers found on some LPs?



a 500k pot would be better for the tone control.

a 250k at max, would be like setting a 500k on 8 1/2.

so it won't brighten the tone.


i wouldn't 'fret' about the same pickups in neck and middle.

sometimes a slightly hotter wind is used in the middle, but more often they are the same.

a hotter wind for the bridge is more common, but even that isn't an absolute must. it just makes 'balancing" them result in more similar string to pickup gaps.

the value of the caps?

for the tone cap 5nF to 20nF is common. the larger the cap, the more it will cut into the midrange when the pot is set to minimum.

if you use a treble-bleed cap 1nF will probably work well.



unk

[grillking]

Unk-
Thanks for the advice. I am referring to single coil humbuckers. The two that I have are JB Jr and Lil 59. Would there be any advantage to installing the 2nd tone control or should I keep just one? If so...do you recommend a particular schematic or will this one do....
www.seymourduncan.com/support/schematics/3lh_1v_2t_5w.html
Thanks again!!

[UnklMickey]

hi Darren,

that wiring diagram is okay.

as far as adding a second tone control, if i didn't already have an extra hole, that i needed to put something into, i wouldn't bother.

i prefer a single "master" tone control, the few times i ever use one.


unk

[ChrisK]

Guitar body/neck: Maple/maple

This will be a very bright sounding guitar.

Tone Zone in the bridge.

This is a dark sounding pickup.

I want to install a 2nd tone control to control the tone of the neck and middle pups

.
This will get interesting since a regular Strat-type 5-way switch wired for a neck tone will also have that tone control in the circuit when bridge + middle is selected. In this position both one controls will be in parallel. If this is an issue, you might consider using a 4 pole 5 way super switch lever.

I also understand that installing a 250k pot to control the tone of the "darker" sounding neck/middle pickups might help brighten the sound up. My question is..... are my presumptions correct???.....

Nope, the lower resistances darken the pickup (sightly). For humbuckes, use 500 kOhm pots for volume and tone.

The two that I have are JB Jr and Lil 59. Would there be any advantage to installing the 2nd tone control or should I keep just one? If so...do you recommend a particular schematic or will this one do....

I guess that the JB jr should go in the middle (normally a bridge pickup) and the Lil' 59 in the neck. Since the Tone Zone is such a dark pickup (normally used in brighter guitars like alder and maple), you may want to consider wiring one tone across the neck pickup directly and the other across the middle pickup directly. The neck + middle position will have both tones in circuit, but the bridge alone position will have no tone control (do you really want a dark pickup even darker?).

[grillking]

Chris-
What would the schematic look like if I was to do it that way.

[ChrisK]

Well,

Wire one tone control (cap and pot in series) across the neck pickup directly at the switch terminals for the neck pickup and,

wire the other tone control (cap and pot in series) across the middle pickup directly at the switch terminals for the middle pickup.

"Switch terminals" means the lug on the switch for that pickup and the common signal busing (which some folk call "ground" which it ain't necessarily connected to. It ain't a safety ground.).

[UnklMickey]

chrisk said:

...Since the Tone Zone is such a dark pickup (normally used in brighter guitars like alder and maple), you may want to consider wiring one tone across the neck pickup directly and the other across the middle pickup directly. The neck + middle position will have both tones in circuit, but the bridge alone position will have no tone control (do you really want a dark pickup even darker?)....

Chris,

this is an interesting exercise in predicting what might be the best course of action.

IMHO, there are no clear-cut winners. (courses of action, not predictors)


i have never used a TZ, but a dark pickup in a bright location might not be too terrible,

but then again....................?

what you suggested is probably better than a single master tone.

also worth considering:

a single tone cap, "master" pot, second pot in parallel when the 5-way is in the 4 positions closest to the neck.

a single tone circuit, enabled only when the 5-way is in the 4 positions closest to the neck.

i tend to favor the last one, since no additional holes need to be drilled, if he only had a single tone to begin with.

of course, with a superswitch, make that the 3 positions closest to the neck.


unk