"Ric Heresy" + "Broadbucker" = ?

[ashcatlt]

This is my first diagram! (yay)

I know it's not the best, but go ahead and offer suggestions on how to improve it.

To begin, it's a direct manipulation of this one over at Guitar Electronics. If it is uncool to post as is I'll be happy to yank it down.



Basically the 4-way tele trick. The second volume controls neck volume in parallel mode, but acts as a master volume in series mode.

Q1? Is there a way to use the same components to have the second volume act as an effective blend knob in series mode?

Q2? Will i lose high end in series mode (more than otherwise expected) due to the fact that the 2 volumes are in parallel, thereby halving the total resistance?

Q2a? If so, any way around that?

The second tone is meant to allow some of the treble from the bridge pickup to bypass the switch as well as the other pickup in series mode, per the "Broadbucker" idea. I couldn't follow the diagram he references in that thread. It looks to me like the tone pots are wired as normal, and would not produce the effect he described. This is my attempt.

Q4? I think it'll work.(?) Anybody forsee any problems I might want to address?

[ashcatlt]

oh, and Q5, what do I do with the 5th knob? (It's a rick 330)

[borsanova]

Hi and thanks for taking in consideration my broadbucker idea.

I don't think that I can answer all of your questions, but I'll do my best.
First I have to admit that I have always tremendous difficulties to understand those 5-way switches and the respective diagrams. That is because I don't understand which is the zero pin and which pins are connected with the switch in position 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. That's why I probably understand only half of your wiring.

So here is my comments as far as I can follow:

Regarding my Les Paul wiring you wrote:
"It looks to me like the tone pots are wired as normal, and would not produce the effect he described."

Your impression is correct (that means you followed it!). I haven't changed anything on the wiring of the tone control. In fact this isn't necessary to make your broadbucker work. The tone cap produces the broadening because it is placed after the bridge pickup and before the neck pickup, thus excluding the latter from contributing to the trebles section of your sound spectrum. The trebles come from the bridge alone. The bass and middles from both pickups in series.

Your other questions:

Q1. This should be possible when your guitar is in serial mode, but since I don't understand the 5-way switch I can't tell you how to do it on your guitar. Have a look at my Les Paul and follow only the series wiring (upper position of bridge volume) to see how it's done.

Q2. It don't seem to me that they are in parallel, but maybe I'm wrong. Actually they shouldn't. If your wiring is in series how can the volume pots be in parallel? In any case this should be no problem for your high end.

Q4. I don't think it works as a broadbucker, because as far as I can follow, both tone controls are wired before the whole bunch. One should be placed inbetween the two pickups. Maybe my impression is wrong, but then it's due to my misinterpretation of the 5-way switch.

By the way: which pickup is placed first in your serial wiring? It should be the bridge pickup, otherwise the broadbucker won't produce any broadening. The broadbucker works only with two pickups in serial mode and with the one closer to the bridge hooked up first.

Q5. The fifth knob on a Rick is usually used for blending. In this case you could use it for dialing in the broadbucker inbetween cap (if that doesn't work already with your other tone control).

Last question: Has your Rick humbuckers or single coils?

[ashcatlt]

Boy, I didn't notice you'd replied to this till just today. Thanks

The switch in the picture is a 4-way. The left side is 0-4 from the bottom. The right side is 0-4 from the top.

Now that I look at it, I think I've got the treble from the bridge pickup bypassing all the other controls before the signal goes into the neck pup.

They're sc's