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Post by JohnH on Jun 8, 2008 16:27:20 GMT -5
If you are now happy with the bright end of the range, but are having trouble with not getting enough treble cut, then going to 500k from 250k won't help. 500k tone pots cover the full range of sound available with 250k, and then add a little brightness on top. That being said, I think a 500k might be an improvement for the neck/mid control, if you decide to keep this basic arrangement. Another option is to turn one or both pots into no-load pots by opening them up and cutting the track just before the 10 position, for max brightness
One thing to check with this wiring, if you have bridge on and one or more of the other two also, then to get a substantial treble cut you'd need to turn down both tone controls to cut down the treble component of both pups
I'd suggest playing around with it to see if you can find the sounds that you want, or if not, how you want to further expand the tone range. and then decide whether the operation of the knobs works for you. If not, then other wirings are possible, such as Chris described.
My favorite setting, based on an electrically similar arrangement on my Strat, is bridge max treble, plus neck min treble. What do you think of that?
John
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dressner
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Post by dressner on Jun 9, 2008 17:02:14 GMT -5
you know its funny you mention that setting, i remember coming across that combo before reading your post and remarking to myself (and my roomate) how neat it was. I'm liking this a lot. I may get some 500k pots sometime in the future to further increase brightness, but for right now it isn't bad. Earlier ChrisK said "It's counter-intuitive in that you turn the tone control down to brighten the overall sound of two or more in series." and thats true for sure, something to play with. But I'm thinking I may just get the pots and not have to mess with it. Thanks guys!
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Post by pete12345 on Jun 16, 2008 8:44:52 GMT -5
I got inspired by this thread and built a series wired strat. Actually, it's more of a series wired tele with an extra pickup. I converted my import strat switch into a 3 way, tele-style one, and wired it to select neck, neck x bridge, or bridge. An SPST switch adds in the middle pickup. I also added a DPDT to phase the neck pickup (not shown on the diagram) This gives nine distinct sounds: six normal, three oop with the tone controls adding more variety. The 'neck' tone knob acts on the neck and middle, with the 'middle' tone acting only on the bridge. I also took the opportunity to swap the middle and bridge pickups over, making BxN hum-cancelling. This means NxM no longer hum cancels, but N(oop)xM does. R1= master volume R2= bridge tone R3= neck/mid tone SW1= neck/both/bridge selector SW2= middle on/off While I have shown SW1 as a DP3T tele switch, you only need a SP3T, or even a on-off-on SPDT would work. I used the strat/tele switch mainly to fill the hole. The downside to this of course is that you lose the standard parallel tones, but I have found (with these cheap pickups anyway) that you can get tones which approximate to the parallel combos by fiddling with the tone controls (not entirely sure how, maybe someone can help explain this one ) Overall, I've found this mod to result in a versatile axe without too many switches. ;D Pete
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Post by sumgai on Jun 16, 2008 21:50:11 GMT -5
pete, Nice rig! You may be getting those close-to-parallel tones due in part to the added inductance, just like a humbucker's two coils that are (usually) wired in series. With a tone control across each of the separate coils, unlike a humbucker, you can get some pretty nice tones - just ask JohnH. BTW, I see you swapped the Bridge and Middle pups...... but aren't those two units different sized? Seems to me that the Bridge is always longer, because of the slant. (Geometry is.) Got any picture, perhaps? HTH sumgai
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Post by pete12345 on Jun 17, 2008 10:30:56 GMT -5
Thanks ;D You may be getting those close-to-parallel tones due in part to the added inductance, just like a humbucker's two coils that are (usually) wired in series. With a tone control across each of the separate coils, unlike a humbucker, you can get some pretty nice tones - just ask JohnH. That clears it up a little. The separate tones are really useful with pickups in series- my favourite combination is NxB, with the neck/mid tone rolled all the way down. BTW, I see you swapped the Bridge and Middle pups...... but aren't those two units different sized? Seems to me that the Bridge is always longer, because of the slant. (Geometry is.) Got any picture, perhaps? Well, all my pickups are identical in size, probably due to it being a squier (economy is) dunno about more expensive pickups though... The only disadvantage is that you can't get middle only, so if you like that one, my wiring is not for you, but BxN sounds similar in my case, just louder and with more tone Pete
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Post by sumgai on Jun 17, 2008 14:19:22 GMT -5
pete, I just noticed, while looking for a casual way to add the Middle only, that you show the output going into the Volume control on the wiper, and the high side going out to the Tip of the jack. You should swap those two connections, it'll sound better all around. I did find several ways to make the Middle Only connection, but there was always a drawback, and I felt that overcoming them with additional components defeated the simplicity of your design. You're right, there's no compelling reason to add the Middle, unless one is going for The Full Monty anyway. ;D Also, in the general sense of the word, the convention for a schematic drawing is that the input, or the original generation point, is on the left of the drawing, and the output is on the right. We usually learn to read from left to right (in those parts of the world that are Romantic-based), and that convention carries forward into the way we draw, and perceive/interpret our drawings. I know wolf's drawings are almost always backwards, but a close inspection of the innerweb will reveal that he is in the vast minority. The percentage is too small to write without using negative exponents, the number of people who create their drawings lysdexically. You're in luck, it should be easy to simply swap the Volume pot with the ground symbol at the right, and all will be well. It doesn't matter, sound wise, which end of the circuit the Middle pickup is directly connected to, the ground or the output, said circuit will still work as advertised.......... but the diagram will look more "natural" to the average EE. HTH sumgai
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Post by pete12345 on Jun 17, 2008 14:48:36 GMT -5
I think my volume control is actually wired as you described anyway, and not as I have shown on the diagram (it's the only part of my guitar that still has the original wiring) That wiring is left over from when I was looking at having the middle on its own volume... or something like that I shan't change the diagram (otherwise anyone who reads this will be a bit confused) but yeah, the volume control should be shown as wired the other way. If you like, you can imagine it to be on the right as well EDIT: I did find a way to add middle only! You could replace S2 with a on-off-on, with the third terminal shorting out the neck and bridge pickups. This is essentially the same as wiring a humbucker to split each coil. As it is, it's somewhat like a humbucker with the option to split one coil (in this case, the switched neck and bridge) Pete
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brians
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Post by brians on Jun 19, 2008 13:43:01 GMT -5
I just finished a schematic for strat series/parallel wiring using just 3 DPDT on-off-on switches. It gives every combination of series/paralel. I don't see a way to post it here though.
Brian
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Post by pete12345 on Jun 19, 2008 14:17:22 GMT -5
get an account with www.photobucket.com, put it up there and link to it here. Sounds an interesting design, three DPDT switches fit nicely in the slot left by removing the standard switch. Pete
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brians
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Post by brians on Jun 19, 2008 16:20:33 GMT -5
i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm238/Brian_S_01/Series-Parallel.jpgHere is the link. I'll need to do a new one that is easier to see but this is all I have right now. The middle pickup is first in the series and the bottom pickup is last. The middle pickup can be the bridge pickup. Pickups are switched on and off using the DPDT off position. Brian
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mike013
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Post by mike013 on Jun 23, 2008 7:59:13 GMT -5
i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm238/Brian_S_01/Series-Parallel.jpgHere is the link. I'll need to do a new one that is easier to see but this is all I have right now. The middle pickup is first in the series and the bottom pickup is last. The middle pickup can be the bridge pickup. Pickups are switched on and off using the DPDT off position. Brian This is exactly what I've been looking for Brian, with the adition of a phase switch perhaps. Waiting eagerly for a clearer schematic
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