Mike Richardson Wiring

[dcoombes]

Can anybody help me with a clear and fully labelled picture of the original Mike Richardson wiring diagram (no phase switching). The only one I can find is on the old GuitarNuts site and I've obviously misinterpreted something.

Regards
Dave

[newey]

Dcoombes-

Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!

As far as I know, the original MR diagram on the original G-Nutz site is the only one we have absent phase. But we do have ChrisK's MR version with phase.

The phase switch is a module wired to the neck pickup which can be easily "mentally bypassed" or ignored- just imagine the output from the phase switch is the two wires from the neck pickup.

More problematic may be Chris's "Industrial Art" style diagrams, which are logically thought out and aesthetically pleasing, but they do take some getting used to.

I've obviously misinterpreted something.

This statement could mean that you're not understanding how to follow the MR drawing, or it could mean that you had already wired the MR scheme into your guitar and that it wasn't working as intended.

In other words, is this a problem in the planning or is it already in the execution stages? If it's the latter, then the specifics of the problem(s) you are having would help us sort this out.

[JFrankParnell]

My (our) bridge-on-series circuit gives you most of the MR sounds, and has a frickin beautiful diagram
guitarnuts2.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=wiring&thread=5677&post=54724
Sound samples, too.

Oh, and if you dont want phase, just imagine straight wires between the two sets of upper lugs or visualize where they would connect to if the phase switch was gone. If you wanted, I could make you a diagram without the phase.

[dcoombes]

Thanks for the advice so far.

The situation is that I’ve already wired this up and although I’m getting some sounds, all is not right. I’m now fairly sure that it’s a faulty component or solder joint, but I need to be certain that I’ve got the wiring right first. I’m finding the hand-drawn diagram a little confusing.

Newey, I’ve made some assumptions about the first diagram at

1. The cold wire from the Bridge PU (B-) isn’t shown so I assume that it goes to Ground.
2. There are two connections marked “To Vol”. I assume they both go to the input of the Volume Pot.
3. On the DPDT switch there’s a wire that goes from the Bottom-Left tag to the 5-Way Switch, and appears to pass over the Top-Right tag on the way. I’ve assumed that it actually connects to the Top-Right tag.

Can anyone confirm these points before I go any further?

Dave

[4real]

I used an adaption of the MR thing in my strat, some diagrams are here...

www.guitarnuts2.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=wiring&action=display&thread=5401

I'm not sure if a diagram like this will help troubleshoot any problems...I'm not sure if this was checked, but it was what I wired to and so, should be ok. Be sure that you get the 5-way around the right way to fit in the guitar and work correctly so bridge pup is 'down'...

1. The cold wire from the Bridge PU (B-) isn’t shown so I assume that it goes to Ground.
2. There are two connections marked “To Vol”. I assume they both go to the input of the Volume Pot.
3. On the DPDT switch there’s a wire that goes from the Bottom-Left tag to the 5-Way Switch, and appears to pass over the Top-Right tag on the way. I’ve assumed that it actually connects to the Top-Right tag.

1. I'm not sure what you mean by 'cold' wire. If it is the 5th ground wire, yep...to ground.
3. Yes, it connects across, see the diagram of mine which might be clearer. In mine, the parallel sounds are with the control knob 'in' and pull for the series "mode"...
2. On mine I do have a neck phase switch, just continue the green and red wires indicated rather than through the switch. My tone is a master tone control and the other control a 'spin-select' control for the bridge HB. This evolved a little more if you follow the thread if interested. A 'tone control' can be rigged as per the original diagram and I imagine might be able to do some splitting too if inclined with another module of tone control without a push pull.

In the end I used a modified 'spin-select' for the bridge HB but you could wire around this, and I used a 'half our of phase' or HOoP switch as it is less 'extreme; than the full phase, and being able to split the HB readily does add a lot to the palette, bringing back a lot more of the fender sounds and balance with most HB pups in the bridge...more 'quack'!

Other wise, wire around those features. It's a tricky scheme, but one of the best about, the neck and bridge combinations are a real winner.

My guitar is in the gallery with a few sound clips and wiring progress photos... guitarnuts2.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=music&action=display&thread=5413

[dcoombes]

Hi 4Real,

Your diagram confirms that I've got the basic circuit wired up correctly. I'd added a push/pull DPDT to flip the MiddlePU phase but that can't be causing the problem.

It looks it's a faulty switch/cap or a dry joint. It'll take me a couple of weeks to get around to sorting it but I'll report back.

Thanks for your help.

Dave

[4real]

Hmmm...not sure if the phase on the middle pup will alter things, it has a few 'tricky moves' in the way it gets all these options from memory. Still, that would only effect things if things are reversed with the switch as well. Better minds than I could think about that.

It is very easy to get a little mistake here and there and or to make a faulty join or such. On a strat it is a PITA to have to take the scratch plate on in and our too...a lot of things can be tested by tapping the pups to see for changes in tone and such perhaps...

For me when I did it, I made all the connections on the switch internally (making sure things are such for the correct switching when installed as this can be confusing, being upside down and down being up if that makes sense) then attached things progressively.

The end result is worth it though, the attraction for me was always the neck and bridge sounds which I particularly love on other guitars and better than the middle alone which I feel Is a little 'redundant'. As such, it makes sense to put the phase switch on the neck over middle (IMHO) as it will be able to be used in more 'combinations' as you can see from the chart in the gallery...30+ options in my guitar but all intuitive and easy to find and use.

So, hope it helped a little and it all works out in the end. Perhaps drawing out the scheme you are using will help locate any problems as others have better 'logic chops' than me for sure!

[ashcatlt]

What, exactly, is the problem. Which sounds are you getting and which are not right? Do you have a meter, and do you know the DC resistance of the pickups?

[dcoombes]

I'm getting inconsistent sounds (sometimes they're there, sometimes not) -- so whatever is wrong is intermittent and I needed to be absolutely sure that the logic was right before starting any detective work.

I think the best plan is to just start again and test each component before assembly.

My gut feeling is that there is something wrong with the 5-way superswitch (or my soldering).

Dave

[chase]

I can confirm that all 3 of your assumptions are correct: B- should be grounded, the two wires going "To Vol" both attach to the input of the volume pot, and the diagonal wire on the DPDT is a jumper between those two lugs. The jumper allows the southeast pole of the 5-way (N-) to switch between ground and the confusingly named B-that-is-not-the-bridge-but-rather-a-wire-to-the-middle-lug-on-the-northeast-pole. IOW it switches N- between grounded (parallel mode) and series-receptor. It's crucial to positions 1-3.

If you're getting inconsistent results, then you have a faulty component or a faulty solder joint. Even if the logic of the circuit was wrong it would be consistently wrong, ie you'd get no sound or an out of phase sound or whatever, but it would be the same problem every time you switched to that position.

You can put the phase switch on any of the pickups, it doesn't change the switching logic, only which way the pickup signal is oriented. IOW it doesn't change M+ to M-, it changes which end of the pickup is considered M+ or M-.

[dcoombes]

I'm sorry it's taken so long to get back.

I had two more attempts to sort this out, with no success, then Real Life intervened and everything went onto the back burner.

However, last week I started again with new components and this wiring scheme:

guitarnuts2.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=schem&action=display&thread=3140

Amazingly, it all worked -- first time!

A big thank you to everyone who chipped in with advice.

Regards
Dave