Simple Strat mod - variable BxN

[JohnH]

I’ve been thinking of simple ways to expand standard Strat wiring recently, on account of my recent American Special, and not wanting to do too much to it.

I’ve currently got it wired with one of the tone pots, with a no-load mod, linking the bridge and neck hots together, which is letting me explore the missing N+B and all-three sounds. Its good, but the following has now entered my brain to address adding neck and Bridge in series, and I might just have to try it....



It’s sketched for HSS, which is what I have, but deleting the wire marked ‘A’, it is also good for SSS.

It uses standard strat pots and switches, and uses one of the tone pots to convert position 1 (usually Bridge alone) into an adjustable series combo that moves from B to NxB. The other two pots are master tone and volume, and I’m reckoning a no-load tone pot is a good idea – bought or converted.

Looking at the diagram, and to start with, ignore the wire I’ve marked ‘A’, going to the bridge humbucker centre connection. The nice thing about how this would work is that with the series pot at minimum, all the standard N, N+M, M, M+B, B are there and are unaffected by any extra loading or hanging from hot. As the series pot is turned up, neck is gradually added in series with the bridge pickup, in settings 1 and 2 only, leaving 3, 4, and 5 sounding as stock. An extra treble bleed circuit keeps the transition tones consistent.

This will give full control of what I find to be one of the most useful non-standard sounds, on several guitars, which is full B with a controlled amount of N in series.

Now adding that wire ‘A’, which would not be used on an SSS version. It acts only in position 2 (standard = B+M). Dependent on the series pot position, it either cuts the B down to a single coil, so it humcancells with M, or it adds N in parallel to the lower coil of B, which could improve humcancelling. Would need to test in practice, and the scheme should also be good without ‘A’.

John

[newey]

This is very neat! No new parts to boot. Very cleverly done, +1.

I am wondering how the series blending will go. I thought that rheostat (2 terminal) wiring of the pot was better for series blending? At least, that's what ChrisK's blend designs did, although those were using a true blending pot. He used a P/P to switch from parallel wiring of the pot to rheostat wiring when in series.

Or, is it different because you are not blending two pickups mutually together, as in a two-gang blend pot, but rather blending one into the other?

[JohnH]

Thanks newey,

Ive tried blending ChrisK's way, but I find this is better since it preserves the smooth action of the series volume pot. I blend this way on my LP and HH designs, so I know it works both in practice and through modelling. The key thing is the treble bleed on the series pot, which means the in-between settings don't lose treble.

I've got band practice this coming week, so I'm resisting reopening the Strat again until after that, But then maybe over the holidays, I'll wire up this scheme, unless something different pops up. At the same time, I'll change from 9's to 10's.

cheers

John

[JohnH]

i reckon there is one more squirt of juice to be extracted from this idea, which is to have everything above, plus parallel N+B:



When the tone pot goes past its detent for 'no load' it engages the bridge pickup, to get N+B in position 5 and N+B+M on position 4 (via wire 'X').

Meanwhile, position 1 still has the series blend from B to BxN, and position 2 does what ever it does with wire 'A' either cutting the B to a single coil to combine with M, or bringing in N to join the lower coil of B.

The scheme should work fine with SSS too, omitting wire 'A'

Apart form a 'no-load' pot, (which comes standard on a 2012 Strat Standard) the only new parts are the treble bleed components. It will do all normal Strat sounds plus 4 or 5 extra ones.

Not too bad in terms of bang for less than a buck.

John

[ashcatlt]

Dec 8, 2012 23:21:58 GMT -5 JohnH said:

I've got band practice this coming week, so I'm resisting reopening the Strat again until after that, But then maybe over the holidays, I'll wire up this scheme, unless something different pops up. At the same time, I'll change from 9's to 10's.

I find this amusing. I have like 8 perfectly serviceable guitars, but I won't mess with my "gigging" axe when I've got a show coming up. Wouldn't want to mess up the Xavier. That might mean I'd have to play the (Gibson) LP or ***gasp*** the Rickenbacker!

[pete12345]

I'm still trying to get my head around what happens in position 2. From what I can determine, it seems like you will always have N in series with B1, due to the shorting action of the switch linking the B midpoint to N hot. The series pot will then fade out B2. So, you have M+(B1x(N+B2)) at one extreme, variable to M+(B1xN) at the other.

This means that you don't have the option of the standard M+B combo, though the new combos you get in return might well be more useful. Obviously with a SSS setup, the combinations are as you expect.

Still though, a great setup using mostly stock components. You could even make the no-load pot by scraping away a piece of track from the standard one, staying true to this.

[JohnH]

Dec 10, 2012 12:54:55 GMT -5 pete12345 said:

I'm still trying to get my head around what happens in position 2. From what I can determine, it seems like you will always have N in series with B1, due to the shorting action of the switch linking the B midpoint to N hot. The series pot will then fade out B2. So, you have M+(B1x(N+B2)) at one extreme, variable to M+(B1xN) at the other.

This means that you don't have the option of the standard M+B combo, though the new combos you get in return might well be more useful. Obviously with a SSS setup, the combinations are as you expect.

Thanks Pete - the position 2 is a bit speculative and would need to be tried. If it is not appealing, then wire 'A' gets omitted. My belief is that it will be generally lower hum on my guitar, but I also quite like the stock sound of M+B with the full Hb.

Also, in positions 4 and 5 with the second diagram version, the 'series' pot blends in the B pup with the others in parallel, wheras in positions 1 and 2, it blends in the neck pup in series.

So I'd better rename it.

J

[newey]

I also quite like the stock sound of M+B with the full Hb.

Wait a sec. Fender makes so many different iterations of Strat that it's hard to keep track, but I thought that position 2 was "stock" with the coil split bridge, for the classsic "quack"? IOW, isn't "wire A" part of your stock wiring?

[JohnH]

I think the Standards do that as stock but the Special that I have does not cut a coil, though all the required pup wires are there to add it.
J

[pete12345]

Dec 10, 2012 14:33:33 GMT -5 JohnH said:

Also, in positions 4 and 5 with the second diagram version, the 'series' pot blends in the B pup with the others in parallel, wheras in positions 1 and 2, it blends in the neck pup in series.

So I'd better rename it.

J

We could really do with a source of strat-type knobs with 'blend' written on them for modifications like this. 'Tone' doesn't quite describe it accurately. Either that use unmarked ones.