Texas Specials custom wiring questions

[joepius]

Hi y'all, this is my first-ever post on this forum. First of all: THANKS to all of you generously taking time to contribute the great ideas, schematics and wiring diagrams!



I want to alternate-wire my Strat. I'm not new to pup wiring. In my quest to find relative wiring diagrams I've come across SO many possibilities that I'm finding myself a bit lost in watering it all down. Can anyone over here be so kind to point me towards relevant diagrams?



I want to retain the standard 5-way configuration. The first things that spring up before my mind's eye, are:



- middle pup blend: being able to blend in the middle pup in series with both bridge pup and the neck pup individually

- neck and bridge parallel and/or in series, with the possibility to switch the neck pup in- and out of phase



Is any of this possible at all, and are any of these combinations possible? I don't mind adding toggle switches, however I do like to keep my circuit as basic and clean as possible.



My additional ideas:

- neck, middle and bridge in parallel, and(/or) in series (all three ON)

- by-passing the volume- and tone circuit on all selections



Thanks and GREETINGS FROM YURP! =)



Joepius

[JohnH]

Hi joepius and welcome to GN2

What you discuss is certainly possible and is the basis of many of our designs in the Schematics section.

Just a bit of admin, I moved your thread to here, which is where we discuss new ideas and questions. Once designs are resolved, we repost them into schematics for reference, and that becomes a key resource which makes us different to other forums.

I also have Texas Specials in my Strat, they are great pickups, I have them in an HSS arrangement with a bridge humbucker. Ive been exploring pretty much exactly the kinds of additions that you describe so there are a number of designs in the schematics section by myself and others that address them. The middle series blender idea is really good, just adding a touch of middle to thicken up the bright TX neck, or bridge pickup, or wind in a lot. I find a series blender is a much more worthwhile thing than a parallel blender, where the end point may be very good but there is less interest along the way.

Staring with a simple design, this one will do most of what you want:

Strat SSM3

It will get you middle blended in series with B or N, and B+N in parallel. Very easy to add a phase switch to N to most designs.

Also, its easy to add a bypass switch to cut out volume and tone pots.

Most of it is standard parts, and the switch could be many types, either mounted on a pot or a separate toggle.

To bring in the other ideas, the complexity builds up. Making a blender that works properly in both series and parallel is very tricky. Have never founnd one that was quite right. I also tried a couple of versions which do all three in series, but they tended to get rather loud and muddy and I found I never used them.

Have a look through the other SSS designs on the schematics, you might find something of interest. How complex are you willing to get with wiring?

[joepius]

John, thank you so much.

I want to keep it as basic as possible.

I'll keep you guys updated on my progress!

[JFrankParnell]

Here are some sounds you might expect from the mods you are contemplating. Texas specials, except for bridge.

[joepius]

Sept 2, 2014 13:28:38 GMT -5 JFrankParnell said:

Here are some sounds you might expect from the mods you are contemplating. Texas specials, except for bridge.











That's excellent! Thanks for posting this! =)