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Post by newey on Feb 11, 2024 15:42:45 GMT -5
Just a guess, but my guess would be that, if the pickguards don't interchange, then it's unlikely that the control positions are identical. I believe US and Mex Fender guards do interchange, but Squier do not, so my suspicion would be yes for US-Mex but no for Squier vs either of the others. But, no way to check it for sure as JohnH said above.
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Post by newey on Feb 11, 2024 15:35:56 GMT -5
I came at this a bit differently. Charlie can only be the liar because, if he is not, he would be telling the truth when he says he's not the liar. Once we nail Charlie, the others just fall into place- Alice can't be th etruthteller if she says she's not, so she's the spy and Bob is the truthteller by process of elimination.
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Post by newey on Feb 5, 2024 12:43:01 GMT -5
finn- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!Your explaination of a possible mechanism for this problem makes sense, but then I thought the same as you: Are you using a commercially-available piezo system or was this a DIY effort? And, where is the piezo trnasducer mounted? Also (and I'm certainly no expert on piezos, so I could be wrong) it is my understanding that a piezo pickup is not sensing the strings directly, the change in pressure to generate the signal comes from the vibrations of the guitar body itself, not from the strings. I say this because I have seen/heard piezos work just fine when mounted on all sorts of places on a guitar, not just at the bridge or under the strings. A piezo disc can be pressed between the neck heel and the body at the neck attachment and it will work just fine.
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Post by newey on Jan 31, 2024 22:18:26 GMT -5
johancoffey- ashcatlt is right, all the grounds can just daisy-chain together, you don't need to disconnect the grounds at the switches, just the "hot". You did well for a first effort. However, your guitar pickups produce AC current, not DC, so the terms "positive" and "negative" don't have the same meaning as they do with DC. We use pluses and minuses, "pos." and "neg" as convenient shorthand terms, but keep in mind that they are not technically accurate. Yes, because you then don't have a circuit. But the pickup will be equally off if you disconnect the "hot" connection, because you then don't have a circuit. But, as you may see (or have seen) discussed around here, we prefer, when possible, to disconnect the pickup at the so-called "hot" line. It may theoretically be less prone to generating noise than if the hot line is left connected and the ground disconnected.
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Post by newey on Jan 31, 2024 6:49:35 GMT -5
johancoffey- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!Are all the pickups from the same manufacturer? What you want to do is simple enough and certainly possible with the parts you have. I asked about the pickup manufacturer because one thing you will want to do is set it up such that, when both HBs are split, the two coils selected will hum-cancel with each other. Series/parallel wiring is a whole 'nother topic. You could wire the HBs (either or both) to switch the connection between the two coils from series to parallel. Or, you can put two or three of the pickups into series with each other rather than the usual parallel combinations. But all of that would require different or additional switching. As one example, if those DPDT toggles that you are using to select the pickups were 3-position On-On-On toggles, you could wire it to have series/parallel/split coil for each HB (the middle single coil would just use a 2-position switch for on/off). The diagram I drew for that other thread has both HBs split by a single DPDT- one pole splits one HB, the other pole splits the other. The two HBs are wired differently so as to split to opposite coils for hum-cancelling. To have a separate switch for splitting each HB, you can use that diagram, with one half of the switch as shown on the diagram wired to one push/pull, and the other half wired to the other. You will only be using one-half (i.e., one pole) of each push/pull switch. But again, we'll need more info on the pickups to ensure hum-cancellation. But you can rough out a diagram for what you want using the diagram from the thread above. As for the pickup switches, wire the "hot" lead of each pickup to the center lug of its respective switch. The top lug (or bottom, depending on switch orientation) is then soldered to the V pot CCW lug for each pickup. Flip the switch one way and the pickup connects to the output (via the V pot), flipped the other way, the hot line of that pickup is disconnected. All three pickup negatives get grounded.
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Post by newey on Jan 29, 2024 6:48:37 GMT -5
Does it have to be a reverse 1Meg Potentiometer for the bass cut? No, but that taper works best. A concentric pot is a pot with two "gangs" (i.e., two resistive elements) with two "nested" shafts, which uses concentric knobs- the inner knob controls one "gang" of the pot, the outer "ring" knob controls the other. You could use concentric pots, certainly, and thus have separate tones for each pickup using just one hole. A dual-gang pot also has two gangs, but both rotate on the same shaft, a single knob controls both. The problem with a straight V-V-T setup is that, with a master tone after the individual volumes, the controls will interact. When you have both pickups "on", turning either V pot will reduce the volume of both. Separating the tone controls to separate pots (or separate gangs) doesn't totally eliminate the interactions when both pickups are on, but it minimizes the issues.
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Post by newey on Jan 28, 2024 20:53:20 GMT -5
toolatetotheparty- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!Lots of possibilities here. I am going to assume, for starters, that the 3-way lever switch will be used as a regular pickup selector, with both HBs in parallel in the middle position. Are you averse to adding push/pull pots or do you just want to use the components on hand? To avoid wonkiness of the controls, this is best done using a "dual-gang" pot, essentially 2 pots controlled by a single shaft. This is then wired with each pickup having its own half of the dual gang pot for its tone. You wire the controls just like an LP with dual V and T pots.
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Post by newey on Jan 25, 2024 6:30:16 GMT -5
nobulusprime- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!Basically I'd like some true series parallel options without adding extra DPDTs (it already has 3!) but I'd also like to have an out phase option. What are the other push/pulls doing now? I think we're probably going to need a diagram of your current wiring as a starting point here? If one of the existing tone pots could be eliminated, this may simplify things.
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Post by newey on Jan 25, 2024 6:14:37 GMT -5
dennisc130- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!There are others here who are more clever than I am. Whenever I say it can't be done, often someone proves me wrong. But I don't see how this could be done with just a single DPDT. Switching phase occupies both poles of a DPDT, but you not only want to swap phase, you want to add a cap in one 5-way position but not the other. Seems to me that would require at least one more pole on the switch. With a Superswitch? We'd have to look at that, might be possible. I strongly suspect that this would also require more switch poles. Are you open to using the Fender S-1 switch? At a glance here, I'm thinking a Superswitch and an S-1 would be the minimum switching reqwuired, but let's let others weigh in. If it can be done, we can work up a diagram. Also, just thinking aloud here, if you were willing to lose the series/parallel switch for the middle pickup and convert that switch to a middle phase switch, things would be simplified considerably.
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Post by newey on Jan 22, 2024 18:34:15 GMT -5
I somehow missed that he said "series/parallel" switch as well. That does complcated the picture.
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Post by newey on Jan 22, 2024 11:26:21 GMT -5
arseniic- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2! Squier made (and makes) several different Strat models. Some, like the original Fender Strats, have 3 pots- 2 tones and a master volume. Others simply had 2 pots, a master V and T. You mentioned wanting separate volumes for the middle pickup and for the neck/bridge. How many post do you have on this guitar/ Is there going to be a tone pot at all? Apart from questions about the pots, the rest of what you want is fairly straightforward. It's just regular 5-position Strat wiring with a "neck on" switch". The "neck on" switch is just a module that will be wired between the neck pickup and the 5-way switch. We can show you how to do that pretty easily. Since you are using different types of pickups, however, we will need to sort out the wire colors.
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Post by newey on Jan 21, 2024 7:44:32 GMT -5
deathfingerz- You'll probably need MattB to get back to you on this one. But you have 6 combinations listed for what started out as a 5-way switch. Do you plan on using a 6-position lever switch (these do exist) to get the extra N + B position? If you're using a regular 5-position switch, the easiest way to get the N + B combo is to add a "neck on" switch, which could be a simple toggle switch or could be on a push/pull switch on one of the pots. This turns the neck pickup "on" regardless of the position of the 5-way switch, so that, with the 5-way set to the B position, you get the N + B with the switch flipped. You also get N + M + B at the second position with the "neck on" activated. I'm unclear on this. Neither of MattB's diagrams above have any coil splitting going on. The mod is to give series/parallel options. Both versions require a Superswitch, plus either an S-1 or a separate DPDT.
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Post by newey on Jan 20, 2024 9:14:00 GMT -5
mihn- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!Sorry but the link to your diagram doesn't work, so we can't see the diagram you're using. You can't directly link to a reddit feed, you will need to download the image and then upload it to the forum here, using either the Cloudinary upload or the "Postimage Upload" features (the buttons to do so are found at the upper right of the reply window when you reply to a thread).
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Post by newey on Jan 19, 2024 23:30:23 GMT -5
No, newey, I haven’t moved my amp and tested my signal in another room. Do you think that would be necessary now? That's to test for noise issues. This sounds like a pot problem.
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Post by newey on Jan 19, 2024 9:21:53 GMT -5
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Post by newey on Jan 19, 2024 6:13:48 GMT -5
tlg1100Can you post a picture of the diagram they sent you, and perhaps pics of the guitar itself, especially the pickup wires?
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Post by newey on Jan 17, 2024 20:53:53 GMT -5
It helps solder adhesion to rough up the back of the pot a bit with a piece of sandpaper (the black oxide kind used for metal).
But I avoid soldering to the backs of pots and use a star ground technique. In fact, that was what brought me to this forum some 16 years ago or so.
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Post by newey on Jan 17, 2024 15:48:07 GMT -5
Can't tell much from the pictures, I have more questions than answers:
-The piezo pickup appears to have a mini (or micro?) plug attached to it. Do you know where that plug is supposed to go?
-The pot with the capacitor is a tone. WHether the other two are volumes or not, I can't see from the picture, and again, can't tell where the piezo plugs in. It strikes me as possible that the third pot may be a blender pot to blend the piezo and mag signals, but can't see the connections from the photo (and I can't enlarge it, either).
-It looks as if the + output (red wire to the jack) is soldered to the tip of the jack rather than to one of the solder lugs. There are 2 solder lugs on the jack, one for the tip connection and one for the sleeve. Those are where to make the connections to the jack. While the connection to the tip will certainly work, at least for a while, the contact for the tip of the plug is in effect a "moving part" of the jack- it bends backwards a bit when you insert the plug into the jack, to make contact with the tip of the plug. That movement is likely to cause that solder joint at the tip to fail at some point. Use the appropriate solder lug to make that connection. (It is sometimes hard to see which lug is which, you have to examine the metal collars under the phenolic insulator layers carefully).
-Finally, is there an active circuit for the piezo pickup (i.e., a preamp and 9V battery)? Most piezo set-ups will have an active preamp for the piezo so that the relative output levels of the two types of pickups will better match each other.
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Post by newey on Jan 17, 2024 11:53:58 GMT -5
ssirch- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!First off, your pot and cap were not "underrated for a humbucker", a 500K pot is just a suggested value, and some folks prefer other values. Same with capacitors, it's a matter of individual preference. 1.0µf; is pretty big, typically people use 0.022µf; or 0.047µf; But the size of the cap only comes into play as you turn the tone knob down, the differences in value "move the knee" (as we say) in the frequency response curve. IOW, the tone changes at a different point along the rotation and at a different rate of change. But with the tone at "10", the guitar will sound basically the same regardless of the cap value. As for the grounding, the tone pots, etc will be grounded through the plate, assuming the plate is, in turn, connected to the output jack sleeve. If you have already grounded things to the back of the pots there is no need to change anything just because you are using the steel plate. No, so long as both are grounded somewhere.
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Post by newey on Jan 17, 2024 5:51:27 GMT -5
Is the hum reduced when you touch the strings?
Grounding the pots is probably more important than grounding the switches, but they should be grounded to the grounding point, where all of the grounds are before they are wired to the output jack sleeve lug.
Many hollow-bodied guitars don't ground the bridge/tailpiece, and I don't know if the Gretsch Rally does or not. If the guitar originally had a bridge/tailpiece ground, there would be a small hole for the wire, either beneath where the bridge sits or under the tailpiece- more likely under the tailpiece. If there is such a hole, then by all means try replacing that ground wire- the other end gets grounded to the grounding point, and then to the jack - . If there's no hole there, then there never was a factory bridge ground and I wouldn't worry about it. If there never was a hum problem before (and "static" sounds like a different issue anyway), you probably need to look elsewhere for the source of the noise problem.
Having said all that, hollow-bodied guitars without a bridge ground do tend to be a bit noisier than if they had it, but the noise level is usually not a big issue until someone wants to play one through high gain pedals or amp settings. If the noise floor is tolerable at clean settings at reasonable volume levels, and only becomes an annoyance when playing with high gain, then it may be one of those "nature of the beast" things. A noise gate pedal may help in that case.
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Post by newey on Jan 16, 2024 21:19:00 GMT -5
Please report back if you get it wired up and playable. Glad we could help, if it works out.
Some of those import 5-ways will have a tiny bare wire jumper between the poles, other connect the 2 poles internally. At first, this didn't seem to make much sense to me. After all, there are import 5-way switches with only 7 lugs, with a single common lug in the center.
But what I suspect (without any proof, but seems sensible to me) is that the internal connection is deemed more durable than the jumper, and the same switch body with the 8 lugs is used for multiple switch configurations, they just swap out the inner contact plate. Or so I figure it, anyway.
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Post by newey on Jan 16, 2024 13:12:45 GMT -5
@dynamiteblossomseed-
Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!
Some of these import-style 5-way switches have the two common lugs connected internally, so I suspect that's what's allowing your tone controls to function at all. If you have a multimeter, you can check to see if this is the case. But if, in fact, 6-7-8 are all connected to together, then you are correct, it makes no sense that you would have separate tone controls. First, perhaps despite the "blob", one of the 3 is not in fact connected to the other 2- that would explain it. Again, a meter would tell the tale.
Did you actually check to see that, if you select the neck pickup by itself, the bridge tone does not also affect that pickup? Is that bridge control truly independent?
Assuming that you checked that, I can't explain what you're reporting. Maybe someone else has some insight.
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Post by newey on Jan 13, 2024 22:10:06 GMT -5
xhrist- Not clear on what exactly the Freeway switch is going to be doing here, since you mentioned other switches for the coil splits and another toggle for the two middle pickups. It's probably best if you draw up what we call a "truth table"- i.e., a chart showing all the different switch combos you want. I built a 4-pickup Strat with a pair of Fender Vintage '57s and a pair of Vintage '62s. One pair was in the first and third positions, the second pair at 2 and 4. So, with your layout, you'd be combining like with like- the two single-coil sized HBs are switched together and the 2 PAF-style ones are the other pair. Then the two pairs get combined. Just a thought.
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Post by newey on Jan 10, 2024 12:42:08 GMT -5
Yeah, that probably needs clarification since I didn't mention the center switch position on the pickup slelectors. For either pair of HBs, with the series/parallel switch "down" (series setting), the 3-way pickup selector will give you the following: 1) Selector switch "up"= Lower HB in series with upper HB 2) Selector switch in center = Lower HB in series with upper HB, with the series pair in parallel with the lower HB3) Selector switcch "down" = Upper HB only I don't know what that center combo would sound like since the pickups are dissimilar. It probably would not be mucjh different from both HBs in series, but I could be wrong on that. Here's the skinny on how to do this via overriding the 3-way switches. A lot of the discussion therein has to do with the "Jimmy Page mod" which doesn't apply to your build, but the basics are the same. guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/8215/global-series-switch-guitarnutz-properEDIT: sumgai beat me to the link to this. But if you have trouble digesting schematics, there is a wiring diagram further down in that thread.
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Post by newey on Jan 10, 2024 6:15:09 GMT -5
xhrist- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!Where did you find that diagram? I'm curious because it'll work but it's wonky, and there's a better way. The issue applies to both pairs of HBs since both pairs are wired the same way. First off, let's define "switch up" as meaning when the upper lugs of each switch are connected to the center (common) lug as shown on the diagram, and "switch down" to be the opposite. Which direction the switches are oriented IRL may be different than the diagram, but we're just dealing with the diagram here. The issue is that, with the series/parallel switch "up", you will only have the series connection of both HBs when their respective selector switch is in the "up" position. If the selector switch is down, you'll have one HB by itself (the upper one of each pair as shown on the diagram). So, it will work but would require manipulating 2 switches, potentially, to get the series setting. This issue is fixable, you need to have the series/parallel switches override the selectors, so that flipping to the series setting gives you both HBs in series regardless of which way that selector switch is set. So, if you use the diagram "as is", it will work but the switching will have that issue. If that's not a deal-breaker for you, fine, you can use the diagram as is. If you'd prefer to have the series/p[arallel switch override the selector, we can help you to do so. We'd have to take a look at that, but it will definitely require more switching. I suspect a 4-pole switch would be required at a minimum. These are available, but they are sizeable and you will already have a cavity that's pretty full with 7 switches as it is, not sure you'll be able to cram more switching in there.
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Post by newey on Jan 8, 2024 21:15:19 GMT -5
ssstonelover- When sumgai says "RF cable", he means a wireless system. It's an old sort-of jokey reference from the early days of the Board here, not sure offhand whether it was ChrisK or sumgai who coined it. But the joke being that the best cable was no cable at all. I've had a few guitars that used barrel jacks, I've never used one in a build myself (but then I'm also not doing any woodworking, either). Never had a problem with them in any guitar I had- but then, I'm playing, usually seated, in my house, not jumping around onstage, yanking on the cable (if not an RF type cable . . .). I can see where excess ham-fistedness might well play a role here. If there is a potential failure mode for any piece of gear, I'm probably not pushing the envelope in my bedroon enough to trigger whatever failure mode there might be. Again, I'm just spitballin' here, ya unnerstand. But part of me wants to think that perhaps the closed confines of the barrel are less forgiving if the plug is not inserted straight in when first pushed in. Plugging in on a dark stage, often by feel if the jack is on the lower edge of the body, could result in repeated insertions at a bit of an angle, until the point where the plug's shaft fully engages into the jack. maybe the open frame is more forgiving of that sort of treatment. I dunno, just speculating.
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Post by newey on Jan 7, 2024 8:33:34 GMT -5
Welcome Back, angelodp! Been a long time for sure. There are issues with your diagram, mainly that the bridge pickup's + connection is not connected to anything at position 3. As far as if it's out of phase, it could well be, switch the connections for the neck pickup and see. With two different pickups, there are no guarantees on the North/South coils being the same. sumgai did this schematic for a 4-way Tele switch: His is sort of the mirror of yours in that your version has the bridge pickup permanently grounded for the end of the"series chain" while his permanently grounds the neck pickup. Also, yours has the series connection at the 4th position, his puts the parallel and series connections on the middle of the switch (which is, to me, a more logical switching order, since the single-pickup selections are at the ends, where we would expect them to be on a regular 3-way switch). My advice would be to rewire it using his diagram, but if you'd rather stick with what you started doing, holler back and we'll try to correct what you've got.
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Post by newey on Jan 7, 2024 8:08:37 GMT -5
tlg1100- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!What type of switching does it have? Is there a separate switch for the coil splitting? And, look for at least a third wire from the HBs. We can probably suss the wiring out from a despription of the pickup wire colors and switching. "Gobs of solder" sounds like someone went in there before to fix something (and failed). If the neck pickup is connected but not working, could be just a bad connection but also might be a busted pickup, maybe that's why they went in there to begin with. If you plan on repairing this, a multimeter to test the neck and middle pickups would be a good first step
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Post by newey on Jan 1, 2024 10:20:24 GMT -5
owasis- Hello and Welcome to GNutz2!If it worked OK, then suddenly stopped, it's not a wiring issue, it's a bad connection. If you can access the cavity without removing the strings, hit the solder joints with your iron to remelt the joints, that may fix it. Gently tug each of the wires to be sure it's solidly connected. If you have to remove a pickguard to get at the wiring, I'd do the same, it'll just be a larger PITA. If that doesn't work, some further investigation with your meter will be in order.
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Post by newey on Dec 25, 2023 7:43:00 GMT -5
Merry Christmas to all the Nutz!
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