Looking for confirmation if this idea on wiring wi

[martin]

Hi Folks,

Just new here, so be gentle.

I've posted this question on another forum...but followed a link from there to this one on a recommendation. It seems that your forum is more into the 'wiring' side of guitars, so I'm hoping you can help me out & offer any advice or pointers as to alternatives(if this ain't a good idea), or obvious downfalls/errors of the design.

I'm planning to build a hollow bodied tele, but with a h/s/h
layout & 3 pots/5 way switch(strat style) & a Convertible Wilkinson Trem. But I'm new to this guitar building lark & am unsure about a few(well actually a lot) of things.

Hope this makes sense;

I intend using a Hotrails, highoutput s/coil & a Duncan Trembucker.
Here's my intended layout....& the question, will it work?

Pot1 - Volume(would a 500k pot mess up the sound of the single coil here...if so, what could I do to prevent this?)
Pot 2 - 500k Concentric pot, for Neck & Mid/Bridge tone controls.
Pot 3 - 500k Concentric pot, for 'Clapton style' active mid boost(with battery compartment routed) & a 'Fender' TBX control(not sure if this can physically be setup on the one potentiometer?).

I like the idea of the concentric pots, as I want to keep the front of the guitar 'fairly' standard, but I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to tone & would hate to lose my individual tone controls), so the two features on one pot seems a good idea.

I'm also looking to use three mini switches in the setup.
Miniswitch 1(on/on/on) for the Hotrails(neck) - Up=Humbucker, Mid=wired Out Of Phase in parallel, Down=Coil split.

Miniswitch 2(on/off/on) for the S/coil - Up=Neck/Middle/Bridge p/ups on(if 5/way switch is in position 3), Mid=Neck/Bridge p/ups only(if 5/way switch is in position 3), Down=Middle p/up only(as in a normal 5/way switch setup).

Miniswitch 3(on/on/on) for the Trembucker(bridge) - Up=Coil split, Mid=wired Out Of Phase in parallel, Down=Humbucker.

Thanks in advance,
Martin

[UnklMickey]

hi Martin,

welcome to GuitarNuts2.

a 500k volume pot will make your middle pickup sound slightly brighter than if you used a 250k.

nothing to worry about, probably a beter plan than dulling up the HBs a little with a 250k.

mini-toggles 1 and 3 might be made to work, but i think the split will likely have to occur in the center position.

i'll have think about that one for a while.

i assume you mean out-of-phase with any other pickup that is selected.

OR ...... did you mean the 2 coils of the HB out of phase with each other?


mini-toggle 2 should be no problem, if you move the middle-only to the center of the switch.

or does it have to be exactly in the order you stated?

i assume you are using a stock 5-way?



anyway you need to clarify a few things.

i probably won't have the time to work on this until next week, but at least i defined which details need to be discussed.

that way, someone else can take over from here.



so which other forum?

the "other" GN ? (tell Doug C. we send our regards)

U.G ? (tell JimPlaysGuitar to get his butt over here and visit once in a while!)

or somewhere else?

cheers,

unk

[martin]

Hi Unklmickey,

Thanks for the welcome & the super quick reply, didn't notice it last night(was way past bedtime on this side of the pond..in Sunny Scotland),

The switch positions of the miniswitches just seemed the most natural way to me, but if this ain't possible(or would cause unnecessary problems) then it ain't a problem to change them, nothing was ever set in stone.

I was thinking 'out of phase' with the other pickup(s) selected...hoping to produce a thinner/brighter sound(but something different from the usual strat position 2 & 4 sounds) & hum cancelling, am I thinking along the right lines with this?

Yep, I will be using a standard 5 way switch.

I'm just hoping to keep everything as simple as possible to use & to look at layout wise on the front of the guitar, but with the option of controlling each p/up separately(with the miniswitches).

Also, with this setup, would it be benificial to get a RW/RP single coil, or would this be a redundant feature as it would be getting used connected to humbuckers?

Hope this clarifys things, your help & inout are much appreciated,

Martin

p.s. the forum I found the link for you guys is - www.unofficialwarmoth.com

[UnklMickey]

sorry to hear about the standard 5-way.

there is a way to get around the problems you will create with mini-toggle 2.

you can get just exactly what you specified, in the exact positions with a 4PDT ON-ON-ON switch.

the PROBLEM is that in position 4 of the stock 5-way,

ANYTHING connected to position 3, will be added to anything connected to position 5.
that results gives you position 4.

since the mini-toggle will change what is on position 3,
the change will also affect the combination in position 4.

as you have probably guessed, the same thing happens in position 2. 1 and 3 combine to result as 2.



i don't think you want 2 and 4 to change when mini-toggle 2 is changed.

so, you will probably want to get a 4P5T superswitch instead of the stock 5-way.

the switch you will need for mini-toggle 2 can be found on the top of this post, in the center column:

guitarnuts2.proboards45.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=schem&thread=1158705194&post=1158705194

re: minitoggles 1 and 3,

i'm still writing, i'll continue this in a few minutes............................



okay, i'm back.



changing HB configuration from series to parallel, and also changing the phase, relative to the other pickups, while also having a position with a single, might be do-able, but i haven't looked too closely at it.

i know you CAN:

change the phase BETWEEN the 2 coils, when you go to parallel, and have all 3 in exactly the positions you described.

you can also easily (you only need a 2PDT ON-ON-ON switch) go from (local) series HB to (local) parallel keeping the same phase, with a single in the middle position.

in fact, i already have a post about that:

guitarnuts2.proboards45.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=schem&thread=1145315219&post=1157994747

if you must have the positions you specified, that can be done, but with the 4PDT ON-ON-ON instead.

again i haven't determined if the phase can be changed.




re: RWRP middle pickup?

absolutely NOT necessary.

since you can chose which single you use from each HB, RWRP won't help anything.

it won't hurt either.

as they used to say: "mox nix" (sic)


if you want me to think further about changing phase (global) when going to parallel, i can tell you in a day or two if it's possible or impossible.

well, anythings possible.

but i mean in terms of switches you can actually buy.


should i continue to think about changing phase?



unk

[martin]

unklmickey said:

sorry to hear about the standard 5-way.

So that's classed as a bad thing then ;-)
..I wasn't to know...honest(I'm just learning).

But thanks again for the help.
I've an idea of the sound & options I want...but sadly not a lot of an ideas on to how to accomplish it...yet!

Martin

[UnklMickey]

a stock 5-way is not bad, it just has limitations in some applications (like this one).

the superswitch fits the same, looks the same on the guitarist side of the pickguard, but allows you to do things a bit differently in terms of wiring.

it costs less than $20 (US) and lot's of places stock them.

so, it shouldn't be a deal-killer.



unk

[martin]

No problems, thanks for pointing that out, I'll have a look around the UK sites for the switches you recommended.


Martin

[UnklMickey]

so do you still want to try for changing the phase when you go to parallel?

[ccoleman]

yeah unk speaks the truth, even my small-sized local music store which sells fenders, has the fender superswitch IN STOCK.. as well as many other fender parts (such as tele knobs and control plates)... and the price was only $1 more than mail ordering it off the internet... your best bet for getting one quick is to find a fender dealer close by you. it's a versatile switch that lets you get five quite complex pickup combos out of your guitar.. really worth it. just ask for the "fender superswitch".