Help a noob with wiring (please)!

[canehdian]

Hey guys, I came across this site and have to say I'm impressed. I think it's pretty cool that someone is willing to put all this time and money in to help out fellow guitarists (and bass players) for free.

I'm in the processes of making a strat (that's another story) and figured that as long as I'm doing some wiring I might as well give myself some extra options in addition to the standard ones. I've got a few (okay okay, a lot) questions, any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

-With regards to the safety cap in "Quieting The Beast", will a 600V 0.33uf cap work? I don't see why the extra 200V rating would make a diff, but I'm pretty far from an expert with wiring .

I understand some of whats going on with the schematic diagrams and the "how to read basic schematics" part helped a bit, however a lot of the schematics I looked at go right over my head. The ones I do understand what is going on I still don't know how to implement because I don't know which lugs to solder the wires to to achieve it. If someone could label what each of the lugs on a push/pull pot is for I might be able to figure a lot of this stuff out myself.

I like the the strat lovers strat but have a few changes in mind. Here's what I'd like to do with the wiring:

Volume pot with treble bleed circuit (push/pull): Not sure how to wire this so I can disengage. I know how to wire this with a normal 250k pot but it'd be nice to be able to disengage this if needed/wanted.

Neck tone pot (push/pull): Just the basic tone pot but I'd like to be able to pull it to add the neck pickup for the bridge+neck and all 3 pickups combination. I think I know how to do this, however I want to be able to use the tone control still when the pot is pulled out. Does this require some extra wiring with the push/pull section or does the normal part of the pot function even when pulled?

Bridge tone pot (push/pull): I know how to use this for the bridge pickup instead of the mid (Yay!). I like the idea of getting that meaty in-series tone described in the strat lovers schematic and would like to pull this to add the bridge in series. Like the neck pickup it'd be nice if I could still use the tone control when pulled, though I can live without it.

I thought I could just take a few sections of the wiring diagram for the strat lovers strat, but a lot of the connections go to different pots and as my pots do different things I don't think that would work.

One other thing I've been thinking of doing (and actually know how to do!) is adding a switch to choose between different caps. I got the idea here www.stewmac.com/wiring101/resistors_capacitors.html . Might be cool to make it a 3 way (on/on/on?) and add another cap option though.

Anyway, a bit of help here or there for one part of what I need, or just telling me what each lug does so I could try to figure this out would be really helpful. Or if anyone has the time and is insanely helpful, a full diagram (though that's a lot to ask I think) would be super cool.

Thanks in advance, and sorry for the looooong post.

[JohnH]

Hi canhedian - welcome to GN2

for the Strat Lovers Strat - are you looking at this wiring diagram?
guitarnuts2.proboards45.com/index.cgi?board=schem&action=display&thread=1144451491

canehdian said:

-With regards to the safety cap in "Quieting The Beast", will a 600V 0.33uf cap work? I don't see why the extra 200V rating would make a diff, but I'm pretty far from an expert with wiring .

a 600V one is fine to replace one of lower voltage. Not many guitars have these caps (which are to add a small amount of protection in case of a bad old amp failure), but you could put it between the bridge and the ground point on the vol pot. .

Volume pot with treble bleed circuit (push/pull): Not sure how to wire this so I can disengage. I know how to wire this with a normal 250k pot but it'd be nice to be able to disengage this if needed/wanted.

switches on push/pull pots are independent from the pot part. You could use one just to break the connection to one end of the treble bleed cap. But I wouldnt see the point in this. It is better to choose a treble bleed cap to give good sound with your set up, then keep it connected.

Neck tone pot (push/pull): Just the basic tone pot but I'd like to be able to pull it to add the neck pickup for the bridge+neck and all 3 pickups combination. I think I know how to do this, however I want to be able to use the tone control still when the pot is pulled out. Does this require some extra wiring with the push/pull section or does the normal part of the pot function even when pulled?

Nanooman added a neck-on function with another pp pot, see the thread above. Pulling a pp pot does not affect the action of the pot, it just engages an independent switch.

I hope that helps you a bit, in your quest...

good luck

John

[canehdian]

Hey, thanks for the response and the welcome.

Yes, that's where I was looking at the strat lovers diagram.

I was gonna put one end of the "safety" cap connected to the star ground and the other connected to a solder tab fastened between the pickguard shield and one of the pots. That's how I interpreted the QTB article.

I was thinking of having the push/pull teble bleed for when I use a friends amp and the cap is unnecessary (and maybe adds treble if this is possible?).

Do you see any problems in this wiring diagram? And just to make sure I'm understanding what you're saying, the neck tone control would still work while pulled? Any ideas on how to make the push/pull are of the bridge tone pot add the bridge in series?



Thanks for the help!

[canehdian]

Anyone?

[JohnH]

Ill be happy to check your diagram in a day or so, if no one does it first. Its a busy week this week...
J

[canehdian]

Cool thanks! I appreciate that.

Take your time though, I just didn't want this to disappear. I still have to finish the guitar and wait for it to cure, so I've got two or three weeks before I need to order the electronics parts. No rush. I'm just thinking ahead because I had to change finish types due to waiting last minute to order.

Thanks

[ChrisK]

For switch discernment:
guitarnuts2.proboards45.com/index.cgi?board=schem&action=display&thread=1158705194

[canehdian]

Thanks, it helps me understand a little more, but I'm still clueless as to how to make the bridge tone pull to add the bridge in series .

Thanks for the link though.

[JohnH]

Canehdian - I've been doodling around your circuit over Xmas, and I thought I'd post this, which is based on what you want, but not exactly. I used my SLS diagram because it was easier for me to work with. Take a look and see if it is of interest.

It is basically the SLS, with a neck-on switch. I kept the bridge-in-series switch on the volume control, to make it easier to access (and because thats where I had it drawn before!). The tone pots are bridge and neck/ middle. I have not yet put in your idea of switchable caps, although that would work. In this series/parallel arrangement, I think it should have two sets of caps, one for each pot. As a bonus, if you get a DPDT on-off-on, you can have three cap settings, for a huge range of adjustment options.

Didn't do the switchable treble bleed - I don't see it as being worth having a switch for, but if you want it, just put it between the treble bleed cap/resistor and one of the pot lugs. Instead, it has a phase switch.

There's a wide range of interesting sounds, although quite a lot of repetition. There are several humcancelling combos which are highlighted.

The drawing is not checked enough yet, but I thought I'd post it for discussion.

cheers

John

[canehdian]

Hey, thanks a lot. I haven't had internet access for a little while so I wasn't able to check this til now.

Is it possible to get the bridge in series switch without the phase reverse switch? I've only been able to find schematics that included the phase switching as well.

[JohnH]

Sure, if you dont want a phase switch, theres no need to have it. It will simplify the wiring runs. Can we keep the bridge series switch on the volume pot? Its better there I think.

John

[JohnH]

How about this?



If you prefer the bridge series control on the bridge tone, thenjust move it there, with the same connections to the switch. I think it's cleaner on the volume control (shorter wiring), and I think it would be good to have it closer at hand when playing

cheers

John

[canehdian]

John, Thanks a ton. I'll be gettin my parts around the 21st, so I'll let you know how it turns out towards the end of the month. 'Til then, thank so much for your help!

[canehdian]

Ok, I've looked this over like 100 times and have now surrendered to the fact that I don't understand half of what's going on here. The parts I ordered are on the way and I've got a few quick questions before I get to this.

1. In the interests of keeping the usual white for wires carrying signal, black wires for ground I was wondering if you could just confirm what I think is right: red+orange+purple=> white wire, everything else black. Should the teal wire I've noted in the edited diagram also be white (it looks like the only thing that could carry signal to the bridge tone control)?

2. I only ordered 1 tone cap thinking I could use it for both, however after looking closer at the diagram I noticed you run the signal through the caps before sending it to ground and I can't really do it the way I thought I wuold. Is there a way to use just one tone cap in this situation, or should I order another?

Thanks again, I really appreciate your help on this and can't thank you enough for putting together the wiring diagram.

Stu.

[canehdian]

whoooops, forgot this