Help with a Fat Strat

[zonker9169]

Howdy Folks,

I'm new here, but I've taken the time to cruise the site and see if the info I needed was already here, but I haven't seen anything. Although there's tons of great stuff here to learn!

I've just put some DiMarzio Virtual Vintage (a 2.2 in the middle and a Blues in the neck) pups in my Fat Strat (the bridge is a Tex Mex humbucker). I've noticed a bit of muddiness, which can be tweaked out by eq in the amp, but one electronics reviewer I read mentioned that these pups really benfit from a 1 meg volume pot.

I can easily do this, and I understand how it all works and why, I'm just concerned that by putting one in, my already bright Tex Mex humbucker will sound like crap-ola.

Anyone have any suggestions on how I can achieve a similar mod but have it apply to only the Dimarzios?

Thanks in advance!

Z

[gfxbss]

zonker,

first off, id like to say Welcom to GuitarNuts2.

the easiest way that i can think of is to change to two volume one tone. have one volume for the single coils(250K). then one volume for the humbucker(1M). you could then blend them at any volume you want.

then just convert one tone to a master tone.

Tyler

[ChrisK]

The issue here is that you feel that you need a higher value pot for the single coil (sized humbuckers) as opposed to the Tex-Mex humbucker.

I have the DiMarzio Virtual Vintages at play in here:
guitarnuts2.proboards45.com/index.cgi?board=music&action=display&thread=1144693179

This is the wiring scheme:
guitarnuts2.proboards45.com/index.cgi?board=schem&action=display&thread=1153172741

Note that I used 500 K Ohm pots (which probably is what should be used with the Tex-Mex humbucker).

If one pickup is too bright, you can pad it with a fixed resistor. If you want to use a 1 M Ohm volume pot, wire a 1 M Ohm fixed resistor directly across (well, at the selector switch) the Tex-Mex. When selected, it will then "see" a 500 K Ohm load, but the Virtual Vintages, when selected by themselves, will "see" 1 M Ohm.


I'm of the opinion that a 500K Ohm audio taper pot should always be used for high-cut tone controls since it is already down to 250 K Ohms at around "8" on a Strat knob.


Also note that I used the Virtual Vintage pickups specifically because they were not especially bright (well, the DP401 is).

[zonker9169]

Great ideas guys. Thanks for the input.

As for the 1M resisitor, I would just pop that in between the wire and the pickup selector? Since the Tex Mex H'bucker is wired to split at position 2, would I be better off wiring it only on to the position 1 setting?

Thanks again!

Z

[gfxbss]

Z,

it was brought to my attention that i made a few mistakes.(thanks unk)
first off, the 2.2s are sc sized humbuckers.

also, check to make sure how close you have your strings to your pups. press the strings down on the last fret. if they are closer than 2mm, then put the pups down a bit.

have you thought of changing all of your pots to 500K? this should brighten things up a bit.
try disconnecting both tone pots. this should give your volume a similar sound to a 500K.

Tyler

[UnklMickey]

hi Z,

you would connect the resistor directly across the bridge pickup connections (hot to ground).

i don't know which Fat Strat you have. this makes a bit of difference.
the Standard Fat Strat (MIM) has a standard fender 5-way, and 250k pots.

i believe some of the American Fat Strats already have 500k volume pots and 1Meg tone pots and a 5-way superswitch.

let us know what model you have.


cheers,

unk

[zonker9169]

I have a MIM Fat Strat. But it's what some refer to as a "48th Street Custom Strat". I guess it's a sales gimmick for the Sam Ash chain in the NYC area. I don't know what the normal MIM Fat Strats have, but this one came with the Tex Mex H'bucker and 2 Tex Mex single coils (with the middle one reverse wound). As far as the rest of the electronics, I dont have a meter to figure out what the pots are.

Not sure if that helps any....

Z

[UnklMickey]

it might help someone with more product knowledge, but it doesn't help me too much.

i'm leaning toward it having a standard 5-way, and 250k pots.

the (MIM) deluxe fat has a superswitch, 500k volume, and 250k tones.

they operate a bit different, so that might give us a clue.

the standard has normal tone controls. it works like this:

B................no tone control
B+M...........knob 3
M...............knob 3
M+N...........either knob
N................knob 2


the deluxe works like this:

B................knob 3
B+M...........knob 2
M...............knob 2
M+N...........knob2
N................knob 2

[zonker9169]

I apologize for my noobiness, but I honestly don't know what the rating of the volume and tone pots are. I had a look over all the parts and schematics lists at the Fender site, but they didn't list my guitar exactly, so I'm not sure which it may be. Some had all 250k controls, some a 500k volume and 250k tones....time for me to get me a multimeter.

But with that said, this is how the guitar is wired:
www.fender.com/support/diagrams/pdf_temp1/stratocaster/0134700_02C/SD0134700_02CPg2.pdf

(when I installed the dimarzios, I had to swap the ground and hot wires, because they were out of phase with the h'bucker, and with the selector set in the #2 position it sounded like muck. Once I switched 'em, they were fine.)

So I guess my first step is to determine the rating of the controls, otherwise, if I have 250k's and I install some 1M pots, I may end up going too far in terms of brightness.....

When using the multimeter, how do I determine the value of the pot? (I've read it somewhere before, but I have since forgotten it)

Thanks again to all of you folks who have offered up ideas. It's the reason I love places like this!

Z

[UnklMickey]

hi Zonker,

newbieness is a temporary condition. you'll get over it.

that drawing is from a MIM Standard Fat Strat, so it looks probable they are using 250k pots all around.

you can check the volume pot (but not the tone pots.) externally, without even taking the pickguard off.

connect the multimeter to the tip and shield portions of the loose end of a cable plugged into the guitar.

because there will always be a pickup (about 8000 ohms) connected to the ends of the volume control, this complicates things.

if you read with the volume at maximum you will read about 8000 ohms.

if you read with the volume at minimum, you will read about zero ohms.

if you find the place where you get the maximum resistance reading (about "8" on the knob) you will read about half of the resistance of the pot.

so i expect you will be seeing about 125~130k (125,000 ~130,000) ohms, for a 250k pot.

if this is the case, my guess is 500k pots all around might be a good choice.

there are a couple of other issues that might be worth considering.

the Tex Mex is being split in the stock wiring.

this is a good choice for combining with a SC pickup.

they chose to combine one coil from the HB that had the opposite hum polarity from the middle SC pickup.

that give the best hum canceling in the bridge + middle selection.

but you now have a (mini) HB in the middle.

i think it would be a good idea to use the full HB Tex Mex when combining it with the 2.2 .


also, i wonder if you might be happier if you change your tone control switching.

if you don't need to split the HB, it will be easy to wire it so your tone controls will be like this:

B................knob 3
B+M...........either knob
M...............knob 2
M+N...........knob 2
N................knob 2

something to consider anyway.


cheers,

unk