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Post by newey on Mar 2, 2008 11:20:28 GMT -5
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Post by cynical1 on Mar 2, 2008 13:04:53 GMT -5
I would be curious to know myself. I have some pickups with leads too short to make it to the cavities without adding wire.
My plan was to crimp them and the cover with heat shrink tubing...
Now you've got me thinking...which is generally assumed to be a bad thing...
- Scott
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Post by ChrisK on Mar 2, 2008 15:13:19 GMT -5
Don't tell anyone, but they're probably fine. As long as connectivity is maintained (low resistance) they will work. Now, these connectors are used for power circuits, so they will have low resistance. The crimper's used with these (you ARE using a crimper I hope) generally may not crimp such small diameter wire as used in guitars (such as Duncan and DiMarzio shielded pickup wires), but as long as the wiring is about 22 AWG and matches the connector, you should be ok. Soooo, there IS a difference in connector size/wire size/current rating. Don't use the big yellow or red ones. The only thing that I might think about is the formation of oxides within due to the lack of sharp edges (gas-tight connection) or gold plating, but again, these are geared toward power circuits and no one in the guitar industry has any qualms about using switches that ARE NOT rated for ultra-low current analog circuits with little viable wetting current. Huh? This means that virtually every toggle switch used in the guitar industry actually shouldn't be. For the level of signal strength generated (100 to 500 mV) by generators with high output impedance (5,000 to 15,000 Ohms), the typical signal current is 20 to perhaps 50 uA (micro-amps). This puts the signal VA (volt-amps, an AC thingy) at about 2 to 20 uVA (micro VA). Most non-gold plated switch contacts are rated for use with minimum wetting currents that are substantially higher than this. This means that the toggle switches used for guitar signals should be the gold-plated ones rated for 10 VA or less. But, these are hard to find (especially in the SP3T (DPDT ON-ON-ON or DPDT Center ON) and DP3T (4PDT ON-ON-ON or 4PDT Center ON) varieties of significant use. In this industry, OEM quality doesn't matter since sold is sold, and everyone is more concerned about looks, tone, and perceived vintage crapology, and no one ever discusses the quality of the electronics (they just come to places like this one to change things). I never buy mini-toggle switches from guitar parts suppliers since they are generally shite. After all, since you're paying about $10 to $30 for them, they're buying $2 to $5 Chinese versions. I buy OEM switches from digikey.com and the like since these cost about $10 to $20 and have no mark-up "men in the middle". And, with the exception noted above, I CAN get gold-plated contacts. So, these connectors are probably ok, but empirical is. After all, Epi uses Molex-type (well, Chinese) connectors in their guitars and we all know what folks think of them. ;D ;D
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Post by newey on Mar 2, 2008 15:34:15 GMT -5
Yes, I'm using a crimper, and I use 22 ga. wire except for the pickup leads, I find it easier to work with unless space is a problem. So it sounds like it's a go.
Didn't know that about gold contacts, though. Always assumed it was snake oil.
And I'll report back, since "empirical is". However, I may not live long enough to see significant corrosion methinks.
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Post by wolf on Mar 2, 2008 17:00:52 GMT -5
Wow, since this is GuitarNuts, I thought this topic would be flooded with opinions. Basically, I make all connections soldered. As for removing the pickguard, I'd consider disconnecting the output jack to be just a small problem. To me, the real hassle (a Stratocaster for example), is removing about a dozen screws, loosening the strings and so on.
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Post by newey on Mar 2, 2008 17:08:31 GMT -5
Wolf- If I was concerned about road-worthiness or on-stage reliability, I'd solder it. too. But I seldom come out of the basement so that's not really an issue . . .
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Post by sumgai on Mar 2, 2008 19:37:21 GMT -5
.......... But I seldom come out of the basement so that's not really an issue . . . Note to self - Stop in Akron this summer, and kick some booty out into the street, and onto a stage. Oh, and FWIW, I use crimp connectors on occasion, where it makes sense for more easily executed destructive practices. ;D sumgai
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omni
Rookie Solder Flinger
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
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Post by omni on Mar 3, 2008 13:00:36 GMT -5
Guys- I have replaced all the point to point wiring in a strat with a circuit board that uses 2 gold contact terminal blocks for the connections from the pickups, string wire and output jack to make it a solderless installation. I have done this to 12 guitars so far with no problems what soever. The board itself has gold immersion contact points to the electronics and I use a wiring harness to connect the 5 position switch to the board via gold contacts. It has "QTB" built in plus some other options you can set at installation. Here's how it looks; Gold may be an overkill to some but I wanted to avoid oxide issues and have a troublefree life. The connectors are so reliable that they are used on critical Avionics equipment so guitars are no problem. I have a website that I am playing around with that has more information if you are interested; www.santellansounds.comThey are not for sale at this point until I get the latest feedback from my beta testers on if they want anymore options built in. Omni
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Post by pete12345 on Mar 3, 2008 16:32:54 GMT -5
Looks pretty damn good! You should sell these things to fender. On second thoughts, maybe you shouldn't- it would make altering things more difficult for us guitarnuts Pete
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omni
Rookie Solder Flinger
Posts: 15
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Post by omni on Mar 10, 2008 10:45:04 GMT -5
Pete,
Actually I am trying to make it easier for novices to have custom wirings like the ones you find on this and other sites.
For example instead of soldering a volume kit to the volume pot you can use jumpers to enable and disable this option or you can choose a different value combination.
For the tone pot capacitors, you can select from .022uF, .047uF and .1uF by moving a jumper. You can play around with the 3 values for each tone pot individually and select the ones that sound best for your pickups.
You can also determine which pickups you want to assign to each tone pot by using jumpers instead of soldering. You can experiment with different combinations to your heart’s content.
Hopefully this will make the custom wiring community more mainstream and allow musicians to enhance the sonic pallet on their guitars by giving them the tools to experiment. All of this without any risks because you can change back to the original vintage wiring when you want just by moving jumpers.
I would welcome any suggestions or ideas you have.
Omni
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cheezor
Apprentice Shielder
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Post by cheezor on Mar 15, 2008 15:09:09 GMT -5
That looks awesome! I would anticipate that tone freaks wouldnt like the idea because of the quality of the capacitors probably isnt up to their specs, but for the rest of us it looks pretty cool! Sure makes it look a lot more tidy!
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omni
Rookie Solder Flinger
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
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Post by omni on Mar 17, 2008 10:44:04 GMT -5
Cheezor,
The caps I use are polystyrene type with 2% tolerance. They are almost as good as the oil and paper caps. You can read the section about caps on this board and you will find a a chart by Steve Bench that shows it's characteristics. Ultimately it all comes down to personal choice since most of the linear differences between caps may or may not be noticeable to you.
Omni
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