Strat with two volume controls SSS, HSS & HHH

[JohnH]

Thanks for posting the diagram

It looks to me like it would work. But one thing you could check on your switch is which are the common pole lugs. Your sketch has them top left and lower right, which might be right but sometimes the two sides can be half a step offset, or flipped. So worth checking.

[spike]

Thanks very much for the suggestion. That seems to have done the trick! Wiring on the pickguard upside Down and backwards hurts my dyslexia. There was still a nasty hum from the switch before the neck and bridge stopped working. Probably just too much nasty soldering on it. I will pull it back apart and start trouble shooting.

Quick question... Noticing that the pots weren't grounded together in your original diagram, I removed the sheilding around them on the pickguard. Should I do this with the switch as well? Does any of it matter the grounding?

[JohnH]

I'm glad that's getting better! The pot cases and the switch are good if they are grounded to the shielding, by contact is ok, but its not part of the main signal. It'd work either way, but maybe better noise control.

If yoh prefer to ground the cases that's ok too. The push-pull probably has a lug for this at the top of the switch.

(It's a very old diagram, one of the first I ever drew)

[spike]

Everything is working now - thanks to your diagram and assistance! Ironically, I've decided I don't like the arrangement. I'm going to keep the extra volume for the bridge but do more of a standard strat wiring with a push pull for the neck on. I will be rewiring completely as my soldering and resoldering left much to be desired. Thanks again. If you have any tips on where to connect the push pull for the neck on, that'd be great. I was going to bring the hot lug of the neck switch to the push pull and the push pull to the hot lug of the neck, middle volume pot.

[JohnH]

hi Spike

I'm glad that worked, so even if you'll move on to a different scheme you were able to learn from trying it. Plus it might help you figure out the next one.

Neck-on and its variants are about the simplest Strat mods that you can do, so also maybe the most useful. It's all about getting the missing two basic combos that you can't get on the 5-way switch, being Bridge and Neck in parallel, or all three.

That doesn't include other varmints such as phase or series wiring, but that's another story.

But for what the neck-on does, there are three basic ways to wire it. They give the same overall set of sounds but operate differently:

1. You can force the neck to be on when you pull the switch. The switch connects the hot neck lead to the volume pot, or the wire that leads to it. That's neck-on.

2. Same as above, but using the bridge, for 'Bridge on'

3. Put the switch between the hot Bridge and hot Neck wires. Now, whenever you select N you get N+B, and the same if you select B you also get N+B.

The only real differences are in how you use the switches, particularly what you can do with just one move. Option 1 is ideal if you want to sit on the B pickup and quickly thicken it to B+N. But if you are already at N, then pulling Neck-on makes no difference and youd have to aldo move the 5-way. So then option 2 might be preffered.

Option 3 could be good, but you get the same tones at position 1 as 5 with switch pulled.

All will get all three, in positions 2 or 4 or both depending which option.

Maybe the current new wiring will let you decide what is more useful? At least with any of these, if you keep the switch pushed in, its still standard.

[spike]

I have completed the wiring exactly as you drew it. Neck and middle together 1 vol 1 tone, separate bridge 1 volume 1 tone. Everything works except, when I am in position 2( br and mid) both volumes and tones operate on both pickups simultaneously. I've tried everything and can not seem to sort it! Hope you can help... thanks!

[spike]

I should mention that my push pull neck has been left out of the circuit for now.

[JohnH]

Can you please confirm which diagram you have now? is it the very first on this thread?

[spike]

This is what I'm working from. No dotted connections to pushpull

[JohnH]

Im sorry Im having trouble reading that, its a bit blurry and my vision is already blurry. Its doesn't look like what I drew and I'm not seeing any output in position 3?

[spike]

I will try to clear up the drawing and repost and new diagram. Thx

[spike]

Hope this is better?

[JohnH]

Thanks yes, I'll check it out.
J

[spike]

Much appreciated!

[JohnH]

Hi Spike, from what you describe, I'd say it's probablg doing as expected in position 2. In this setting it would work like a standard Les Paul or similar. If you don't want full volume, then the variations and mixes happen when you turn down a bit, you can hopefully get more of one pickup than the other if you wish. And if turned down, then the tones should start to act seperately. But at full volume, both tones act on both, as on an LP. Also, if you turn one pickup to zero in position 2, it shunts the other as well. But you wouldn't really do that, if you want just one pickup, set it with the switch.

So my guess is it's as intended, and these effects are what happens with 2V2T systems. LP players work with it. There are wirings that try to address these issues, but they have more adverse effects on tone in an attempt to solve problems that aren't really too bad.

Does that sound like what's happening?

[spike]

Thanks for taking the time to examine this. It was driving me nuts trying to understand what I did wrong! I will play it like this for a while and see how it responds. The other thing is that I cannot get the neck on push pull to work no matter where I connect its output. I would only use it in positions 1 and 2. If you had any suggestions for that, it would be much appreciated.