Strat Blender + Series/Parallel + Out of Phase

[miltonguthrie]

First of all, hi to everybody, im new here. I come from Spain so excuse my english, i do my best to express myself.

My question was originally submited in a wrong place (Thanks Newey ) so i move it here.

I own a H1 strat totally modified, the only original pieces are the body and the neck (some of you may say im crazy, or wasting money, but the satisfaction of keeping my first guitar and learning everythin i learnt messing with it's priceless).

So im trying to go ahead and keep messing. It has installed the blender wiring with the third pot as a blend knob and my next idea was adding the out of phase and series/parallel option.

Until now i hadn't any problems modifyin everythin myself, i learnt soldering and everythin i know of guitars with my H1. But with this new mod i think i'm going further and it's not as easy as to handle it myself alone, thats why i'm here.

So i would like to know how tricky could be for me to add those new mods and try to keep the blender knob on it's place.

I also have to answer some question newey asked:

When you repost, please also answer the following:

Do you care about the original appearance of the guitar, or are you willing to add extra switching? And, do you insist on having all possible series combos of your 3 pickups, or just some? Same with phase- all possible out-of-phase options or just one or two?

And most importantly, do you want the blender to work when you're in series mode, or can it be disabled or bypassed, when in series?

The "blending in series" is going to be the tricky part, if that's what you want.

Concernin the appearance of the guitar, i had in my mind the push and pull pots but adding a new switch or two it's not a big deal for me.

I would like to have really ALL possibilities: all series, all out of phase, and the blender both in series and parallel but i assume thats very difficult and sometimes not usefull.

So i ask you to show me the light, but i guess the possibilities on the SLS plus the blender knob would be right for me.

Gracias!

[newey]

Thanks for reposting, and for the added details. And your English is fine, a whole lot better than my Spanish (which is non-existant!).

We have several members from Spain; there must be a bunch of guitar modder types there!

some of you may say im crazy

No, you're just "Nutz" like the rest of us!

You can read up on series/parallel blending here, if you can read ChrisK's schematic representation of it. A DPDT switch (which could be one push/pull pot) is needed to switch from series to parallel blending. This also assumes the use of the Fender true blend pot, not a pan pot.

ChrisK's series-parallel blending with DPDT switch.

This is for 2 pickups only, blending three is much more complicated. You didn't indicate how your blend control is currently wired- does it blend in the bridge?

Obtaining all series/parallel options and all phase options for 3 pickups will require a scheme along the lines of the Brian May Series/Parallel scheme developed by JohnH. There are similar schemes, but all such schemes will require at least several additional switches. The Brian May scheme would replace your 5-way switch with no less than 7 switches.

JohnH's Dual Sound Strat does series/parallel with blending in series, and with some OOP capabilities. There is also a SSH version which splits the HB coils.

These are just a few examples of what has already been done along the lines you want, there are certainly other schemes as well.

[JFrankParnell]

Just the phase switch is easy (and fun!). But, I reccomend a wiring mod to go with it which is also easy, The Switcheroo: (from JohnH) Swap the two hot wires coming from the neck and middle pups going to the 5 way switch.You will now have
M
N+M
N
N+B
B
Just a change of order on the 5 way gives you N+B which is a great combo. Then, put in a phase switch:

This diagram has master vol/tone but the 5 way and phase switch should work with yours.

Why change the order? Because, in reality, OOP isnt that great except on the N+B combo, then it's really cool. If you use a Schaller M switch (try Ebay) or the superswitch (stewmac) you can keep your same order on the 5 way switch

[Tim]

You might want to checkout the Dial-A-Duck wiring that I came up with. It gives you 14 different pickup combinations.

www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-technical/217367-14-sounds-wiring-mod-dial-duck-fender-johnny-hallyday-telecaster.html

Here's a full page GIF of the wiring:
homepage.mac.com/skrocki/guitars/wiring/Dial-A-Duck.gif

[newey]

Hey, Tim, welcome back!

We don't need to link through to TDPRI for this scheme of yours, since it's already right here in our Schematics section:

guitarnuts2.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=schem&action=display&thread=3825

And, yes, I like the possibilities of this scheme. Lots of tones, and I'm geeking on Tele 4-way switches lately . . .

[D2o]

Jayzus - apart from what all those dial selections do ...

... any schematic that incorporates an actual duck into the schematic gets a +1 from me!

[Raz59]

Jul 30, 2010 21:59:25 GMT -5 newey said:

Hey, Tim, welcome back!

We don't need to link through to TDPRI for this scheme of yours, since it's already right here in our Schematics section:

guitarnuts2.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=schem&action=display&thread=3825

And, yes, I like the possibilities of this scheme. Lots of tones, and I'm geeking on Tele 4-way switches lately . . .

I don't know if it's best to be bumping that old thread or posting off-topic stuff in this one, so apologies in advance:

I'm interesting in applying the Dial-a-Duck wiring to my Samick-made Stratocaster.

I just have a question though - do I really need to get a 4-way switch? The Strat currently has an import version of the 5-way switch... the number of lugs are the same as the 4-way but there would be an extra position.

What would I do in this situation?

I'm also wondering on how the volume controls will interact with the treble content (will I lose treble as I roll off the volume?)

[newey]

Raz-

Welcome back!

do I really need to get a 4-way switch?

Yes.

The Strat currently has an import version of the 5-way switch... the number of lugs are the same as the 4-way

No. See how, in the late ChrisK's template diagram below, the 4-way has 10 lugs (2 commons + 4 lugs per pole, times 2 poles, for the 4 positions). All 4 positions on the switch are independently wireable.

The Strat "5-way" switch is identical, from a wiring standpoint, to the 3-way switch. Both only have 8 lugs (2 commons + 3 lugs per pole for the 3/5 positions)

The 5 positions on the 5 way arise only as shorting of the "in-between" positions 2 and 4. There are only 3 independently wireable positions on a 3/5 way switch. As Chris shows, it's really 1 / 1+2 / 2 / 2+3 / 3.

[Tim]

Raz,

If you're worried about losing treble when you roll back the volume, throw a treble bleed cap on the volume. You might need to play with the value to get the result you want.

[Raz59]

Ah, I see...I can't do Dial-a-Duck with a 5-way then. That's a shame, I was looking forward to hearing the Neck/Bridge in series.
So I just settled with JohnH's "Switcheroo"; Neck/Bridge in parallel gives out a glassy sound...very akin to a Telecaster!

I removed one of the tone controls, and in it's place I'll put a DPDT switch to reverse the neck's pup. Fortunately, those are cheap!





And Tim, thank you for the treble bleed reminder. I try to wire the tone controls after volume controls so that the treble naturally stays there when I roll off the volume.
And I did try to wire it like that, with the help of this diagram:



And it's strange, because I still seem to lose treble when rolling off the volume.

Again, sorry to be hijacking the thread.

EDIT: Fixed the diagram, my apologies for that newey.

[newey]

Raz-

Your link takes me to a log-in screen, so I can't see any diagram.

[ChristoMephisto]

Why couldn't he use a 5-way switch on a Dial-A-Duck style guitar if you use the Craig Anderten wiring?
www.tdpri.com/wiring5wayStrat.htm

i prefer the b>n and the bridge w/ a cap

[newey]

CM-

Why couldn't he use a 5-way switch on a Dial-A-Duck style guitar if you use the Craig Anderten wiring?

Those are all 2-pickup Tele schemes, we're talking a Strat-style guitar. There is this scheme from Deaf Eddie which is a variation on those Tele schemes for a HB/SC equipped Tele, which could also be used for a SSS Strat.
guitarnuts2.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=modules&action=display&thread=3761

[ChristoMephisto]

He could also blend in the middle pup like the original S-Tastic, or even the S-Tastic Expanded, but instead use a standard 5-way switch.
Pickups and the layout are different, but the schematics are the same.