Loose the tone, Add a 'bucker with spin-a-split?

[kbloom]

Hey guys! I was referred here to ask wiring questions. So here's one for you gurus!

I have a nice Affinity Telecaster that plays great, but I thought I would do some tweaking since it's a cheap guitar anyway. Here's the first part: I bought a GFS Dream 180 humbucker to throw in the neck. I also want to remove the tone knob from the circuit. So in total, I'd have a single at the bridge, a humbucker at the neck, a volume knob, and the standard tele 3 way switch.

Ok, so the next part is that the Dream 180 is a 4 wire pickup. I'd like to do the coil tapping thing with it. But! Instead of using a switch, I'd like to use a potentiometer (in place of the tone I took out). I found a rough schematic on SD. I just need to know how to implement this into "step one" above.

Any takers? ;D

[wolf]

kbloom
You'll have to edit those links you posted. Both of those go to http:///

[kbloom]

Weird... they were correct in the code. I'll just have them be visible. Thanks for letting me know!

[ashcatlt]

Fixed your links. Didn't see it before you edited, so I don't know what was wrong. You can click "quote" or "modify" to see what I did.

I'm not sure what your question is. The SD diagram is pretty well exactly what you want. I don't remember, though if the GFS wire colors will be the same. Don't touch your volume pot, just wire the "old Tone" pot the way you see it. The "Black connect to switch..." wire goes where the bridge pickup was originally connected.

Oh, and Welcome!

[kbloom]

Thanks ashcatit! I guess I just need a schematic (if possible) for one humbucker, one single coil, a volume, and a tele 3 way (no tone). Specifically if I need any resistors/caps, etc. I'll play around and figure out the coil tapping stuff from there.

[ashcatlt]

Is the guitar working now, or do you remember what it looked like when it did work?

[kbloom]

Sept 4, 2010 16:15:01 GMT -5 ashcatlt said:

Is the guitar working now, or do you remember what it looked like when it did work?

Yep, it works fine now. Here are photos of the original guitar and wiring. As previously stated, I just want to add a humbucker to the neck, and remove the tone all together.

[kbloom]

So I just need to take the "Tone" out of this circuit: SD Circuit Is it as simple as removing the pot & cap? Thanks for any help!!

[newey]

kbloom-

Hello and Welcome!

Is it as simple as removing the pot & cap?

It's even simpler than that- just remove the cap, leave the pot as is, and rewire it according to the SD "spin-a-split" diagram.

Ash wondered:

I don't remember, though if the GFS wire colors will be the same.

They will be the same as SD colors. Every GFS pup I've ever had (and I've got a half-dozen or so) was the same wire colors as SD, and their directions so state. While I haven't got a Dream 180, I'd be shocked if it differed.

If you insist on replacing the pot, you could use a true blend pot. These have a center detent, where both coils are at full, turning it clockwise blends to one coil, counterclockwise to the other. If you go this route, the OEM Fender blend pot (as used on the jazz bass) is the one you want, all others we have found are not true blend pots.

[Yew]

You could even use a rotary switch, and you could probibly wire it series/parallel/split reasonably easily (or use a DPDT on/on/on switch, schematics on the original guitarnutz site)

Welcome to the world of wiring

[kbloom]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I was hoping to keep the stock tele look and still be able to gradually blend the split coils, or else i'd try some other stuff! i get my parts in a few days, I'll let you know how it turns out!

[Yew]

you do know that you have to pay us by posting some soundclips

[kbloom]

I'll see what I can do I got my parts tonight! So far I've routed the body for the 'bucker, and installed it and the new pickguard.... now comes the solder. Wish me luck-

[kbloom]

OK, Update time. First of all, I love the versatility of the Dream 180! Coil tapping with a pot is NICE! I'm really loving these sounds. It doesn't look too bad either:



I am having a few minor issues that need ironed out. The first is that when the switch is flipped to my bridge single coil, and I turn the "Coil Splitting" knob, some of the neck pickup gets in the mix. Not a huge deal really... The second is that its a pretty big difference in volume. Could a cap of some kind reduce the volume of the 180? The following is my super crude schematic ;D

[ashcatlt]

The lowest lug of the Volume control is connected to the bottom lug of the Old Tone. Remove that wire and it'll fix Minor Issue #1. Seems to me like the way you've got it now you should be blending from one coil through the series HB to the other coil. (Minor Issue #3)

Now, for Minor Issue #2. You won't enjoy the effect of using a capacitor to reduce the output of your pretty new humbucker. The purest fix would be to use the pickup screws to attempt to even out the volume. In HB mode, it will be a lot louder than the SC. Like, should be twice as loud. That's kind of the point. Can you manipulate the pickup heights to get the two SCs close enough?

[kbloom]

Thanks, I'll clip that wire tonight. The original wiring had everything grounded to each other like crazy. I wasn't sure which to clip. I suppose I can live with a little volume difference.

[ttsc]

I'm totaly new to this site. Does anyone know were I can get info on wiring a telecaster for
no tone, two volumes, and a 4 way switch (1 neck, 2 neck+bridge in series, 3 neck+bridge parallel, 4 bridge). I currently have a mini humbucker in the neck (2 wires), and a single coil in the bridge. I never use the tone, and the bucker is just too overpowering on the single coil bridge. Thus, every time I switch between the two I got to turn down the volume on the neck. However the parallel 2 position sounds just fine and has about as much volume as the neck. Any sugesstion?

Thanks.

[newey]

ttsc-

Hello and Welcome!

You've tacked your questions onto an unrelated thread- that's OK, but it's less likely to be seen here than if you'd started your own thread. But since we're here, I'll try to answer here . . .

Here's a schematic for a Tele 4-way switch to give the combos you want. This doesn't have 2 volumes, but it's your starting point:



(schematic courtesy of sumgai)

First question is, can you read a schematic, and translate it into a wiring diagram you can use? If not, we can help.

Note also, that while Fender makes a Baja Tele with the 4-way switch, it also has an S-1 switch, meaning Fender's diagrams aren't much help for what you want.

Now, for your dual volume knobs: Notice the vol. and tone pots on the schematic? They connect to the switch at one end, and to the output jack at the other. They form a module, which can be removed entirely for your purposes. In your scheme, the switch common lug will connect directly to the output jack.

To make two volume controls, simply remove the cap from the tone control you have, so it can be used as one of the Vol controls. The 2 pots will then be wired "across" each pickup before the switch. To see what I mean about wiring the pot "across" the pickup, consult any wiring diagram for an LP with 4 controls. Ignore the tone controls- you see how the volume pots are wired to each pickup before the switch?

With the above info, you can make the diagram you need, and we'll check it for you. If, however, you're still out to sea here, we'll throw a lifeline . . .just holler!

Also, you can try to alleviate some of the volume mismatch between the pickups by lowering the mini-HB a bit, or by raising the bridge pup a bit. Don't get it too close to the strings, though, or you'll create new problems . . .