Question for JohnH

[rpelton]

Hi to all and to JohnH

New to the forum and especially new to guitar wiring. I am just finishing a new build of a Jazzmaster style body which i will eventually wire with SSS strat electronics (CRL 5 way, CTS 250k pots, treble bleed kit and I have two caps: a Mallory .01uF and a .047Mfd Orange Drop). I was looking for something different in the wiring, when I found a post at Strat-talk that intrigued me. Which led me to track down JohnDH who seemed to know exactly what he was talking about in this post. Which in turn led me here to JohnH. 

I guess what I am looking for JohnH is a diagram as you talked about in that post on the Strat-talk forum. And any advice as to whether it is do-able for a complete novice to wiring.

Thanks, and sorry for muddying up the wrong thread earlier. If the admins see fit It is completely ok with me to remove it.



Ron

[JohnH]

Hi Ron

If you follow back through that Strattalk thread, youll find the very simple diagram that I was commenting on. It does indeed give you series and parallel sounds, plus bridge-neck mixing. Its a good way to try those sounds using just standard parts from any strat. It uses one tone pot to do neck/bridge mixing and the other to use middle in series or parallel. The guy who posted it was very happy with it. I havent built it, but Ive tested various parts of it in different schemes. So i see a few issues with it, due to how those ex tone pots are always in the circuit, slightly dulling the sound. For example, you cant quite get a pure bridge tone due to the blend pot always being there. Having tested that with a no load pot, I found the difference to be small but significant.

So my suggestion involved a no load pot for blending, and a switch for series/parallel, returning one pot to work as a master tone. And then I think it could be really good, as versatile as a delux strat (which has very complex wiring), but with less than half the complexity.

To do that with what you have, it would need the tone pots changed or converted to no load ( easy job) and a mini toggle switch added. I actually have a plan to build such a scheme. But would it be off interest to you? I could do a diagram in a similar style to the ssm2 one that you have seen.

Ive thought about strat wiring quite a lot and with only the standard parts, my current view is that you cant really beat the normal strat wiring, except to think about which settings are affected by which tone pots. Other ways to wire the normal parts tend to lose something from the standard sounds.

Cheers
John

[rpelton]

Hi JohnH

Thanks for taking the time to help out. I have checked out that simple diagram in the Strat-talk post and after reading your post there, I was most interested in what you had written.

To do that with what you have, it would need the tone pots changed or converted to no load ( easy job) and a mini toggle switch added. I actually have a plan to build such a scheme. But would it be off interest to you? I could do a diagram in a similar style to the ssm2 one that you have seen.

Yes, this would be of great interest to me. In fact it is exactly what I was looking for. I have already read up on how to change the pots to no load. And adding the toggle is no problem.  So I await the diagram and will order the toggle. DPDT ? 

Thanks a lot. 

Ciao,

Ron




 

[b4nj0]

Hi Ron, wouldn't a push-pull (or even better a push-push) pot be better than a toggle switch? Steve.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using proboards

[rpelton]

Hi Steve,

wouldn't a push-pull (or even better a push-push) pot be better than a toggle switch?

I'm not sure which is better. I will leave that in the hands of John. Either way, I will have to buy a new pot or a toggle!


Ron

[JohnH]

On the series/parallel switch, my preference is a separate toggle but the design is the same for a push/pull switch. Many prefer these for their neat appearance but I find them fiddly, particularly with Strat knobs, and also they preclude converting the pot to no load. If you want to use one for tone though, Id suggest its a 500k log, whereas a no load pot is best at 250k, and you can buy them or convert what you have. If you buy no load pots, they come with a dinky detent at the end of the travel.

I started the diagram. For the extra switch, if yo get a dpdt minitoggle it provides some extra options. Also, get an extra 0.047 capacitor, it will be used for some nice extra options in positions 2 and 4 in series mode, without adding complication. (used to bypass one coil)

John

[rpelton]

John

Thanks for the update and info. Looking forward to the diagram!

Am I assuming correctly that the mini-toggle is an on-on configuration?

Ron

[JohnH]

Here’s the diagram. It’s called the Strat SN, named after my favourite scheme from ChrisK which was his 'S-None' design, which contained a clever trick with a capacitor connected to the middle pickup in series mode to get some useful extra tones. Also, Savvas on the Strattalk forum posted his Stratomaster mod, which does most of this, almost as well, with no new parts at all.

Parts are standard, except that the tone pots are replaced or converted to no-load, and a dpdt toggle is added for s2. This could also be a push/pull, push/push, slide switch or even a Fender ‘S1’ switch.

The standard Strat tones are extended in various ways. With S2 down, the basic tones are normal, but with a blender to mix the B and N pickups to a chosen extent, offering B+N and B+M+N tones, or gradations of them.

The remaining tone pot is a master tone, operating on all settings, and no-load for maximum quack and also maximum clarity in series mode.

The volume pot has a treble bleed circuit for consistent tone at lower volume.

In series mode, S2 up, the basic hum-cancelling options of B+M and N+M are offered, with the addition of alternatives in positions 2 and 4 where the B or N coils is bypassed by a cap. This is a brighter sound than the pure series sound, giving more treble from the M pickup but with a humbucker-like weight of bass. I have these sounds on other designs so I know they are worth a try. These sounds can also be mixed with the blender. Note that with S2 up, the position 3 M only is via a cap. With the value that I’m suggesting, it is likely to be not much affected.

Overall, the standard 5 sounds are augmented by two extra series sounds and 6 series sounds.

There are a few possibilities for options. The blend pot works by mixing B and N with each other, so if N becomes N with a bit of B, B becomes B with a bit of N, until they are fully mixed, both setting 1 and 5 becoming B+N. It could instead be wired as a variable Neck-on, or Bridge-on, so that unblended tones from say B, remain available on the 5-way as N transitions to N+B.

Other options could involve the unused half of eth 5-way switch. For example, if there was a preference for a different tone capacitor for N, this could be switched in.

I’ll put this in the schematics section soon.

Cheers
John

[rpelton]

Thanks very much John. I will be sure to post when I am finally finished and the wiring is in. I very much appreciate you taking the time to do this!

Ciao,

Ron

[newey]

JohnH-

In series mode, S2 up, the basic hum-cancelling options of B+M and N+M are offered

I think you mean N X M and B X M, so as to be consistent with terminology.

[JohnH]

Aug 21, 2013 13:43:28 GMT -5 newey said:

JohnH-

In series mode, S2 up, the basic hum-cancelling options of B+M and N+M are offered

I think you mean N X M and B X M, so as to be consistent with terminology.

yes, thankyou