Dano Wiring Inspiration

[thinman]

I got a cheap Dano Reissue and was impressed by the two pickup sound
Then I found out they wire the two lipsticks in series

So I tried wiring 2 P90s in series on an old Teisco body I had - I created a Tone Monster !

I have another Teisco "in production" with a couple of 60s Kay Gold foils waiting to go on

I firgured I'd add a couple of tone pots so I could mix in the contributions from the two pickups

Wiring like shown

Thanks to JohnH for switching me onto 5Spice and the analysis looks like it should work - can't wait to hear it but first I got to cut a new pickguard

Any comments ?

[reTrEaD]

"comments"

I think you'll get better results if you wire your volume controls in a normal 'voltage divider' configuration rather than as shunts. The way you have it now will tend to result in a dull tone at low volume settings.

[ashcatlt]

Feb 22, 2014 20:28:44 GMT -5 reTrEaD said:

"comments"

I think you'll get better results if you wire your volume controls in a normal 'voltage divider' configuration rather than as shunts. The way you have it now will tend to result in a dull tone at low volume settings.

Things are different in series land. I think this configuration will probably end up working better, since it doesn't leave resistance in series with the one pickup when the other is turned all down. You might need to mess with pot taper to get a smooth blend action, but it should work fairly well.

Is that Teisco not already wired for series? Many of them from that factory/time period (whatever the headstock said) were.

[JohnH]

This may help:

Blending coils in series

What you show adds a lot of load, at full volume and getting more as you roll down, leading to loss of treble.

Id suggest using 250k no-load audio pots for each pickup pot, as you have them, and a 500k normally wired (as a voltage divider) with treble bleed for the master volume. That way there is no extra loading when you want a maximum sound. If you want the pickups mix fade to be just one pot, you can find a 250k or 100k linear pot and open it up and create a cut section in the middle of the track. Wiper to ground, outer lugs to each pickup. Then at centre you get full pickup with no extra loading, or turn it one way or the other to fade one down leaving the other at full.

Or lose the master volume, and use two volume pots on the pickups, with treble bleed , each wired as type C in the above link. I have my LP with that arrangement and you get a very smooth blending.

[sumgai]

I think there are a couple of hidden gotcha's here.

First, thinman's initial post and diagram show a resistor and capacitor across each pickup.  Now perhaps that cap is meant to simulate whatever might be found within the pickup itself, but putting a rheostat across it is not gonna do the Tone any favors.  

Next, running the pickup's volume pot in "standard" mode as suggested by reTrEaD would help reduce that effect to some degree.  But then we get into ash's concern about loading, which will also affect the tone, probably adversely.

Thankfully, there is a solution:




Yes, there is still a small amount of room for potential problems, but this is the best compromise one can hope to achieve, all things considered. As it happens, adding a treble-bleed kit across the individual pot might allieviate some of those problems, but not for free - doing so might introduce other tonal problems. Don't forget that when you add capacitance in one part of a series circuit, it also affects the rest of the circuit. IOW, a treble-bleed on one pickup's volume control will affect the tone of the other pickup too, regardless of where that pup's control is turned on the knob.

Also, some experimentation with the values and tapers of those individual Volume pots is in order. I have found pots as low as 50K in series-connected guitar from Japan, vintage mid to late '60s.

HTH





sumgai

[JohnH]

These are three versions of series wiring that I was trying to describe above:



A, has two independent volume controls with treble bleed, and no master volume. I have this on two LP guitars, and it is also the basis of the series mode in the HBD design and another recent wiring for Runewalker. The twin treble bleeds work well, very similar to single ones.

B has a 250k (or 100k) linear 'blend' pot, with track removed in the centre, so it fades one or the other pickup down but adds no overall loading. This was in the Tonemonster2, built several times. 

C - uses no load pots to fade down each pickup, with a master volume. I have this in my Strat and also my sons, plus several other designs, though only one fader not two. With two, if both are used to fade down each pickup it will mellow the tone a bit, which could be a nice feature if there is no normal  tone control.

So I do know that they all work!
J