10 Way Switch Wiring Diagram Help (Strat)

[thedirestrat]

Yeah I will have to see what's going on, I'm pretty confused. I will report back soon!

[thedirestrat]

Everything works! Thank you so much! I will try again tomorrow at a louder volume, but for now, everything works as expected! I thank you, Mr. Yogi for all your help, and the rest that really helped a lot during this past month! 

Thank you +infinity times,
Love you all,

YourDireStrat

[thedirestrat]

I don't know why I never responded to this: YES it was shorted! Everything was fixed a long time ago. I'm loving the sounds I get from this thing! Having a master tone knob and a tone knob for the bridge at the same time is a little weird, but you get used to it. Thanks so much for all the help everyone, especially you Yogi B! This thread can be closed, if you guys do that here!

[newey]

ds-

Glad it all worked out for you. We don't close threads around here, there may always be a next person to come along wanting the same scheme, and with additional questions.

[thedirestrat]

Sept 14, 2021 5:21:41 GMT -5 newey said:

ds-

Glad it all worked out for you. We don't close threads around here, there may always be a next person to come along wanting the same scheme, and with additional questions.

Great idea!

[anxullxxhi]

Jan 11, 2021 9:15:12 GMT -5 Yogi B said:

Jan 10, 2021 14:32:48 GMT -5 thedirestrat said:

The position 6, where the bridge and the middle are supposed to be in series together. Still got the same twangy bright tone, just like position 1, which is just bridge only. So basically, the position 6 doesn't work, it's the same as position 1.

Secondly, the blend works when I am on the neck position (position 5). I can blend in the bridge when I'm on the neck position, but when I am on the bridge, I can't blend in the neck! It's like the blend knob doesn't work on the bridge position. Honestly, I'd like it to be the reverse. I only want to blender pot to work on position 1 and 2, and 6. This way I can only blend in the neck in these positions. So I'd like to wire it into a Half Blender Mod.

As newey said -- I also don't yet know of anyone that has confirmed the exact connections that the switch makes in each position -- and therefore I can't be certain, but I suspect the blending options you want will not be possible with this switch.

That being said, after quickly looking over the other diagrams on the freeway site, it appears that the switch is designed such that the NG (neck ground) terminal is disconnected from the GD (ground) terminal at positions 1 & 6 -- this enables one of the alternative to wiring options to have all three pickups in series at position 6 (in the order: ground -> middle -> neck -> bridge -> output). This would explain the non-functional blender in position 1, and I expect any workaround will have other unwanted concequences.

As for position 6, it would be useful if you could verify that truly only the bridge pickup is selected, this can be done by gently tapping on the pole pieces of each pickup with some kind of steel implement (e.g. screwdriver) -- the taps on the selected pickups should be clearly audible through your amp. I'd perform this with the blend pot in both extremes (fully blended & fully off) in order to check there are no differences.

If it is indeed the case that only the bridge pickup is selected in position 6, then that probably implies that something is connecting the BG (bridge ground) and/or MH (middle hot) terminals to ground in this position, hence shorting the middle pickup. However I'm unsure that this could be caused by the addition of the blend pot, especially if you get consistent results for the tap-test in both positions of the blend pot.

---

Meanwhile, I'll see if I can get any further insight on the switch though more in-depth study of freeway's offered diagrams.

Hey there I'm trying to do this blender mod and I'm not very sure I understand it all, but would using an spdt switch to redirect the necks ground, to a pot, only when in position 1 fix the issue?

I actually would rather just have the blend work in position 5, but wouldn't mind having it work on position 1 if possible.

[newey]

anxullxxhi-

Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!

Hey there I'm trying to do this blender mod and I'm not very sure I understand it all, but would using an spdt switch to redirect the necks ground, to a pot, only when in position 1 fix the issue?

Do you mean that you are implementing the blender with the 10-way switch, as per the original diagram in thedirestrat's thread? Yogi B was helping direstrat with that, and I'm not clear on where that ended up, so you may have to wait for Yogi to weigh in.

In any event, the "fix" you propose, even assuming it would work, doesn't sound very practical. You'd need to manipulate an extra switch to get the blender to work in certain positions, which sounds a bit kludgy.

Please lay out in more detail what you are planning (or, what you've already got . . ).

[anxullxxhi]

Oct 24, 2021 7:33:13 GMT -5 newey said:

anxullxxhi-

Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!

Hey there I'm trying to do this blender mod and I'm not very sure I understand it all, but would using an spdt switch to redirect the necks ground, to a pot, only when in position 1 fix the issue?

Do you mean that you are implementing the blender with the 10-way switch, as per the original diagram in thedirestrat's thread? Yogi B was helping direstrat with that, and I'm not clear on where that ended up, so you may have to wait for Yogi to weigh in.

In any event, the "fix" you propose, even assuming it would work, doesn't sound very practical. You'd need to manipulate an extra switch to get the blender to work in certain positions, which sounds a bit kludgy.

Please lay out in more detail what you are planning (or, what you've already got . . ).

Hey there thanks for the welcome.Yea the layouts the same as the original post with the bridge and neck pickups from the 10 way switch going to a blender pot,same only one master tone and volume as well, but no push pull pot.

If it works like I'm thinking I really don't mind the extra toggle switch, I'd just connect the ground from the bridge pickup to the spdt then split it to the 10 way switch and a pot. I'd only flip the bridges ground to pot when in position 6 and/or 2, and 1.

If not according to OP the blender mod seems to work fine in all positions except 1 and 6, or just in position 1. I can't tell if OP means it works in both 2 and 6, or just in one of those two, which is still cool either way. I initially started with the intent of just wanting to blend the bridge to the neck and middle, but couldnt help getting a bit greedy lol.

[thedirestrat]

Oct 24, 2021 8:29:51 GMT -5 anxullxxhi said:

Oct 24, 2021 7:33:13 GMT -5 newey said:

anxullxxhi-

Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!

Do you mean that you are implementing the blender with the 10-way switch, as per the original diagram in thedirestrat's thread? Yogi B was helping direstrat with that, and I'm not clear on where that ended up, so you may have to wait for Yogi to weigh in.

In any event, the "fix" you propose, even assuming it would work, doesn't sound very practical. You'd need to manipulate an extra switch to get the blender to work in certain positions, which sounds a bit kludgy.

Please lay out in more detail what you are planning (or, what you've already got . . ).

Hey there thanks for the welcome.Yea the layouts the same as the original post with the bridge and neck pickups from the 10 way switch going to a blender pot,same only one master tone and volume as well, but no push pull pot.

If it works like I'm thinking I really don't mind the extra toggle switch, I'd just connect the ground from the bridge pickup to the spdt then split it to the 10 way switch and a pot. I'd only flip the bridges ground to pot when in position 6 and/or 2, and 1.

If not according to OP the blender mod seems to work fine in all positions except 1 and 6, or just in position 1. I can't tell if OP means it works in both 2 and 6, or just in one of those two, which is still cool either way. I initially started with the intent of just wanting to blend the bridge to the neck and middle, but couldnt help getting a bit greedy lol.

I feel you man... XDD

Yeah it's been awhile since I modded this Strat, it's really too bad the blend mod couldn't work out, because I have this random tone knob for the bridge pickup (the last knob) AND a master tone knob that also controls the bridge pickup. I actually don't like that at all to be honest, its so weird. I remember Yogi saying the solution would be a dual gang pot, where the second knob would connect to both of the neck and middle (It's like two tone knobs for two pickups but using only one knob), and then the last knob would be a tone knob solely for the bridge. 

And about the Blender mod... apparently it couldn't work with the 10 way. I forget why. 


This is what freeway said:

The blender is a nice idea however... Because the 5B5-01 switches both ends of the coils of the neck and bridge pickups (this is how it creates the "in-series" combinations), in positions where these pickups are not assigned, the unused coil end is not grounded and hence the blend pot has no effect. In other words, in position 1 you have the bridge pickup only - in this position the Free-Way is connecting one of the bridge pickup's coil ends to ground and the other to output. Because the neck pickup is not used in position 1, neither of it's coil ends are connected by the Free-Way and hence the blender will not bring the neck pickup into circuit in position 1, as the neck pickup has no ground applied. Does that make sense?

Even if you did include a blender pot, it would have some some further unusual effects in the upper bank as listed below:-

In position 6 (scheme A) where the middle and bridge are placed in series with each other, it would have no effect.
In position 6 (Scheme B) where all three pickups are placed in series, the blender would serve to fade the bridge pickup out of the series combination.
In Positions 7 and 9 the neck and bridge pickups are already connected together so the blender would have no effect there.
In position 8 the neck and bridge are placed in series with each other so the blender would vary between the in series combination and the bridge pickup on it's own.
In position 10 where the neck and middle are in series with each other the blender would have no effect.

But I remember there being something further down the line on why it couldn't work.

[Yogi B]

Although an 'always on' (or rather, always in circuit) blend pot won't work, using a switch to toggle between the standard switching and some kind of 'blender mode', as anxullxxhi suggests, should be somewhat possible — however, it will require at least a DPDT switch rather than the SPDT mentioned.

What I'm thinking is that one pole of the switch disconnects the 'negative' lead of the blended pickup from the switch and instead connects it directly to ground, whilst the other pole connects the 'positive' lead to the blend pot.

I'm slightly confused whether your preference is for a bridge blend or a neck blend, but I think you want a bridge blend. As such, the below is what the 10-way switching would look like when toggled into 'blend mode' for the bridge pickup (the highlighted positions are those that differ from the standard switching):

Position #1	Bridge
Position #2	Bridge + Middle
Position #3	Middle
Position #4	Middle + Neck + Blended Bridge
Position #5	Neck + Blended Bridge
Position #6	Bridge
Position #7	Bridge + Middle + Neck
Position #8	Bridge × Blended Neck *
Position #9	Bridge + Neck
Position #10	(Middle × Neck) + Blended Bridge

* in the position #8 series combination the opposite pickup (i.e. neck in this case) is shunted by the blend pot meaning the direction of the blend will be reversed in comparison to the parallel blending of the other positions.

The results would be very similar, just kinda inversed, if it's actually a neck blend you're after.

[anxullxxhi]

Oct 24, 2021 14:51:26 GMT -5 thedirestrat said:

Oct 24, 2021 8:29:51 GMT -5 anxullxxhi said:

Hey there thanks for the welcome.Yea the layouts the same as the original post with the bridge and neck pickups from the 10 way switch going to a blender pot,same only one master tone and volume as well, but no push pull pot.

If it works like I'm thinking I really don't mind the extra toggle switch, I'd just connect the ground from the bridge pickup to the spdt then split it to the 10 way switch and a pot. I'd only flip the bridges ground to pot when in position 6 and/or 2, and 1.

If not according to OP the blender mod seems to work fine in all positions except 1 and 6, or just in position 1. I can't tell if OP means it works in both 2 and 6, or just in one of those two, which is still cool either way. I initially started with the intent of just wanting to blend the bridge to the neck and middle, but couldnt help getting a bit greedy lol.

I feel you man... XDD

Yeah it's been awhile since I modded this Strat, it's really too bad the blend mod couldn't work out, because I have this random tone knob for the bridge pickup (the last knob) AND a master tone knob that also controls the bridge pickup. I actually don't like that at all to be honest, its so weird. I remember Yogi saying the solution would be a dual gang pot, where the second knob would connect to both of the neck and middle (It's like two tone knobs for two pickups but using only one knob), and then the last knob would be a tone knob solely for the bridge. 

And about the Blender mod... apparently it couldn't work with the 10 way. I forget why. 


This is what freeway said:

The blender is a nice idea however... Because the 5B5-01 switches both ends of the coils of the neck and bridge pickups (this is how it creates the "in-series" combinations), in positions where these pickups are not assigned, the unused coil end is not grounded and hence the blend pot has no effect. In other words, in position 1 you have the bridge pickup only - in this position the Free-Way is connecting one of the bridge pickup's coil ends to ground and the other to output. Because the neck pickup is not used in position 1, neither of it's coil ends are connected by the Free-Way and hence the blender will not bring the neck pickup into circuit in position 1, as the neck pickup has no ground applied. Does that make sense?

Even if you did include a blender pot, it would have some some further unusual effects in the upper bank as listed below:-

In position 6 (scheme A) where the middle and bridge are placed in series with each other, it would have no effect.
In position 6 (Scheme B) where all three pickups are placed in series, the blender would serve to fade the bridge pickup out of the series combination.
In Positions 7 and 9 the neck and bridge pickups are already connected together so the blender would have no effect there.
In position 8 the neck and bridge are placed in series with each other so the blender would vary between the in series combination and the bridge pickup on it's own.
In position 10 where the neck and middle are in series with each other the blender would have no effect.

But I remember there being something further down the line on why it couldn't work.

Yea that 10 way switch really fires up the imagination, its hard resisting not wanting to push it a little further lol. Thanks for relaying that info from freeway, it's a good bit to work out, but hopefully I'll be able to make some sense of it. Did you never go back in to rewire the last tone knob?

[anxullxxhi]

Oct 24, 2021 15:12:55 GMT -5 Yogi B said:

Although an 'always on' (or rather, always in circuit) blend pot won't work, using a switch to toggle between the standard switching and some kind of 'blender mode', as anxullxxhi suggests, should be somewhat possible — however, it will require at least a DPDT switch rather than the SPDT mentioned.

What I'm thinking is that one pole of the switch disconnects the 'negative' lead of the blended pickup from the switch and instead connects it directly to ground, whilst the other pole connects the 'positive' lead to the blend pot.

I'm slightly confused whether your preference is for a bridge blend or a neck blend, but I think you want a bridge blend. As such, the below is what the 10-way switching would look like when toggled into 'blend mode' for the bridge pickup (the highlighted positions are those that differ from the standard switching):

Position #1	Bridge
Position #2	Bridge + Middle
Position #3	Middle
Position #4	Middle + Neck + Blended Bridge
Position #5	Neck + Blended Bridge
Position #6	Bridge
Position #7	Bridge + Middle + Neck
Position #8	Bridge × Blended Neck *
Position #9	Bridge + Neck
Position #10	(Middle × Neck) + Blended Bridge

* in the position #8 series combination the opposite pickup (i.e. neck in this case) is shunted by the blend pot meaning the direction of the blend will be reversed in comparison to the parallel blending of the other positions.

The results would be very similar, just kinda inversed, if it's actually a neck blend you're after.

I initially was just captivated by the 10 way switch because of all the combinations, but then the neck and bridge combinations really caught my eye.

I've never had a Tele and have stayed away from them so getting a little bit of a Tele flavor from the switch got me pretty curious. Unfortunately I misunderstood how old Teles work and thought it was the bridge that was blended in when in position 3, the neck position, but it's the neck that blended in when in the bridge position, position 1.

Despite that I'll take whatever I can get lol.

OK so the necks ground and the neck or bridges positive lead would connect to the DPDT switch?

                  G
      To switch <000> to ground pot 
      To switch <000> to blender pot 
                  P

Then I would jump bridge hot to lug 2 of the blender pot?

I also came up with two other configurations, but Im not sure they work as good as what your suggestion.

Configuration 1:
One SPDT switch to control necks ground to pot and to switch, and a DPDT switch to control neck hot and bridge hot, so that when on it throws it to the blender pot and when off to the switch. When DPDT on SPDT would be toggled on throwing neck ground to ground pot.

Or

Configuration 2:
One DPDT switch to control both the bridges and necks ground, and one to control the leads as in configuration 2.

             B
             G
        BT <000> Pot ground 
Pot ground <000> NG
             N
             G

Sorry if this is a mess or I have misunderstood what your suggestion, but I really appreciate the help.

[anxullxxhi]

Oh the format didnt post like I was expecting, G and P connected to middle 0s, BG and NG same format connected to opposites sides of the switch again middle 0s.

[thedirestrat]

Wait... so that last tone knob of mine could actually be a blender knob? I thought it couldn't for some reason. There must have been some draw back somewhere.

I like the 10 way positions: 

Pos 5: Neck Only                            
Pos 4: Neck and Middle parallel
Pos 3: Middle
Pos 2: Middle and Bridge parallel
Pos 1: Bridge

(the extras)

Pos 6: (towards headstock): Neck and Middle in series
Pos 7: Neck and Bridge in parallel
Pos 8: Neck and Bridge in series
Pos 9: Neck and Bridge and Middle in parallel
Pos 10: Bridge and Middle in series.

Now with the blender, I would ideally want this:

Pos 5: Neck Only + Bridge blended in parallel
Pos 4: Neck and Middle parallel (+ Bridge blended in parallel as a consequence)
Pos 3: Middle
Pos 2: Middle and Bridge parallel
Pos 1: Bridge

(the extras)
I don't really care how the blender works for this, but I'm curious what affects there will be-- I do still want these positions the way they are however with the last tone knob rolled to 10 (blend off)
Pos 6: (towards headstock): Neck and Middle in series
Pos 7: Neck and Bridge in parallel
Pos 8: Neck and Bridge in series
Pos 9: Neck and Bridge and Middle in parallel
Pos 10: Bridge and Middle in series.

If this can be done, how can it be incorporated in Freeway Diagram?



Basically here, the middle pot would be a master tone control (like mine already is) and the last knob would be a blend knob.

[anxullxxhi]

Oct 24, 2021 18:07:59 GMT -5 thedirestrat said:

Wait... so that last tone knob of mine could actually be a blender knob? I thought it couldn't for some reason. There must have been some draw back somewhere.

I'm not exactly sure, my first thought was just to always have the bridge pickup on all the time which would be controlled by the blender knob,a no load pot, then that signal from the pot would be sent out in combination with the 10 way switchs OP.

So bridge hot would go to BH or to the blender pot via a DPDT switch, and the blender pot to one side of a 3 way Jazzmaster or Les Paul switch, the other side of the 3 way switch would be connected to the 10 way switches OP,the 3 way switch would then combine the the two signals, the bridges blender pot and 10 way switchs OP, sending them to the master volume lug 1, then tone wired to volume pot normally as in a one master volume and tone mod.

The problem was trying to figure out how to always have the bridge pickup on. I figured I could have a switch that could send the bridges hot lead to the BH or to the blender pot. So when in position 5 I could just send the bridge pickup straight to the blender pot skipping the 10 way switch with a DPDT switch. This might be a little convoluted due to needing 2 switches though, so I turned to a regular blender mod wiring scheme where the blender pot is wired to Neck hot and Bridge hot like in your original post. The problem seems to all come down to the the bridges and necks ground leads so using a switch seems to be unavoidable.

[Yogi B]

Oct 24, 2021 16:03:02 GMT -5 anxullxxhi said:

OK so the necks ground and the neck or bridges positive lead would connect to the DPDT switch?

                  G
      To switch <000> to ground pot 
      To switch <000> to blender pot 
                  P

Then I would jump bridge hot to lug 2 of the blender pot?

For the bridge blend what I'm thinking is something like the following diagram (shown as a push-pull for the sake of compactness):

I also came up with two other configurations, but Im not sure they work as good as what your suggestion...

As far as I can see if you wanted an extra switch to control which pickup is blended it would be similar to your "Configuration 2", however you'd need to upgrade the 'normal / blend mode' switch to a 3PDT — something like the following:

---

Oct 24, 2021 16:06:56 GMT -5 anxullxxhi said:

Oh the format didnt post like I was expecting, G and P connected to middle 0s, BG and NG same format connected to opposites sides of the switch again middle 0s.

I've hopefully fixed it, by wrapping the sections in both [pre] & [code] tags (either one should be sufficient, but something in the back of my mind says that in some cases I might need both).

[anxullxxhi]

Oct 24, 2021 21:09:55 GMT -5 Yogi B said:

Oct 24, 2021 16:03:02 GMT -5 anxullxxhi said:

OK so the necks ground and the neck or bridges positive lead would connect to the DPDT switch?

                  G
      To switch <000> to ground pot 
      To switch <000> to blender pot 
                  P

Then I would jump bridge hot to lug 2 of the blender pot?

For the bridge blend what I'm thinking is something like the following diagram (shown as a push-pull for the sake of compactness):

I also came up with two other configurations, but Im not sure they work as good as what your suggestion...

As far as I can see if you wanted an extra switch to control which pickup is blended it would be similar to your "Configuration 2", however you'd need to upgrade the 'normal / blend mode' switch to a 3PDT — something like the following:

---

Oct 24, 2021 16:06:56 GMT -5 anxullxxhi said:

Oh the format didnt post like I was expecting, G and P connected to middle 0s, BG and NG same format connected to opposites sides of the switch again middle 0s.

I've hopefully fixed it, by wrapping the sections in both [pre] & [code] tags (either one should be sufficient, but something in the back of my mind says that in some cases I might need both).

The wiring using the 3PDT switch looks perfect, if I'm understanding it right, I would be able to blend the bridge in when in position 6?

When you say from bridge hot and terminal BH do I solder 2 wires to the 3PDT switchs middle lug, one coming from the pickup and the other coming from the 10 way switch?

Same with from neck hot and terminal NH? I just started looking into this stuff awhile ago so I'm not sure when it's okay to use two wires on the same lug or if I would be jumping them elsewhere like it's done on BT and BG on the 10 way switch. I'm just still a bit confused when it comes to understanding the general flow of signal paths.

[anxullxxhi]

Also is the 3PDT a 2 position on on switch?

If I'm wiring the neck hot from the pickup and NH from the 10 way switch to the blender pot, will that blender pot always be on in the circuit or would it just be acting as jump and having no effect?

My master volume and tone pots are 500k so would a 250k blender pot dampen the necks highs before they reach my 500k master pots?

[Yogi B]

Oct 24, 2021 22:33:12 GMT -5 anxullxxhi said:

The wiring using the 3PDT switch looks perfect, if I'm understanding it right, I would be able to blend the bridge in when in position 6?

You would not — in position #6 you'd either get just the bridge pickup alone (when switched to "bridge blend mode") or the ability to bend the neck pickup in prallel with the stock series bridge & middle combination (when switched to "neck blend mode").

When you say from bridge hot and terminal BH do I solder 2 wires to the 3PDT switches middle lug, one coming from the pickup and the other coming from the 10 way switch?

You could, but as long as those three points are connected it doesn't really matter where they are connected. It would probably be easier to connect just a single wire from the 3PDT to BH on the 10-way and connect the 'hot' bridge pickup lead to BH also (since the terminals on the 10-way switch have two openings).

Same with from neck hot and terminal NH? I just started looking into this stuff awhile ago so I'm not sure when it's okay to use two wires on the same lug or if I would be jumping them elsewhere like it's done on BT and BG on the 10 way switch. I'm just still a bit confused when it comes to understanding the general flow of signal paths.

With probably 99% of guitar wiring so long as two things that are supposed to be connected are connected somewhere they ought to be fine — the resistance of hook-up wire is sufficiently low compared to the much higher impedances of pickups, pots, caps, etc. that exactly how things are connected together shouldn't matter much.

Oct 24, 2021 22:39:44 GMT -5 anxullxxhi said:

Also is the 3PDT a 2 position on on switch?

It is, yes. (I did briefly consider the option of using a single three position switch i.e. 4PDT ON/ON/ON to get all three modes on a single switch, but see no obvious way.)

If I'm wiring the neck hot from the pickup and NH from the 10 way switch to the blender pot, will that blender pot always be on in the circuit or would it just be acting as jump and having no effect?

For practical purposes, not circuit is formed through the blender pot and thus it will have no effect.

My master volume and tone pots are 500k so would a 250k blender pot dampen the necks highs before they reach my 500k master pots?

In the normal switching mode, with the blend pot (partially) disconnected, no (as above, there'll be no effect).

However when switched into one of the blend modes and turned all the way up (minimum parallel blend & maximum series blend, i.e. closest to the normal switching) there will be some damping of treble (unless the blend is, or is made into, a no-load pot).

[anxullxxhi]

Oct 27, 2021 15:06:07 GMT -5 Yogi B said:

Oct 24, 2021 22:33:12 GMT -5 anxullxxhi said:

The wiring using the 3PDT switch looks perfect, if I'm understanding it right, I would be able to blend the bridge in when in position 6?

You would not — in position #6 you'd either get just the bridge pickup alone (when switched to "bridge blend mode") or the ability to bend the neck pickup in prallel with the stock series bridge & middle combination (when switched to "neck blend mode").

When you say from bridge hot and terminal BH do I solder 2 wires to the 3PDT switches middle lug, one coming from the pickup and the other coming from the 10 way switch?

You could, but as long as those three points are connected it doesn't really matter where they are connected. It would probably be easier to connect just a single wire from the 3PDT to BH on the 10-way and connect the 'hot' bridge pickup lead to BH also (since the terminals on the 10-way switch have two openings).

Same with from neck hot and terminal NH? I just started looking into this stuff awhile ago so I'm not sure when it's okay to use two wires on the same lug or if I would be jumping them elsewhere like it's done on BT and BG on the 10 way switch. I'm just still a bit confused when it comes to understanding the general flow of signal paths.

With probably 99% of guitar wiring so long as two things that are supposed to be connected are connected somewhere they ought to be fine — the resistance of hook-up wire is sufficiently low compared to the much higher impedances of pickups, pots, caps, etc. that exactly how things are connected together shouldn't matter much.

Oct 24, 2021 22:39:44 GMT -5 anxullxxhi said:

Also is the 3PDT a 2 position on on switch?

It is, yes. (I did briefly consider the option of using a single three position switch i.e. 4PDT ON/ON/ON to get all three modes on a single switch, but see no obvious way.)

If I'm wiring the neck hot from the pickup and NH from the 10 way switch to the blender pot, will that blender pot always be on in the circuit or would it just be acting as jump and having no effect?

For practical purposes, not circuit is formed through the blender pot and thus it will have no effect.

My master volume and tone pots are 500k so would a 250k blender pot dampen the necks highs before they reach my 500k master pots?

In the normal switching mode, with the blend pot (partially) disconnected, no (as above, there'll be no effect).

However when switched into one of the blend modes and turned all the way up (minimum parallel blend & maximum series blend, i.e. closest to the normal switching) there will be some damping of treble (unless the blend is, or is made into, a no-load pot).

Ah my brain got a little fried trying to understand it all and I confused position 6 with position 10 lol.

Awesome I was a little worried about trying to solder 2 wires onto the tiny little switches I got from Amazon so connecting it from the 10 way instead takes some of the pressure off. Apparently if heated too much the plastic will melt so I'll have "experiment" with a few before I hopefully get it right.

4PDT switch? I could barely figure out the 3PDT switch lol, thanks for the help, I really appreciate you taking out the time to diagram it and everything. It wasn't until a bit ago, when looking over everything again that I just understood why my configuration 2 would have never enabled the 10 way to work properly, so I would have completely lost without the help.

It's also when I realized, like you said, that the 250K pot wouldn't affect anything unless turned on because of it being a no load pot at the very least, which should have been obvious to me lol, but my brain was working overtime.

So does the blend pot being a no load make its value moot? I initially thought this was the case, but ended up getting a 250k mini pot anyway just in case I was wrong. Im planning on converting it to a no load rather then dealing with a regular sized one, but it took me awhile on finally deciding what value to go with.

[newey]

Oct 28, 2021 3:44:11 GMT -5 anxullxxhi said:

So does the blend pot being a no load make its value moot? I initially thought this was the case, but ended up getting a 250k mini pot anyway just in case I was wrong.

No, the pot's value also affects the range of adjustment as you turn the knob. Higher values have less adjustment as you turn the knob down. At some point (like 3MΩ, maybe) the pot will be all-or-nothing, more like an on-off switch.

[anxullxxhi]

Oh I think I read something like that which is what's confused me, so the higher the value the more range there is to dial in?

At 250k compared to 1 Meg, the range of motion is shorter so blending would be faster, but does it still cutoff the highs of pickups the same way regular pots do?

[newey]

Oct 28, 2021 15:08:33 GMT -5 anxullxxhi said:

At 250k compared to 1 Meg, the range of motion is shorter so blending would be faster, but does it still cutoff the highs of pickups the same way regular pots do?

2 different things going on. When turned to "10", a 250K pot will darken the tone, cutting some highs, as compared with a higher value pot, which will sound brighter. HBs tend to sound a bit darker than single coil pickups, so 500K pots are typically used with HBs to preserve more treble, while 250K is typical for single coils, to reduce the treble a bit. This is all a matter of individual preference however. Earlier Fender guitars often used 1MΩ pots because the early tube amps of the 1950's lacked treble response, so higher-value pots were used to preserve more treble. But amp design has changed, and higher value pots can be too trebly now, giving the tone often described as "icepick-like".

The range of motion doesn't change (that is to say, you still can rotate the knob through the same arc, 270° or whatever), but the degree of fine adjustment possible within that arc does change. It is however the opposite of what you said- higher value pots have less adjustment range than lower values. With a 1M pot, for example, the adjustment will all happen over a shorter arc. As I said above, go too high and the pot stops behaving like a pot, it operates more like a switch, all or nothing, no adjustment at all is available.

[anxullxxhi]

Oh so no load pots function the same as regular pots except for that they can be completely shut off? Putting a capacitor on it would make it more or less a regular tone pot or grounding it a volume pot?

I kept trying to look up whether no load pots affected tone and just ended up more confused then ever. I tend to over think things lol.

[newey]

In a "no-load" pot, the resistance track is cut at one end, so that the resistance "load" of the pot is effectively out of the circuit at full clockwise, giving a bit more treble. Typically they are only used for tone pots. To have it act as a tone pot as you turn the knob down, yes, it needs a capacitor. Below "10" on the knob, it acts just like a regular tone pot

[stevewf]

Oct 28, 2021 16:22:39 GMT -5 newey said:

Oct 28, 2021 15:08:33 GMT -5 anxullxxhi said:

At 250k compared to 1 Meg, the range of motion is shorter so blending would be faster, but does it still cutoff the highs of pickups the same way regular pots do?

[...] It is however the opposite of what you said- higher value pots have less adjustment range than lower values. With a 1M pot, for example, the adjustment will all happen over a shorter arc. As I said above, go too high and the pot stops behaving like a pot, it operates more like a switch, all or nothing, no adjustment at all is available.

I haven't experimented lots with high-res pots, and I wonder why it's like an on/off. My only guess is that there's a small range of resistance where we can hear a difference, and that a high-res pot will sweep through this range in a smaller knob-turn arc. Or is it something else?

[newey]

Yes, you have got the idea. As you turn the knob, nothing will happen until a certain point, then everything will happen in a small rage, then nothing below that point.

[thedirestrat]

I'm turning the out of phase push pull into a "blower or bright" switch! I think this shouldn't interfere with the wiring already discussed here (10 way switch jazz)