Armstrong wiring simplified

[nerd]

Hi,

Is it possible to mod Armstrong blender to affect only bridge position (bridge + middle in series) and keeping all other strat positions stock?

I would appreciate any help with this

[jhng]

Hello, you could try the stock parts mod that I outlined in this thread:

guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/9750/cool-stock-parts-strat-mod

I've never done it, but I really liked the idea. So if you do try it, please do let us know how you find it. Essentially, the blender only affects the M and M+B positions. It blends M to MxB (series) and blends M+B to N+B. So the two added sounds are MxB and N+B, which are two of the most useful additions to a Strat.

The one downside of the mod is that it involves loading the Bridge pickup with a pot, which might knock the top off its tone. For this reason, instead of having a master tone, you may want instead to just put the tone on the Neck pickup (so that it only operates when the Neck pickup is on). You may also want to use a higher value pot for the blend (e.g. 500k rather than 250k).

[nerd]

Feb 10, 2022 17:02:14 GMT -5 jhng said:

Hello, you could try the stock parts mod that I outlined in this thread:

guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/9750/cool-stock-parts-strat-mod

I've never done it, but I really liked the idea. So if you do try it, please do let us know how you find it. Essentially, the blender only affects the M and M+B positions. It blends M to MxB (series) and blends M+B to N+B. So the two added sounds are MxB and N+B, which are two of the most useful additions to a Strat.

The one downside of the mod is that it involves loading the Bridge pickup with a pot, which might knock the top off its tone. For this reason, instead of having a master tone, you may want instead to just put the tone on the Neck pickup (so that it only operates when the Neck pickup is on). You may also want to use a higher value pot for the blend (e.g. 500k rather than 250k).

Thank you for taking your time to reply. This is a great wiring idea but I still want it my way mainly as its easier to throw in the bridge pickup with selector in position 5 and blend in the series coil. Although I like the idea of having neck and bridge pickup in parallel and I could easily give up the middle switch position to have that. I never use the middle pickup alone.

I have a day off tomorrow so I will be having a go on drawing the layout / schematic. I would love to have a second pair of eyes going over it for me

Cheers
Pav

[jhng]

What you are aiming for is quite easy but with one issue you need to be aware of. That is in the M+B position. What will happen is that as you blend in the MxB in the Bridge position, you will also blend out the B in the M+B position. So that at the end of the blend you will have: N, N+M, M, M, BxM.

If you are okay with that, then it is easy to achieve. Look at the Armstrong mod and compare to a stock strat wiring. Basically, you want to wire the tone control, blender and the 'ground' side of Bridge pickup as shown in the Armstrong mod, but leave the Neck pickup wiring like stock and ignore all the stuff with the second pole of the 5-way switch, which will remain completely unused.

Very happy to have a quick look over your diagram.