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Post by jhng on Jun 6, 2022 8:08:13 GMT -5
After lots of tweaks, revisions and experiments, I eventually finalized and implemented the new wiring for my Strat. The schematic is shown below. It uses a 3-way blade switch, two blenders instead of tone pots and a push/pull under the volume pot. It's conceptually a bit complicated but simple in practice and I have found it both easier and more versatile than my previous set up which had a five-way and a push/pull giving ten separate sounds. Operation is as follows: 1. N 2. N+(BxM) 3. BxM The second 'Tone' control is a blender which controls the BxM series mix, ranging from Bridge only at 10 to Middle only at 0. The first 'Tone' control mainly takes effect in position 1. As you roll back from 10, it brings in the BxM mix in series with the Neck pickup. As the first 'Tone' control approaches 0, it also adds a capacitor (0.047uf) across the Middle pickup (in all positions). This gives BxM and NxM broadbucker options, after experimenting I decided these were very useful to have. It also means that Middle only and N+M effectively have a regular tone control option, although that's really a bug rather a feature. The push/pull pot is under the Volume and was already in the guitar from the previous wiring. It changes position 2 only. Instead of Neck being in parallel with BxM, Neck is now in series and out of phase with BxM. This gives access to both NxB oop and NxM oop (a classic Brian May lead sound) as well as NxMxB oop in between. I am very pleased with the switch, since it gives the most useful OOP options but without interfering with functionality in positions 1 and 3. NxM OOP as a broadbucker also turns out to be unexpectedly distinctive and useful. That was a pleasant surprise and not something I had test-driven. The volume pot is a 500k audio taper. Both 'Tone' pots are 500k linear. This does mean that series blending mostly happens in the 0-2 or 8-10 space rather than throughout. However, I'm fine with that. The most significant compromise, which is worth flagging up, is that this setup does not give access to M+B in parallel (i.e. 'Strat quack'). I've never liked that sound and was very happy to ditch it. Including it felt like an exercise in completeness rather than something I actually needed or wanted. However, I know it would be deal-breaker for many Strat players, so mentioning it up front.
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