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Post by newey on Feb 26, 2024 22:23:08 GMT -5
I want to be sure I understand you correctly, because the JohnH Hastings Strat diagram you posted above does give you the N and B in the third switch position- but the two are in series, not parallel. The diagram uses the "*" symbol for series, and when you said "N + B", I assumed (and JohnH did as well) that you meant you wanted the parallel combination of N and B.
If it's series you want, the diagram does so. Although I haven't checked your translation of the diagram to your 5-way switch yet. I can do so if you decide that's how your going to go.
I don't think that's quite it. The diagram is a very clever use of the peculiarities of the standard 5-way switch, namely the fact that we have two "shorting positions" at positions 2 and 4. The diagram makes clever use of this on both poles of the switch. On one pole, the middle pickup alone is controlled. Ordinarily, we use the "common", or "pole" lug of a switch pole to do the switching we want, but here, the middle pickup is connected to the output at positions 2 and 4 only (and not at 3, since that is to be our N * B combo). Since position 2 shorts together whatever is connected at position 1 and position 3 (and 4 does the same with 3 and 5), the middle pickup is connected to output via a jumper at the middle lug. So the common lug is not used at all on the middle pickup's side of the switch. The middle pickup connects to the 1st and 3rd lugs, and then gets connected via the short to the middle lug when at either position 2 or 4.
On the opposite side of the switch, the neck pickup's "negative" wire is connected to the commons of the switch, and the bridge "hot" commects there as well. Neck "hot" is permanently connected to output, and the bridge "negative" is permanenetly grounded. Note that the center lug on that side of the switch is left unconnected to anything. So, when the switch is in the 3rd position, we get a "series chain" with the bridge pickup's "ground" at one end and the neck's "hot" at the other. For the other switch positions, either the neck or the bridge pickup is shorted to itself as needed, leaving the other pickup either by itself or connected with the middle pickup.
Hope that helps. It is a clever and very non-obvious way to use that particular switch.
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Post by newey on Feb 26, 2024 21:50:45 GMT -5
It'll be a beauty however you finish it, gerinski! Your luthier is clearly invested in this project, so if you have question marks about the finish, maybe he would glue up a couple of scrap pieces of the same wood used for the body so you could test-spray a couple of different finishes, see what you liked. I myself might not be so quick to rule out your first idea of a translucent grey, I've not seen that done and it sounds pretty cool, I get your concern about the color of the underlying wood but I'm not sure that's going to be so bad. I've seen trans green finishes over woods similar to your that looked fantastic. Occasionally you'll see a tranlucent black finish, those can look nice as well. So grey doesn't seem so "out there" to me, maybe.
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Post by newey on Feb 26, 2024 21:39:32 GMT -5
mitch88- Sorry, didn't intend for you to spend an hour scratching your head. We use the "OOP" abbreviation for "out-of-phase quite a lot around here, and I forget that not everyone gets the nomenclature. To complete the thought, you may also see "POOP" for "parallel out-of-phase" or "SOOP", "series out-of-phase". We also use "HOOP" for "half out-of-phase" which is perhaps descriptive more than technically correct- one coil of the combination is partially bypassed by a capacitor.
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Post by newey on Feb 20, 2024 12:15:24 GMT -5
Just curious, no real hurry or anything.
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Post by newey on Feb 19, 2024 22:50:51 GMT -5
frets- Looks like a cool idea. Can you post some sound samples?
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Post by newey on Feb 19, 2024 22:40:04 GMT -5
jlaff- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!I would consider closely how much you really want/need that master volume pot. When either the neck or bridge pickup is selected by itself, you'll have three pot elements (V, T and Master) loading the circuit which can dull your tone, but maybe not something you'd notice. Flip to the center position on your three-way, though, and with both pickups active, you'll have 5 pots in the circuit. That's quite a lot. I'm guessing that will knock your high end off noticeably. You might want to look at JohnH's GuitarFreq. You could at least get a graphical look at the changes that would be entailed with the pot set-up you have outlined. Not the same as hearing it, naturally, but just to give an idea. Treble bleeds are fine, but they won't solve the issue I'm thinking here. If you really want a master volume, just wire the guitar like a regular ol' Les Paul with individual V and T pots. Then get an active volume pedal with a buffer- no tone loss, and will operate truly independently of the guitar's onboard controls. But that's just my 2¢ worth . . .
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Post by newey on Feb 19, 2024 6:24:05 GMT -5
Yes, kittentaser, you have done well, looks good to me. A couple of points. First, your push/pull switch will select both outer coils at position 3, which will be both the screw coils if the pickups are oriented as per your diagram. This will not be hum-cancelling. No way around this with the coil splits that you want. However, also be aware that positions 2 and 4, BN + NS and BS + NN may not sound appreciably different, assuming the pickups coils are identically wound. mikecg's link to the tone controls I question. The guy seems to minimize the issue- interaction of the V and T controls- with the '50's wiring and lauds the positives. That control interaction is a deal-killer for '50's wiring in my book. And the idea that, somehow, the so-called '60's wiring will be noisier than the modern version I'm not buying it. I'd need some objective testing before I'm buying that which lug on the tone pot gets used makes any difference in the noise floor. Dirk Wacker is the guy who writes this stuff for Premier Guitar and I have often found some of his stuff to be questionable if not outright wrong. Use his name as a search term here and I'm sure a few examples will pop up.
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Post by newey on Feb 17, 2024 7:12:16 GMT -5
Your diagram looks OK except that, in the text of your post, you said you wanted position 3 to be the outer coils in series. You have the outer coils at 3, but they're in parallel, not series. This can be fairly easily fixed if you do want the outer coils in series. Disconnect the green jumper wire that goes between the 2 lower poles of the switch at position 3. The blue (S End) wire from the bridge HB needs to be wired to lug 3 on the upper right pole, so it connects to the N End (purple wire). The wire currently grounding the N purple wire at 3 is then removed. Thus, Bridge S Start will remain permanently grounded, Bridge S End coonect to Neck N end, neck S is permanently connected to output.
(BTW, the "End" of a coil wire is typically called the "Finish", not the "End". Doesn't really matter except if you abbreviate the wires as "NS, NF, SF, SS" everyone will understand what you mean without typing out "End".)
While your diagram will work as drawn, it could be simplified. Because you have both HB's "N Start" coils permanently wired to the output, this forces you into a lot of shorting of coils to themselves, rather than simply disconnecting the coil. And more solder joints means more potential points of failure. Since you are just learning, try redrawing the diagram, but connect the bridge "hot" to one pole of the switch and use that pole to switch the bridge "hot" in/out of the circuit. The bridge HB's middle wires would then both be controlled by one pole. See if you can work out the same wiring that way. The Neck wiring, since you want series/parallel coils for the neck, will stay largely the same (except where it connects to the bridge HB).
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Post by newey on Feb 15, 2024 12:09:58 GMT -5
I live in Tarpon Springs so your tarpon term is extra fun. As I intended. I saw that you IP address came back from Tarpon Springs. The staff checks all new members to keep an eye on likely spammers.
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Post by newey on Feb 13, 2024 20:15:35 GMT -5
Yours is the more thorough disquisition, I did it short-hand and clarity clearly suffered.
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Post by newey on Feb 12, 2024 21:15:57 GMT -5
Forget Charlie and just focus on the Liar, who has to be one of the three. If the Liar were to state "I am not the truthteller", that would be a true statement, but the Liar always lies. So, the Liar cannot have stated he was a truthteller.
If the Liar says "I am not the spy", that is also a true statement becuase the Liar always lies while the spy is sometimes truthful, so the Liar also cannot make that statement.
If the Liar says "I am not the Liar", that is a lie, and so is the only consistent statement the Liar could make.
Therefore, whoever says they are not the liar is, in fact, the Liar. And we are told that Charlie was the one who said that. Ergo, Charlie is the Liar.
The other two then follow via process of elimination, as you noted.
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Post by newey on Feb 12, 2024 18:31:43 GMT -5
kittentaser- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!when it comes to wiring i am a toddler. Hopefully we can get you past the toddler stage, get you up and running . . . . But it will, I'm afraid, involve teaching you to fish as opposed to handing you a tarpon. mikecg's diagram (by adding the "@" sign, I'm "tagging" Mike so he sees this thread) is an electrical schematic diagram, that's why it doesn't look like SD's, which are wiring diagrams. A schematic simply shows electrically "what connects to what". It doesn't know or care about the actual shapes or sizes of the components, it is only concerned with their connections. So, in a schematic, a componenet like your 4-pole Superswitch-type is shown by mikecg as 4 separate disambiguated switch poles, with the 5 positions on each numbered 1-5 (middle numbers are omitted for clarity). As shown on his diagram, the dotted line represents the 5-way switch in Position 1; the other end of the dotted line is connected to the common lug for that pole. All 4 poles are, physically, part of the same 5-way switch, but the schematic separates them apart so the connections can be more readily traced. The push/pull switch is shown in the lower right portion, as a series of 6 dots, again with the dotted line showing the common lug connecting to the "up" or "down" lugs, as they are labelled. His pickup connections are labelled "NS", i.e., "North Start", "SF" "South Finish" as so forth. With a bit of looking at it, you'll see what I mean. So, when we are working out a scheme, a schematic is usually the first step. The schematic is then translated into a wiring diagram like SD has, and the actual soldering is done using the wiring diagram. So, see if you can translate mikecg's schematic into a wiring diagram. You'll have questions- ask away. You'll make mistakes- we'll correct them in a non-judgmental fashion. We, too, all toddled once.
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Post by newey on Feb 11, 2024 15:42:45 GMT -5
Just a guess, but my guess would be that, if the pickguards don't interchange, then it's unlikely that the control positions are identical. I believe US and Mex Fender guards do interchange, but Squier do not, so my suspicion would be yes for US-Mex but no for Squier vs either of the others. But, no way to check it for sure as JohnH said above.
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Post by newey on Feb 11, 2024 15:35:56 GMT -5
I came at this a bit differently. Charlie can only be the liar because, if he is not, he would be telling the truth when he says he's not the liar. Once we nail Charlie, the others just fall into place- Alice can't be th etruthteller if she says she's not, so she's the spy and Bob is the truthteller by process of elimination.
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Post by newey on Feb 5, 2024 12:43:01 GMT -5
finn- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!Your explaination of a possible mechanism for this problem makes sense, but then I thought the same as you: Are you using a commercially-available piezo system or was this a DIY effort? And, where is the piezo trnasducer mounted? Also (and I'm certainly no expert on piezos, so I could be wrong) it is my understanding that a piezo pickup is not sensing the strings directly, the change in pressure to generate the signal comes from the vibrations of the guitar body itself, not from the strings. I say this because I have seen/heard piezos work just fine when mounted on all sorts of places on a guitar, not just at the bridge or under the strings. A piezo disc can be pressed between the neck heel and the body at the neck attachment and it will work just fine.
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Post by newey on Jan 31, 2024 22:18:26 GMT -5
johancoffey- ashcatlt is right, all the grounds can just daisy-chain together, you don't need to disconnect the grounds at the switches, just the "hot". You did well for a first effort. However, your guitar pickups produce AC current, not DC, so the terms "positive" and "negative" don't have the same meaning as they do with DC. We use pluses and minuses, "pos." and "neg" as convenient shorthand terms, but keep in mind that they are not technically accurate. Yes, because you then don't have a circuit. But the pickup will be equally off if you disconnect the "hot" connection, because you then don't have a circuit. But, as you may see (or have seen) discussed around here, we prefer, when possible, to disconnect the pickup at the so-called "hot" line. It may theoretically be less prone to generating noise than if the hot line is left connected and the ground disconnected.
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Post by newey on Jan 31, 2024 6:49:35 GMT -5
johancoffey- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!Are all the pickups from the same manufacturer? What you want to do is simple enough and certainly possible with the parts you have. I asked about the pickup manufacturer because one thing you will want to do is set it up such that, when both HBs are split, the two coils selected will hum-cancel with each other. Series/parallel wiring is a whole 'nother topic. You could wire the HBs (either or both) to switch the connection between the two coils from series to parallel. Or, you can put two or three of the pickups into series with each other rather than the usual parallel combinations. But all of that would require different or additional switching. As one example, if those DPDT toggles that you are using to select the pickups were 3-position On-On-On toggles, you could wire it to have series/parallel/split coil for each HB (the middle single coil would just use a 2-position switch for on/off). The diagram I drew for that other thread has both HBs split by a single DPDT- one pole splits one HB, the other pole splits the other. The two HBs are wired differently so as to split to opposite coils for hum-cancelling. To have a separate switch for splitting each HB, you can use that diagram, with one half of the switch as shown on the diagram wired to one push/pull, and the other half wired to the other. You will only be using one-half (i.e., one pole) of each push/pull switch. But again, we'll need more info on the pickups to ensure hum-cancellation. But you can rough out a diagram for what you want using the diagram from the thread above. As for the pickup switches, wire the "hot" lead of each pickup to the center lug of its respective switch. The top lug (or bottom, depending on switch orientation) is then soldered to the V pot CCW lug for each pickup. Flip the switch one way and the pickup connects to the output (via the V pot), flipped the other way, the hot line of that pickup is disconnected. All three pickup negatives get grounded.
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Post by newey on Jan 29, 2024 6:48:37 GMT -5
Does it have to be a reverse 1Meg Potentiometer for the bass cut? No, but that taper works best. A concentric pot is a pot with two "gangs" (i.e., two resistive elements) with two "nested" shafts, which uses concentric knobs- the inner knob controls one "gang" of the pot, the outer "ring" knob controls the other. You could use concentric pots, certainly, and thus have separate tones for each pickup using just one hole. A dual-gang pot also has two gangs, but both rotate on the same shaft, a single knob controls both. The problem with a straight V-V-T setup is that, with a master tone after the individual volumes, the controls will interact. When you have both pickups "on", turning either V pot will reduce the volume of both. Separating the tone controls to separate pots (or separate gangs) doesn't totally eliminate the interactions when both pickups are on, but it minimizes the issues.
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Post by newey on Jan 28, 2024 20:53:20 GMT -5
toolatetotheparty- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!Lots of possibilities here. I am going to assume, for starters, that the 3-way lever switch will be used as a regular pickup selector, with both HBs in parallel in the middle position. Are you averse to adding push/pull pots or do you just want to use the components on hand? To avoid wonkiness of the controls, this is best done using a "dual-gang" pot, essentially 2 pots controlled by a single shaft. This is then wired with each pickup having its own half of the dual gang pot for its tone. You wire the controls just like an LP with dual V and T pots.
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Post by newey on Jan 25, 2024 6:30:16 GMT -5
nobulusprime- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!Basically I'd like some true series parallel options without adding extra DPDTs (it already has 3!) but I'd also like to have an out phase option. What are the other push/pulls doing now? I think we're probably going to need a diagram of your current wiring as a starting point here? If one of the existing tone pots could be eliminated, this may simplify things.
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Post by newey on Jan 25, 2024 6:14:37 GMT -5
dennisc130- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!There are others here who are more clever than I am. Whenever I say it can't be done, often someone proves me wrong. But I don't see how this could be done with just a single DPDT. Switching phase occupies both poles of a DPDT, but you not only want to swap phase, you want to add a cap in one 5-way position but not the other. Seems to me that would require at least one more pole on the switch. With a Superswitch? We'd have to look at that, might be possible. I strongly suspect that this would also require more switch poles. Are you open to using the Fender S-1 switch? At a glance here, I'm thinking a Superswitch and an S-1 would be the minimum switching reqwuired, but let's let others weigh in. If it can be done, we can work up a diagram. Also, just thinking aloud here, if you were willing to lose the series/parallel switch for the middle pickup and convert that switch to a middle phase switch, things would be simplified considerably.
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Post by newey on Jan 22, 2024 18:34:15 GMT -5
I somehow missed that he said "series/parallel" switch as well. That does complcated the picture.
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Post by newey on Jan 22, 2024 11:26:21 GMT -5
arseniic- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2! Squier made (and makes) several different Strat models. Some, like the original Fender Strats, have 3 pots- 2 tones and a master volume. Others simply had 2 pots, a master V and T. You mentioned wanting separate volumes for the middle pickup and for the neck/bridge. How many post do you have on this guitar/ Is there going to be a tone pot at all? Apart from questions about the pots, the rest of what you want is fairly straightforward. It's just regular 5-position Strat wiring with a "neck on" switch". The "neck on" switch is just a module that will be wired between the neck pickup and the 5-way switch. We can show you how to do that pretty easily. Since you are using different types of pickups, however, we will need to sort out the wire colors.
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Post by newey on Jan 21, 2024 7:44:32 GMT -5
deathfingerz- You'll probably need MattB to get back to you on this one. But you have 6 combinations listed for what started out as a 5-way switch. Do you plan on using a 6-position lever switch (these do exist) to get the extra N + B position? If you're using a regular 5-position switch, the easiest way to get the N + B combo is to add a "neck on" switch, which could be a simple toggle switch or could be on a push/pull switch on one of the pots. This turns the neck pickup "on" regardless of the position of the 5-way switch, so that, with the 5-way set to the B position, you get the N + B with the switch flipped. You also get N + M + B at the second position with the "neck on" activated. I'm unclear on this. Neither of MattB's diagrams above have any coil splitting going on. The mod is to give series/parallel options. Both versions require a Superswitch, plus either an S-1 or a separate DPDT.
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Post by newey on Jan 20, 2024 9:14:00 GMT -5
mihn- Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!Sorry but the link to your diagram doesn't work, so we can't see the diagram you're using. You can't directly link to a reddit feed, you will need to download the image and then upload it to the forum here, using either the Cloudinary upload or the "Postimage Upload" features (the buttons to do so are found at the upper right of the reply window when you reply to a thread).
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Post by newey on Jan 19, 2024 23:30:23 GMT -5
No, newey, I haven’t moved my amp and tested my signal in another room. Do you think that would be necessary now? That's to test for noise issues. This sounds like a pot problem.
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Post by newey on Jan 19, 2024 9:21:53 GMT -5
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Post by newey on Jan 19, 2024 6:13:48 GMT -5
tlg1100Can you post a picture of the diagram they sent you, and perhaps pics of the guitar itself, especially the pickup wires?
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Post by newey on Jan 17, 2024 20:53:53 GMT -5
It helps solder adhesion to rough up the back of the pot a bit with a piece of sandpaper (the black oxide kind used for metal).
But I avoid soldering to the backs of pots and use a star ground technique. In fact, that was what brought me to this forum some 16 years ago or so.
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Post by newey on Jan 17, 2024 15:48:07 GMT -5
Can't tell much from the pictures, I have more questions than answers:
-The piezo pickup appears to have a mini (or micro?) plug attached to it. Do you know where that plug is supposed to go?
-The pot with the capacitor is a tone. WHether the other two are volumes or not, I can't see from the picture, and again, can't tell where the piezo plugs in. It strikes me as possible that the third pot may be a blender pot to blend the piezo and mag signals, but can't see the connections from the photo (and I can't enlarge it, either).
-It looks as if the + output (red wire to the jack) is soldered to the tip of the jack rather than to one of the solder lugs. There are 2 solder lugs on the jack, one for the tip connection and one for the sleeve. Those are where to make the connections to the jack. While the connection to the tip will certainly work, at least for a while, the contact for the tip of the plug is in effect a "moving part" of the jack- it bends backwards a bit when you insert the plug into the jack, to make contact with the tip of the plug. That movement is likely to cause that solder joint at the tip to fail at some point. Use the appropriate solder lug to make that connection. (It is sometimes hard to see which lug is which, you have to examine the metal collars under the phenolic insulator layers carefully).
-Finally, is there an active circuit for the piezo pickup (i.e., a preamp and 9V battery)? Most piezo set-ups will have an active preamp for the piezo so that the relative output levels of the two types of pickups will better match each other.
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