Help + Assistance Please (Wiring)

[Los7]

Hello again. My pups and Mid boost kit is now here and is sitting on the desk infront of me. I have the wiring diagram here also which has got me a little stumped. I have basic understanding of electrics and wiring and know how to use a soldering iron, so i feel fairly confident in this department. Question 1 - On the diagram it says that on the 5 way switch the neck pickup is in the far right, then the middle pup then the bridge pup. But on my guitar (that is now in pieces) the neck pup is wired differently. Pic 1 shows diagram, Pic 2 shows my guitar wiring as it is now.


on the far right is the bridge pup, then middle, then neck, so this is different to the diagram. Do switches come wired different differently? if so, how would i know what selection the switch is on does what? if someone could point me to somewhere that explaines how the switches work and how to wire them up with the tone pots, that would be smashing.
on the pots, there are three lugs that you solder the wires to. What do these lugs do, as on my guitar, there are 1 on each pot (of the tone pots) that are not wired to anything.
I think thats it for now, cause i cant really start anything till i have the cavity routed for the mid boost circuit board and battery

[Offshore Angler]

Yes, switches do come differently. You have a non-Fender switch there too. Even the Fender-style can be backwards from one another between brands (the Carvin switch for example). Since the switch you have is closed it may be impossible to follow the switching schema by following the traces. In that case, just use a mulitmeter to figure it out. Your easiest route, of course, is to just change the switch to a Fender style.

The lugs are where you solder the wires.

[elicross]

I had a Squier with one of those box-style switches. When it came time to change the pups on it, I just ended up ordering a Fender switch from MF. It was the easiest (if not the cheapest) way to be sure I wired up the new pups correctly, and I had a feeling the Fender switch would be more reliable in the long term, anyway.

[Los7]

i was thinking about getting the fender switch, but i know what goes to what now, so i'll probably just leave it and wire it up with that one. My next problem... after making sure i knew where everything went, it was all clear apart from one little thing. On the TBX pot, it has an 82K resistor. I know one end goes to the pot itself, but i cant work out where the other end goes. I think it goes to the bottom left lug, and the top middle lug (so 1 end goes to 2 different lugs). I have another diagram, thats a little clearer but i'm still not 100%. Could anybody enlighten me.
And one more quick question... if by any change, i wire something wrong, is there any chance i could blow something up or damage anything(guitar/amp/me......)

[Offshore Angler]

One side of the resistor goes through the side lug on the pot closest to the shaft and then continues to the center lug of the bottom pot. The other end of the resistor is connected to the case of the bottom pot.

[Los7]

Ok, no laughing at my poor attempt of a diagram. I think i've done just enough for you guys to half understand what your about to read.
That there below is my switch. I can see through the circuit board on the switch to see what goes where. All problems that have arisen so far i have worked out, this is the last one. Firstly, lets take a look at my picture


There is one more wire to solder, but where does it go? If you look above, you'll see the clapton wiring diagram. The wire on the left that goes to the TBX pot is the one i cant work out. I want the TBX pot to be able to adjust the tone on all 3 pickups. Looking at my diagram, what lug do i solder it too?
If my knowledge is correct, i'm guessing its soldered to pin 4 (the one next to the neck lug)... Who's with me?

[Kap'n]

Ok, no laughing at my poor attempt of a diagram. I think i've done just enough for you guys to half understand what your about to read.
That there below is my switch. I can see through the circuit board on the switch to see what goes where. All problems that have arisen so far i have worked out, this is the last one. Firstly, lets take a look at my picture


There is one more wire to solder, but where does it go? If you look above, you'll see the clapton wiring diagram. The wire on the left that goes to the TBX pot is the one i cant work out. I want the TBX pot to be able to adjust the tone on all 3 pickups. Looking at my diagram, what lug do i solder it too?
If my knowledge is correct, i'm guessing its soldered to pin 4 (the one next to the neck lug)... Who's with me?

Maybe. It's hard to tell from the diagram.

The other option is each wire slides to the left, and it goes on the rightmost lug.

Look at the switch closer, or get a multimeter.

[Los7]

well pin 4 and 5 are normally soldered together then go to the volume pot with this switch and a stock strat. But looking at the diagram, it looks as if the circuit board controls the volume so to speak. I have a multimeter... what do i do with it...? am i looking for a complete circuit on the lug i'm gonna solder it too (in every pickup position)

[Kap'n]

If you number the lug postions

1234 5678

If you set the switch to "neck" either 5 and 6 should be connected, or 5 and 8.

If 5 and 6 are connected, the switch should be wired:

xxxx VNMB

Being Volume, Neck, Middle and Bridge.

If 5 and 8 are connected, the switch should be wired:

xxxx NMBV

[Los7]

:) i think i got it now, thanks Kap'n. Its 5 and 6 (your pin numbers) that has the connection(switch set to neck). so its lug 5 that gets wired to the middle TBX pot lug and also gets wired to the circuit board.
The guitar is getting routed tomorrow. So if my soldering skills are up to scratch, my guitar should be making some sort of noise tomorrow.
Thanks for all your help

[Los7]

There's no noise as of yet, as i didn't make it to the guitar shop to get the cavity cut out. He has the body now, but it wont be done till tuesday. Is there any draw backs about putting the 9v battery into the pots cavity? will it do any damage, or cause interference in anyway? Cheers

[Los7]

well guys, it seems as tho i was telling lies when i said i could use a soldering iron. I have been at it for 6 hours. Its just to hard. I got it all together, all i had to do was solder the pups... and i just give up. I should have just let a pro do it. i've probably broken something as well, so it was a complete waste of time... oh well

[humbuxx]

Hey Los7, FWIW, I put together 2 Strats with EC circuits in them, and after failing miserably to do a decent soldering job on the first, and realizing that the stock MIM body I had would NOT accommodate the 9V battery and the circuit board with any measure of decency, I decided to go to a pro luthier and get both the body modifications and the circuit board soldering done by him.
Looking back on it, I would MOST DEFINITELY say it was money well spent, and when I put together the second one (which had a CIJ 57 RI bod, so with even less room than the other bod), it was a no-brainer to take it to the luthier once again.
Interestingly enough, even HE had a hard time figuring out the circuit, and I gave him all the proper parts including an original Fender switch!
So I've decided that from now on, I won't do any more soldering myself, unless it's to repair one faulty contact.
YMMV, FWIW, and al that sort of stuff.
Rock on!

[Los7]

yep, i think your right. i had the body routed before i went ahead and tried it myself, so i had all the room i needed, just didn't have the soldering skills. I'm a bit gutted cause this was something i really wanted to do myself. But.... i also want it to work, so i'll leave it to the pro. The tech at my local guitar shop does a work shop on saturdays, where its first come first serve, and he does all the work while you wait. I'll be down there tomorrow at 9 o'clock sharp. That gives me a good couple of hours to go noodle around on all the Martins, Fenders, Gibsons ect.
P.s. thanks to Kap'n for all the help, but even after my excellent diagram, i've decided to buy a genuine Fender switch. That way, all the electronics and wiring have been upgraded from the standard Squier.