I am going to put the texas special back in the bridge instead of the jb jnr which is there just now. I plan on using dual concentric put so each pickup will have it`s own tone and volume, has anyone else done this or know where i can get a wiring diagram to do this mod.
paul
the wiring should be pretty simple if you are handy with an iron. simply combine the diagrams for a "stacked knob j bass", and a new tele wiring diagram. wire to your pots first and then run the leads to the stock switch like normal. then take your output from the switch and run it to the output jack.
i couldn't find a diagram on the internet for the stacked knobs, but i know i have one at home and i can email it to you if you want. or maybe some one esle will find it.
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
if could email it that one be fantastic, theres no hurry as i don`t have pots yet. i`m still in the planning stage.
paul
I had a Tele wiring idea that I was kicking around and haven't tried yet. I don't know if I will yet. Maybe you'd dig it.
One pot is a balance pot. The other a dual vol/tone.
It doesn't give you the individual tone control for each pickup like your idea.
It does, however, give you the ability to blend the pickups in whatever ratio you desire at a constant volume. You also have a master volume to enable swells.
I've never owned a 'lectric guitar with multiple volume knobs and I always wondered how you manage swells and/or quick volume adjustments.
This idea was hashed out in another thread recently and somebody here contributed the idea of using a 4 way switch with this thing too. First three positions are stock Tele and bypass the blend pot. The fourth position engages it.
It really is a cool idea. I think with a little urging from Chucko "MOD MOD MOD" caster I just might do it.
thanks for the kind words curtis. i just love modding guitars, it's fun. and there ain't nothing like a guitar that does everything you want it to. i'll have to post pics of my twelve string electric when i get it done, you guys will shit yourself.
maidenstrat,
let me search some more cause i can't seem to find a schematic for ya with the stacked knobs. if i can't i'll draw one up for you.
another thing i thought of today, and i thought i should put it out there for you is the way you are going to wire up them pots.
basically you are going to wire it like a les paul. and there are two ways to wire them things. one is called "50's style" and the other is the way most pauls are wired.
with the new wiring style, when both pups are engaged if you roll one of the vol pots all the way off your guitar will turn off. with the 50's one, when you roll one vol pot all the way off just that pup turns off.
either way is fine, but sometimes i find the older style to be more benficial. but you can do cool "stuttering" effects with the new style. check out the black crowes "lions" song to see what i mean.
just wanted to put that out there for you to think of. i find it helpful to plan out what i am going to do before i wire up a guitar. it makes it easier, and faster. but then again i always mess with the wiring to see if i can get something more out of it.
experimentation is key to custom wiring or guitars. cause you just might stumble across something that you like. i know i have.
have a good one man. i'll draw up that diagram in the next couple of days.
chuck (i have way too much time on my hands to mod) ocaster
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
guys i should have said this mod is for a strat so it will be each of three pickups will have there own tone/volme.
chuck i really like that idea with the blend, i might try that out when i get a tele. let me know how it goes.
i`ve thought about trying that les paul 50`s mod on my second les paul but i don`t know if going to keep it yet.
paul
Here I was thinking you were talking about a Telemocaster because of your avatar.
A strat, eh? So you want THREE concentric pots so that each pickup has its own volume and own tone.
As a guy who once MOD MOD MOD'ed the hell out of his strat but more recently returned it to a closer to stock configuration, let me ask if you really think such a thing is going to be worthwhile, useful, and practical in your given playing situation.
It may very well be and I'd be the last dude to try to discourage you from doing something that whacky.
Your idea is very cool and perhaps it's the best thing for you. For ME, I'd find a strat like that difficult to work with in a live situation. A big aspect of my playing is changing "voices" via pickup selection, tone, and volume changes as well as how and where I pick the strings, etc. I do this in the middle of solos or whatever as quickly as I can without interrupting the flow.
Having to go to three different places to change volume would be crazy for me. I guess I could see where there would be added flexibility for a studio setting.
Well, good luck with it.
Oh, by the way, Chucko, that was your cue to urge me to MOD MOD MOD my tele.
I'm waiting...
the tele in the avatar is a pic of a old 68 custom i think, it was on a vintage site a while back for sale. I love that model and will get one when i can get the cash together.
To be honest i am open to suggestions, but what is a must is that the bridge pickup must have it`s own volume and tone controls as i find i the bridge a bit quiet compared to the the positions, and i hate the sound if there is no way of rolling back on the tone a bit. i really like the idea of using a blend pot, and i don`t have to use the standard 5 way switch either.
paul
Would you like to keep it as close to stock appearance as possible?
One thing cool about my heavily modded strat is that everything was hidden. The switches were all part of the pots. It looked stock but had some surprises.
Just a suggestion but I think it's cool to start from with the framework of listing your criteria and prioritizing them.
Like you said, it's a MUST that the bridge pickup have it's own volume and tone. What about the others? What combinations do you use the most? Do you ever play with just the middle pickup or is it always in combination with the others?
Stuff like that.
I'm kind of intrigued with what you're talking about here and I'm sure Chuckocaster is too. He's the king of MOD MOD MOD around these parts.
i have the same problem with strat bridge pups, they always seem kinda weak. so i now always get them significantly overwound compared to the others, like 10%. another way around it is to add a baseplate, raise the pup up. and lower the others to even out. my neck and mid pups on all of my strats are really low in the guard.
i like the three vol config, it sounds interesting. but for me it would be too confusing. i am all about simplicity, cause i don't like to have to worry about my guitars onstage. that is just me and what i like, but it seems like you have a good idea of what you want.
keep us posted cause this sounds like a really cool mod.
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
oh yeah curtis, i thought my presence here and on your thread spoke enough of my "mod mod and mod again" philosophy. mod that bad boy, cause it can always go back to stock.
oh yeah, i think i would try the stacked knobs curtis. i had a balance pot in one of my basses a couple of years ago and the taper wasn't as smooth as i'd like it to be. it is kinda hard when the pups aren't active.
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
as far as looks i would like it to look as normal as possiable, three knobs and a selector, i don`t want it looking like pete townsend`s with the extra knob below the bridge thats just wrong. Like i said it is important for the bridge to have its own volume and tone, the middle and neck could share the same volume and tone. Also i am really liking the idea of this balance pot, how would you suggest using the balance pot for a few extra sounds?
paul
Sorry to barge in.
I have a pair of concentric pots I want to put in my Tele.
So Chuck, this jbass diagram, is this something that can be found in mr gearhead or the Seymour Duncan site?
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
Something kinda new that I found to be a godsend for the MOD MOD MOD crazy guitarist is the 5 way super switch.
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electron...er_Switch.html
Check it out. It replaces the stock 5 way switch. It's basically a 4P5T switch! So cool. So many possibilities.
I've got one in my Tele which required a bit of routing to accomodate its added width. It lets me put the 2 pickups into series, either in phase or out of phase. I've got 5 distinctly different sounds out of 2 pickups.
So, maidenstrat, what you might consider with a super switch is this: if there are stock strat sounds you don't use, such as the middle pickup alone, you could replace it with something totally funky.
Here's just a "fer instance" of the zillions of possibilities that may suit your needs:
First knob is concentric knob. It's a master volume and a tone control for the middle and neck pickups.
Second knob is also concentric. It's a volume and tone for the bridge pickup.
Third knob is a blend. Its function to be explained....
5 way super switch:
1) stock - bridge alone
2) engages the blend pot. In this position it blends the bridge and mid
3) engages blend pot differently. Blends bridge and neck
4) engages blend pot differently. Now it blends middle and neck
5) stock - neck alone
That's just one possibility. You lose a stock sound but maybe it's not important to you.
I am familiar enough with the various components to know that it's possible. That super switch allows so many ridiculous mods.
If you figure out what you want, I can try to help you wire it up. Shoot, I like doing this stuff so much I'd even do the wiring for you if you shipped me all the parts. I'm sure Chuckocaster feels the same way.
neofauve,
i haven't checked mr gearhead, but duncan only had the two vol one tone schematic. it isn't that hard to wire up, but i figured i'd find a good schematic for others to reference.
i'm out of the house right now, but i'll try to draw up a diagram monday for ya'll.
chuck
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
that sound awesome way better than what i first thought about, could you do me a diagram or would you need to play about with all the gooidies to get it to work??
paul
give me the specifics and i'll draw it up for you. do you still want to do the three stacked vol/tones and a five way?
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
not anymore i really fancy what curtis has suggested i think that would be a far better that what i had thought off. Plus i get so many new sounds being able to blend in the pups.
paul
cool man, good think curtis knows about them switches cause i don't. i might have to check into them.
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
cool any help will be greatly appreciated.
paul
I've been on the road a lot lately so I'm sorry I haven't been responding here.
Please email me when you've figured out what you'd like to do and I'd be happy to draw up a schematic for you.
I happen to have a spare 5 way super switch hanging around. If there's interest, I'll take a picture and put it on here. I'm saving it for a special frankenstrat.
curtis if you could do a schematic fo the example you mentioned in a earlier post, With the two dual concentrics, and blend pot.
paul
Forgive me. I'm working on the schematic and I've quickly realized that I may have been blowing smoke up your ass. I mean, what I was envisioning may not really be possible.
The bidness with the blend pot is entirely possible and I've already got that mapped out.
What's causing me headaches is the tone controls. It doesn't look like they're going to be possible just as I described earlier.
The super switch has 4 poles. I'm using all four of them to handle the switching between the pickups and the blender pot. That doesn't leave any room for the tone controls.
Normally on a strat, the tone controls are on a separate pole from the pickup switching because you want to engage a certain pot in one position and disengage it in a different position.
I'm having trouble with my schematic trying to figure out a good compromise that doesn't ever have cumulative tone pots because you'd end up with mud all of a sudden in certain positions.
I figured something out that gives you a tone pot when you have the bridge alone and a different one that gives you a different tone pot when you use the blender. There's no tone pot when you use the neck alone.
Here it is. It's kinda rough but I did it pretty quickly. PLEASE give me some feedback on this and let me know if I'm missing anything obvious.
http://www.mrthingee.com/miscellaneous/schematic.jpg
would it help if we went with a master volume and a master tone or does this still cause problems? also i said i planned to put the texas special back in the bridge but i`m thinking about leaving the JB jnr there.
paul
Sure, a master volume and master tone fixes all the problems. The only issue was having the independent controls for the bridge and not having it get goofy when the bridge was used in conjuction with the other pickups.
I'll try to find time to update the drawing this afternoon then.
cheers mate your a star
paul
My pleasure. I'm always happy to help.
Here's the update:
http://www.mrthingee.com/miscellaneous/schematic2.jpg
It does all the whacky blend stuff with a simple master volume and master tone.
I might even try this one out on my strat. I hope it works out nicely for you.
I love the mods that leave your guitar looking stock but secretly it's full of surprises.
Oh crap. I got the poles are jiggered around. Well, the numbers are good anyway. Just make sure that when the switch is in position one, you wire things up on throw one, wherever that is.
Good luck...
once again thank you, all i need to do is get my finger out and get the parts
paul
Hey, you're welcome. My pleasure.
Get your finger out? Dude, ummmm, where is your finger stuck?
you don`t want to know. i`m going to order the parts today.
paul
Hey, I found diagrams for the J-Bass. Only problem is there is no selector switch. I hope by using this and paying attention to the existing wiring I should be able to do what I want. :yay
http://www.acmeguitarworks.com/store/wiring.asp
(scroll down to basses)
Also, I just realized my Danelectro has the control layout I want on my Tele (2-concentric vol/tone & 3-way selector), so I should be able to base it on that. Hopefully I can get a good enough look at the wiring.
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
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