Alnico Pro II bridge, lil'59 middle, Fender vintage neck- how do I wire these?

62 Vintage

62 Vintage

New member
:scratchch
I'm getting the thin sound with the fender in the neck, so do I reverse the wires in the 59' as suggested or will this conflict with the alnico II pro in the bridge?
I'd appreciate any ideas, thanks.
:confused:
I also wanted to be able to control the tones of each pickup individually in posistions 2 and 4. Any ideas on that would be greatly appreciated as well. Cheers.
 
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Re: Alnico Pro II bridge, lil'59 middle, Fender vintage neck- how do I wire these?

welcome to the forum!

are you saying that the fender sounds thin when combined with the lil 59 or by itself? if it sounds thin by itself check the wiring. if it sounds thin when combined with the lil 59 then flip the two wires on the fender pup, not the lil 59.

are you saying you want the neck and bridge pups to have the tone controls rather than the neck and middle?
 
Re: Alnico Pro II bridge, lil'59 middle, Fender vintage neck- how do I wire these?

Thanks Jeremy
Yeah, I'm saying that the stock Fender pup in the neck sounds thin when combined with the lil'59 in the middle. Thanks, I'll reverse the wiring on the stock pup and see what happens. Greatly appreciated.

I was curious to know if it's possible to have each pickups tone controlled individually in posistions 2 and 4 on a 5-way switch and also function for each pickup in posistions 1, 3 and 5? I currently have the bridge and middle sharing a potentiometer and want them to be on seperate pots. Cheers.
 
Re: Alnico Pro II bridge, lil'59 middle, Fender vintage neck- how do I wire these?

with only having two tone pots you can either have a tone on the neck & bridge pups, then the second on the middle pup. that way youd have one tone working in positions 1, 3 & 5 and both tones in pos 2 & 4. or you could use a stacked pot to give each pup its own tone control but ive never seen fender style knobs fpr stacked pots
 
Re: Alnico Pro II bridge, lil'59 middle, Fender vintage neck- how do I wire these?

:scratchch
Thanks again Jer,

Any idea on a wiring schematic for those potentiometers? -lol Although I do think I can figure it out, I'm not an electronics expert and would like to do it right the first time. The less soldering the better.

It's a neck Alnico II Pro for Strat in the bridge with a bridge lil 59' in the middle. I know alot of strat players like the really bright sound, but I prefer a fuller tone. That seems ideal for me. The sound I'm getting in the 1st position (bridge) really screams and has a substantially wider and fuller dynamic than the stock pup with added sustain. 2nd position (bridge and middle) is absolutely phenomenal to my ear. It has a beautiful quack and full richness to it. I can really get some Hendrix and Page sounds with more dynamics. Namely, when played clean, enhanced Little Wing and I Can't Quit You Baby tones. When driven it's a knock off of Zeppelin1's driven tones.

There is an abrupt change in the loudness when in position 3, just the lil 59', but the sound is very well balanced between positions 1 and 2. It's a whole new animal with the lil' 59 in the middle. The combo of the two is vastly superior to any single coil combo that I've experienced. I still get all the strat tones I love but they are significantly enhanced (with bridge and middle together). I could cry-lmao. I guess it's because I have 3 pups in theory going instead of 2. Plus I get a kick ass humbucker tone in the 3rd. The adjustable pole pieces really do let one dial in the desired punch. Can't wait to hear the sound in the 4th position. I'm thinking about switching out the stock neck to a Seymour Duncan Antiquity Texas Hot for bridge when time and money permits. I figure it would give me that SRV tone. Any suggestions on a neck pup for strat would be appreciated for down the road.



:scratchch
 
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Re: Alnico Pro II bridge, lil'59 middle, Fender vintage neck- how do I wire these?

i dont have a wiring schematic but it is very simple. there is a wire that goes to each tone pot. right now there is one wire going to the neck tone pot from the switch. then there is a wire that goes to the middle/bridge tone pot from the switch. there is probably a little jumper connecting the tabs on the switch that correspond to the middle and bridge pups.

what you want to do is remove the jumper that is there between the middle and bridge, make sure the wire to the current middle/bridge tone is only on the middle and run a jumper between the neck and bridge.

as far as a neck pup, i would suggest a plain old ssl1 for the neck. great classic strat tone for not a lot of money. i wouldnt put the texas hot custom bridge pup in the neck position. a regular texas hot pup would be ok and sound very nice.
 
Re: Alnico Pro II bridge, lil'59 middle, Fender vintage neck- how do I wire these?

L'il 59 @ neck would be a good start...

Fender to teh middle

.02
 
Re: Alnico Pro II bridge, lil'59 middle, Fender vintage neck- how do I wire these?

You are helping me out large Jer,

So to summarize, I reverse the wiring on the Fender Stock pup. Then I unsolder the jumper between the bridge and middle pot. Then solder a jumper between the neck and bridge. Then voila, I have individual tone control for each position. So simple, that really helps me out. I thank you again Jer.

You think the bridge Texas Hot wouldn't work well in the neck?-lol I know I'm a bit eccentric with my choices and placement, but the combo I have now is really neat. I figured the neck position doesn't ring as brightly as the bridge position. The bridge Texas Hot would be a bit brighter and lend itself to a better sound in position 4 because the lil'59 definitely doesn't have a bright sound. As well I figure the bridge T.H. would be a louder pup which would balance the sound better with the loudness of the 59. Now you have me thinking about the texas hot and the texas hot for bridge. -lol :scratchch

I've had an SSL1 in the bridge before and it was definitely a nice sounding pup. It was actually a decision between that pup and the Alnico II Pro for me. I may get another Alnico II Pro for the neck. I don't know, they would all sound great I'm sure.-lol I'm really trying to achieve the greatest sounds for positions 2 and 4 that I can muster because that is where the uniqueness of having 3 pups going helps to differentiate me and my style from other players. And again, I haven't lost the Strat tones that I love, they've only been enhanced. The only Strat tone I've lost is position 3 and I never used that position very often anyways, but will get more use out of it now that I have a humbucker tone there. I wish I could just get all possible combinations that I would consider and try them out. I've experimented with alot of Seymour Duncans. Almost all the SSL series and Hot Rails.

But yeah, I'm definitely thinking the Texas Hot. Those SRV neck tones are deep and rich.

I was considering another lil'59 for the neck but I think I would be getting too far away from the Strat tones that I'm seeking, namely the harmonics that one can achieve with the plectrum placement. I know alot of players like the h/s/h configuration, but again, that's getting too far away from the Strat tone. Having the single coils in conjuction with the humbucker in the 2nd and 4th positions is the dream I had for a unique sound and it turned out alot better than I expected, so to put a single coil in the middle would defeat the purpose of everything for me Rand. I appreciate any ideas though. I was actually considering a p-90 for the neck, but I figured it's way too much B.S. for what it's worth. I might as well get a Les Paul and work with that model instead of a Strat. :scratchch

I thank you guys for your insight and recommendations. If anyone else has some, I'd be happy to hear you out. Cheers.:beerchug:
 
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Re: Alnico Pro II bridge, lil'59 middle, Fender vintage neck- how do I wire these?

the reason the bridge pup sounds brighter is the physical location, not the pup itself. calibrated bridge pups are usually less bright than their neck counterpart although it would have more output than the neck model. if you take the same exact pup and put it in the neck position then in the bridge position at the same exact height, it will sound louder fuller and bassier in the neck. this is due to their being a wider path of string motion at this position.

back in the classic fender days (50's thru 70's) there was no neck, middle or bridge pups. they grabbed three single coils off the line and put them in a guitar. there was a little random variance in wind but very similar. so lets say for example you got three pups around 6k. youd adjust the output level and tone by the distance from the strings. to get even volume balance across the three pups the neck pup would be furthest from the strings and the bridge would be closest. if you look at the antiquity line there are three models of each strat pup. ill use the texas hot as the example but the same holds true for the surfers.

there is a texas hot model, rw/rp model, and custom bridge model. if you wanted a true to vintage setup you'd get three texas hot models. three similar pups. if you want humcancelling then youd get two texas hot models for the neck and bridge and a rw/rp for the middle. many people find that the low wind texas hot is too thin or too bright in the bridge position which is where the custom bridge comes in. its a higher output, less bright pup with more bottom and mids to compensate for the lack of those tonal qualities inherent in the physical postion that pup will go. this is why i say the custom bridge is not a good choice for the neck position and a normal texas hot is a better choice.

the reason i say a ssl1 would be a great choice is that it is the classic early 60's fender sound. it sounds magnificent in the neck position and should help to get you a great mixed tone with the lil 59 in the bridge. the texas hot is a great pup but isnt the classic fender sound. the surfer is another option along the lines of the ssl1 but with a little extra mojo.
 
Re: Alnico Pro II bridge, lil'59 middle, Fender vintage neck- how do I wire these?

Hey Jer,

That would explain why the neck Alnico II Pro I put in the bridge really screams -lol. I see what you're saying, they are already calibrated to compensate for better balance. Louder is actually what I'm actually trying to achieve because the lil' 59 is markedly louder than the single coils and there would be more balance in the volume. The lil'59 is a very deep pup and the routing for that spot only allows me to move it so far away from the strings. So what I'm doing is putting the the calibration on it's head by using it for enhancement of the geography of the placement. You are right about the bass factor though, it may not suit what I'm trying to achieve and it may not be as sweet as it could be for position 4. I'm not necessarily looking for a spot on recreation of the vintage tones, just an approximation that suits my taste in tone and an expanded palate for more versatility. Do you think the louder bassier sound would lend itself better to a jazz feel for the neck?

The SSL1 or the Surfer eh? The 62' was supposed to have those surfer pups when it was originally manufactured, maybe I'll go that route. It's just that for me, the neck is the most special spot on the Strat and I really wanted to do something great there. Again, a rich jazz tone that captures the harmonics of the plectrum placement is what I envision and want to achieve. I may go with the SSL1 for the bridge and move the Alnico Pro II to the neck. The SSL1 did sound super sweet with the lil'59 too. Decisions, decisions. -lol :scratch:

You definitely have me thinking Jer, thanks for the feedback. Cheers. :beerchug:
 
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Re: Alnico Pro II bridge, lil'59 middle, Fender vintage neck- how do I wire these?

Hey Jer,

Just to let you know I did those mods over the weekend. They were simple and everything works mint.

Thanks again. :14:
 
Re: Alnico Pro II bridge, lil'59 middle, Fender vintage neck- how do I wire these?

cool, glad it was easy and worked out for you!
 
Re: Alnico Pro II bridge, lil'59 middle, Fender vintage neck- how do I wire these?

Hey Jer,

I've put alot of consideration into what you're saying about calibration. I've decided when I can get around to it, to switch out the lil'59 bridge calibration in the middle with a lil'59 neck model. Also, I've decided to put an Antiquity Surfer in the neck. You suggested that unit, everyone else seems to have high praise for it and also that is what the 62' was originally supposed to have in it.

So, to summarize. I'll have an Alnico Pro II in the bridge, a lil'59 neck calibrated pup in the middle and an Antiquity Surfer (neck calibration) for the neck. That gives me 2 tribucker settings, 2 single coil settings where they count and a humbucker setting. All with independent tone controls. Very versatile and unique whilst preserving and enhancing the original strat tones.

Thanks again for all your feedback Jer. Cheers.:beerchug:
 
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