Could you check this HSS diagram?

[OdgeUK]

Hi guys,

This is a hashup of the way I intend to wire my Strat.

The Humbucker is a SD 59, the single coils are Fender Custom Shop Texas Specials.

The diagram is my graphical interpretation of a wiring idea by ArtieToo but not sure if I've done this correctly.

The purpose of the wiring is to give me

1) The normal strat sounds in positions one to four (with pos 4 using a split coil from the humbucker)

2) A Master Tone and Volume for all positions

3) A humbucker which will see a 500K volume pot but Single Coils seeing a 250K vol pot


I have some concerns about this wiring option in that I don't want to lose any 'tone' from the humbucker. At the moment, I've got the guitar only wired with the humbucker to a 500K volume pot and it's just perfect like that. I want to add the single coils with NO change to that tone. Will the 250k master tone pot now in the circuit affect the humbucker sound that I have now?

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

Re: Could you check this HSS diagram?

I think with that resistor arrangement you'll only ever get half volume from the humbucker.

 

[OdgeUK]

Re: Could you check this HSS diagram?

It's based on this

Here's one of my favorites for an HSS Strat:

The first four "normal" Strat positions see a 250k pot, with the #4 bridge/middle position having the bridge 'bucker split to the stud coil. The #5, (bridge-only), position allows the bridge pup to see a 500k pot along with a -6db L-pad, so that it matches the volume of the other pups.

-6db is what you get if you make the resistor 250k. Make it anything on the chart, or a mini-pot, in order to have any attenuation you want.

Note also, the slightly unusual wiring of the Duncan humbucker. It works the same. Its just necessary for this funtionality.

 

[mojoman]

Re: Could you check this HSS diagram?

Maybe I am missing something here but IMO any guitars with a Humbuckers should have 500K pots for gain and clarity, otherwise the bucker maybe muddy with less output.

If you are worried about the single coils being to bright with the 500K all you need to do is roll the volume off a bit. A 500k pot rolled off slightly will read about 300K anyways?

I like Seymours 7 way Strat switching, gives you all 5 traditional Strat tones, plus bridge and neck on like a Tele and also all 3 pu's on at once. I would use 500K pots vs the 250K shown in this diagram.

 

[OdgeUK]

Re: Could you check this HSS diagram?

So when we talk about 250k and 500k does it also refer to tone pots as well as volume pots? The ArtieToo wiring seems to present the humbucker with 500K volume but I'm not sure about keeping the 250k Tone pot as 250k. Does the Tone pot value have as much influence as the volume pot value?

 

[mojoman]

Re: Could you check this HSS diagram?

So when we talk about 250k and 500k does it also refer to tone pots as well as volume pots? The ArtieToo wiring seems to present the humbucker with 500K volume but I'm not sure about keeping the 250k Tone pot as 250k. Does the Tone pot value have as much influence as the volume pot value?

Good question, IMO it is more critical that the volume pot be 500K than the Tone since your pu's wire directly into the volume pot right after the switch. Results can vary depending on all the other components.
Fender even recommends using a 1 Meg with their vintage noiseless pu's. I installed a Vintage noiseless in the neck of one of my Strats one time with 250k's and found it to be rather dark and muddy. The 500K Volume pot will really open things up if you are using Humbuckers.

 

[Stef]

Re: Could you check this HSS diagram?

Try out this diagram http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=1h_2s_1v_2t_5w_split

and reverse green and black on the 59.

With a 250k master vol, 2 tone pots for single coils and no tone pot for the bridge 59, you won't lose clarity and much output from the HB.
I use the same configuration in my strat. Tried it with the master vol (250k) and a master tone and did not like it for the brigde HB (JB).
With just a 250k volume pot and no tone pot for the bridge pup (standard strat wiring), a HB (especially '59) should work just fine.

 

[OdgeUK]

Re: Could you check this HSS diagram?

I have a 250K dual pot arriving soon so I can try the diagram Stef linked to. I'm still a little concerned that the humbucker will be 'choked' by the 250K volume pot value rather than 500k, I guess there's only one way to find out.........I do like a lot of vintage style gain (up to about Guns and Roses levels of overdrive).

With regard to the effect of a 250k or 500k master tone pot on a humbucker, another thread I just read suggests that a 500K tone pot can just be rolled off if you want the single coils to see 250k tone pots, and then rolled to max if you want the humbucker to have 500K, a little bit of manual control required there, I wonder if the same principle applies to volume pots.

Here's a diagram from www.erikhansen.net which shows a method like ArtieToo's, to present a 500K volume to the HB and 250k volume to single coils:

 

[Dan-ola]

Re: Could you check this HSS diagram?

I was looking at this wiring as well when I had a Lonestar ste-up and the general consensus from the board was that Texas Specials actually work better with 500K pots.
I have swapped out the TxSpls to Fat 50s and need to drop off my Strat at the luthier for him to wire it up according to a diagram from John Suhr that uses 500K pots then resistors to change the load to 250K when singles are selected. I hope that will end my tone quest ;-)

 

[OdgeUK]

Re: Could you check this HSS diagram?

So this is the one I went for (Thanks Stef).

It's working very well, although I had some polarity issues with the Fender pickups. It turns out the two Fender Texas Specials are out of phase with each other if you follow conventional wiring (black to earth, white to switch). I had to reverse the wires on the neck pickup to keep the 'middle' positions in phase.

The switching is very cool. I'm now glad I didn't go for a Master Tone as it's great to be able to set the tone on each single coil separately. The single coils sound fantastic, although a little noisy under high gain (they are overwound so prob to be expected).

The humbucker hasn't really suffered at all with a 250K volume pot (and no tone pot) and it splits nicely still giving plenty of quack in Pos 4 (or 2 depending on which way you prefer to count). It's actually a bit bright after your ears have got used to the Neck pickup so I'm glad I didn't go for the 500K volume. Reports of 250k pots making humbuckers 'muddy' is definitely not the case here. Actually, I find I'm rolling off the vol slightly on the humbucker when playing it clean, to clear up some of the high end. With medium to High Gain, the humbucker performs how you'd expect, a lovely overdrive for those Van Halen moments. Not quite as pleasurable as my Les Paul on the Bridge pickup though, which has a lot more 'thunk' and growl. The humbucker in the Strat is a lot more mid-rangy and percussive. I wouldn't mind checking out the Custom Custom one day to see if this is a little bit 'warmer'.

The only thing left to test now is the guitar at band volumes, to see what the single-coil noise / hum is like at gig level.

 

[LRC]

Re: Could you check this HSS diagram?

Any chance of getting that Suhr diagram?

Cheers from down under!