the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Well...I rewired my Esquire this morning and i used the Eldred Esquire Wiring.
I had been using period correct 50's Esquire wiring which is like so.
Pos 1-Pickup to volume control no tone circuit
Pos 2-Pickup with volume and tone circuit using typical .047 cap
Pos 3-Pickup with volume control but again no tone control however the entire guitar is routed through 2 .047 caps and a small dropping resister-This is like turning the tone control to zero as well as turning the volume to 8 or 9
So, with the Eldred wiring you get a set up like this:
Pos 1-Pickup to volume no tone control
Pos 2-Pickup to volume and tone circuit using typical .047 cap
Pos 3-Pickup with volume control but again no tone control and on this set up the entire guitar runs through a much smaller tone cap, I used Mike Eldred's choice of a .0047
I really like this set up!
I have always liked running the tone down a bit, say 1/2 to 3/4 and switching between Pos 1 and 2 for a very bright sound with a lot of cut then going a slightly warmer sound with less edge but Pos 3 is of little use...it was cool with a fuzz tone or something to get a faux woman tone but that's about it. Now, it's much more use able and it's a tone I can't really dial in with a tone control...it's got a sort of cocked wah, kind of an "Oh" sort of sound and it takes on slightly different timbers depending on what strings and hat position you are playing in.
One more thing I should mention is when I was running the standard Esquire wiring I was using all orange drop caps...when I rewired everything I switched to NOS Paper In Oil caps.
As for the caps the fixed positions are different values so it's not far at all to comment on those but I will say that pos 2, with the active tone control does sound "better" to me...it's got a sweeter roll off and has a more vocal, almost wah like quality to it...I has to be the cap because I used the same CTS 250k pots I was using before.
However caps vs caps...thats a whole different thread!
I really like the Eldred Esquire wiring and if you have an Esquire and find yourself not using Pos 3 much give it a shot!
I had been using period correct 50's Esquire wiring which is like so.
Pos 1-Pickup to volume control no tone circuit
Pos 2-Pickup with volume and tone circuit using typical .047 cap
Pos 3-Pickup with volume control but again no tone control however the entire guitar is routed through 2 .047 caps and a small dropping resister-This is like turning the tone control to zero as well as turning the volume to 8 or 9
So, with the Eldred wiring you get a set up like this:
Pos 1-Pickup to volume no tone control
Pos 2-Pickup to volume and tone circuit using typical .047 cap
Pos 3-Pickup with volume control but again no tone control and on this set up the entire guitar runs through a much smaller tone cap, I used Mike Eldred's choice of a .0047
I really like this set up!
I have always liked running the tone down a bit, say 1/2 to 3/4 and switching between Pos 1 and 2 for a very bright sound with a lot of cut then going a slightly warmer sound with less edge but Pos 3 is of little use...it was cool with a fuzz tone or something to get a faux woman tone but that's about it. Now, it's much more use able and it's a tone I can't really dial in with a tone control...it's got a sort of cocked wah, kind of an "Oh" sort of sound and it takes on slightly different timbers depending on what strings and hat position you are playing in.
One more thing I should mention is when I was running the standard Esquire wiring I was using all orange drop caps...when I rewired everything I switched to NOS Paper In Oil caps.
As for the caps the fixed positions are different values so it's not far at all to comment on those but I will say that pos 2, with the active tone control does sound "better" to me...it's got a sweeter roll off and has a more vocal, almost wah like quality to it...I has to be the cap because I used the same CTS 250k pots I was using before.
However caps vs caps...thats a whole different thread!
I really like the Eldred Esquire wiring and if you have an Esquire and find yourself not using Pos 3 much give it a shot!
