Help wiring a Telecaster

[LeftyDunc]

Hi all,

I've just joined the forum so HELLO to everyone :1:

Here goes my problem....

I'm currently working on a Tele project and I've got three pickups fitted but for the life of me I cant get them working properly...

Setup is as follows:

Bridge: Seymour Duncan STL-2 (single-coil pickup with increased output)
Middle: Seymour Duncan Vintage Rails SVR-1
Neck: Seymour Duncan STR-2 (single-coil pickup with increased output)

I've got a 5-way switch with 1 volume and 2 tone pots. (1 of the tone posts could be replaced with a 2nd volume if needed.

I've looked on the SD site but cant find any diagram to show how to wire the pickups together with the SVR as the middle pickup.

Any ideas anyone?

Many thanks in advance

Cheers
Duncan

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

Hi all,

I've just joined the forum so HELLO to everyone :1:

Here goes my problem....

I'm currently working on a Tele project and I've got three pickups fitted but for the life of me I cant get them working properly...

Setup is as follows:

Bridge: Seymour Duncan STL-2 (single-coil pickup with increased output)
Middle: Seymour Duncan Vintage Rails SVR-1
Neck: Seymour Duncan STR-2 (single-coil pickup with increased output)

I've got a 5-way switch with 1 volume and 2 tone pots. (1 of the tone posts could be replaced with a 2nd volume if needed.

I've looked on the SD site but cant find any diagram to show how to wire the pickups together with the SVR as the middle pickup.

Any ideas anyone?

Many thanks in advance

Cheers
Duncan

Welcome to the Duncan forum Duncan!

Why can't you just wire it up like a Stratocaster and use a Strat wiring diagram?

Lew

 

[LeftyDunc]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

Hi,

Sorry my post wasnt clear...too much :friday: I think

The problem I have is the the neck and bridge pickups are standard 2 wire connections but the middle pickup (hotrail) has 5 wires (Red/Green/Black/White/bare) so I need to know what goes there with it.

Cheers
Dunc

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

I'd use this diagram. You'll need a blender pot ($10.) . This design allows you to blend the neck and bridge pickups together - a classic Tele tone I love for rhythm playing. You can also have all three pickups on at the same time. You can use the "volume kit" or not. I would use a .02 Sprague Orange Drop as the tone cap where the diagram shows a 002 cap.

 

[LeftyDunc]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

Thought it might be easier to draw up a quick diagram of my setup with wires just coming from the pickups.

Its just knowing what wire goes where.

View attachment 11262

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

Connect the red and white wires together and tape them.

Solder the black wire to the switch.

Connect the green and bare wires together and solder them to the back of the volume pot with the other ground wires.

If you find that when you combine the middle pickup to the other two pickups that the tone gets very thin, the middle pickup is out of phase with the other two.

The cure would be to make the green wire hot and connect the the black and bare together and make that the ground.

 

[LeftyDunc]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

Cheers Lew I'll give it a try

Thanks

 

[DazH]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

vintage rails arent wired in series for their normal tone, you need to wire them in parallel which I believe is red+white to switch

EDIT: I do apologise, as artie says it's red+black to switch not red+white.

 

[Artie]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

Actually, the standard way to wire a VR is: bare, green, and white to ground - black and red to the switch.

 

[LeftyDunc]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

:eyecrazy:

Its seems there no easy one for this :1:

I've put some lines on the drawing I did earlier, can anyone advise if they think its right or wrong

NOTE: I dont know where the black wire from the Hotrail should go!!!
Thanks

 

[Artie]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

Disconnect the white wire, and run it to the same place as the green and bare. (Ground, that is.) Now connect the black wire to the switch along with the red. That should do it. Everything else looks fine.

Edit: Oops - one more thing. Make sure all those grounds are connected together. The back of the vol and tone pots must connect to the sleeve (ground) of the output jack. Connecting to the right-hand lug of the volume pot will work equally as well. (Your blue line.)

 

[LeftyDunc]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

Thanks Artie

I'll let you know how I get on...providing I dont blow myself up in the process :nervous:

 

[Artie]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

Be sure to refresh the page at least once. I think I editted that post about three times for mistakes. I gotta stop posting pre-coffee.

 

[LeftyDunc]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

Just to clarify then, I solder a wire onto both the tone pots and then run them to the output jack?
or
do I solder a wire to the back of both tone pots and volume then run the one from the volume to the output jack?

 

[Artie]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

Just add the red lines. It really doesn't matter what order grounds are in. As long as they're all there.

 

[LeftyDunc]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

I've tried but its still not working??? I'm confused now. I've even taken the middle pickup out but still cant get it working with the 5 way switch

The bridge pickup works when the switch is set for the neck pickup but it is wired the same as in Tele and Strat diagrams?

Anyone have any ideas???

 

[Arve S]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

Maybe a silly question,but have you solder the ground wire from your output to the vol pot ground and not only to the contact?

 

[Artie]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

The bridge pickup works when the switch is set for the neck pickup but it is wired the same as in Tele and Strat diagrams?

Anyone have any ideas???

Anytime I see this symptom, I suspect that you have one of those "reverse" 5-way's, like Stew-Mac sells. I just covered this in another thread in the last few days. Let me see if I can find it and I'll post the link.

 

[Artie]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

Is your switch "A" or "D"?

Notice how the "common" terminal is on opposite sides.

 

[LeftyDunc]

Re: Help wiring a Telecaster

Hi Artie,

I've sorted it now. It was just me being a d**k :1: As I'm left handed I was looking at it as a lefty and not right handed :banghead: DOH!!!

I wired it up the opposite to what I was doing and it works fine

Thanks again for your help