Hotrails wiring

[TiG49]

Hopefully someone can help me?

I have a '79 Strat and have 2 SD pickups on the neck and middle and a hotrails on the bridge.. I haven't a clue which model pickups they are on the neck and middle, but here's a pic of them - note the 4 contact points - there are 5 wires attached - red, green, black, white and a bare wire - any ideas which model these are?



Note also the Hotrails - this looks quite different to other hotrail images I've seen.. here's a bottom & top view close-up:

[




My question is that I'm about to rewire them as the last guy who did it made a complete mess of it many many moons ago - too much extra wire, solder etc.. it's a mess believe me!! Anyway, I found a wiring diagram from another thread on this forum, but the wiring is totally different from what I have on my Strat..

Here's the original diagram that I got from this forum:




..and below is an edited version showing how my Strat is currently wired - note that the neck and middle pickups have the 4 contact points as opposed to only 2 on the original diagram - could someone advise if this wiring is actually correct as it's completely different to the original wiring diagram? What is the right way to wire these pickups based on that I primarily like blues and jazz/blues sounds.. ie. Robben Ford, Jeff Golub, Chuck Loeb etc.. in the past the hotrails has always tended to sound real toppy.. so any ideas anyone?



Thx
Pete

 

[MikeS]

Re: Hotrails wiring

Welcome, Pete. I'm not seeing your pictures. The neck and middle sound like they could be classic stacks if they've got four conductor wiring. Without seeing pics it's hard to say.

 

[TiG49]

Re: Hotrails wiring

Thx Mike..

Weird about the pics.. I uploaded them and I can see them in my post ok? Am I doing something wrong then? Do they have to be attached - even though I can see them on this post?

Thx again

 

[Artie]

Re: Hotrails wiring

Pics aren't showing for me either.

 

[TiG49]

Re: Hotrails wiring

Darn.. Ok.. I've changed the image links.. are they showing now?

Click on the thumbnails to view the larger pic if they are..

thx

 

[Artie]

Re: Hotrails wiring

Ah . . . much better.

That definitely looks like an older Hot Rails. And your new wiring is definitely a mess.

First off, all those red/whites shouldn't be combined together. Each red/white pair should be soldered together and taped off so it doesn't touch anything else. In other words, three separate red/white pairs.

As for the rest of the diagram, I have to study it a moment or two.

Edit: Ok, the rest of the wiring looks fine. You just don't have the auto-split of the HR anymore, and you don't have a bridge tone control. If thats what you want, then you only need deal with the red/white bundle.

 

[TiG49]

Re: Hotrails wiring

Thx Artie..

OK.. so I separate all those red & white wires first - and I guess I could shorten them all - and then from each pickup solder the red & white wire together and tape/heatshrink off.. right?

Wow.. the wiring is correct then.. amazing! Why is it so different to the original diagram? Is this down to the 4 conductor wiring?

Autosplit of the HR.. bridge tone control? I've never seen a Strat with a bridge tone control! What does the autosplit do - and more importantly, would this contribute to a blues jazz type tone?

Thx so far!

 

[Artie]

Re: Hotrails wiring

OK.. so I separate all those red & white wires first - and I guess I could shorten them all - and then from each pickup solder the red & white wire together and tape/heatshrink off.. right?

Correct.

Wow.. the wiring is correct then.. amazing! Why is it so different to the original diagram? Is this down to the 4 conductor wiring?

There's a couple things: The two sides of a Fender 5-way are symmetrical. You can swap the sides without affecting anything, but it makes it look different. Also, you're using 4-wire pups instead of 2-wire.

Autosplit of the HR.. bridge tone control? I've never seen a Strat with a bridge tone control! What does the autosplit do - and more importantly, would this contribute to a blues jazz type tone?

The "auto-split" automatically splits the Hot Rails humbucker to just one coil when in the bridge/middle "notch" position. Thats supposed to give it a more "Stratty" sound. Its just personal preference. The tone control is the same way. I prefer a single master-tone control myself, and then use the extra hole for some switch function.

Thx so far![/QUOTE]

 

[TiG49]

Re: Hotrails wiring

OK.. I'll give the auto split a miss then.. I'm just old school and used to a Strat working the 'usual' way ! Would be nice to have some control of the HR tone when in bridge mode though.. it takes my head off sometimes! It would save messing compensating with EQ when I switch to it too..

Thx again.. now where's that soldering iron?

 

[Artie]

Re: Hotrails wiring

A fairly common mod is to use one tone control for the neck/middle and the other for the bridge. Its just a matter of moving one wire and adding a jumper to the switch.

Like this:

 

[TiG49]

Re: Hotrails wiring

Really? OK.. now you've got my attention.. so how does this work?

Top tone control for 3 positions:
neck
neck & middle
middle

and the bottom tone control for the remaining 2 ??
middle/bridge
bridge

Hmm.. how did you add that pic.. I had all manner of problems!!

 

[Artie]

Re: Hotrails wiring

Really? OK.. now you've got my attention.. so how does this work?

Top tone control for 3 positions:
neck
neck & middle
middle

and the bottom tone control for the remaining 2 ??
middle/bridge
bridge

How do I do this with my current wiring setup?

I added a pic.

Basically, you'll have the top tone control for the neck, neck/middle, and middle. You'll have both tone controls for middle and bridge. And you'll have only the bottom one for bridge only.

 

[TiG49]

Re: Hotrails wiring

That sounds good.. I'll give that and try and see how it sounds..

Just want to say a big thx for your help Artie.. wonderful stuff and I really appreciate it!

I'll post back and let you know how I get on.. fingers crossed, as I'm gigging next week!

~Pete

 

[Artie]

Re: Hotrails wiring

Your welcome, and good luck Pete.

 

[TiG49]

Re: Hotrails wiring

Just to update on the results of my rewire..

Everything is working real good now and it's nice to be able to 'tone down' my bridge hotrails.. and to be honest it sounds great now!

I'd just like to say thx a million to ArtieToo for taking the time to help me with this.. when it comes to wiring I haven't a clue, so your help was invaluable and helped make my sound that much better because of it

Excellent forum too I may add- you guys are so helpful!

Cheers!
Pete

 

[Artie]

Re: Hotrails wiring

Thanks for the "thanks". And yes, this is the coolest forum on the net.