How would you wire this Strat?

[NutsInFreddy]

Sorry if this is long winded but I'm new to this and I'm looking for suggestions on how to wire my MIM Strat. I'm putting a Dimarzio Area 58 in the neck, an Area 67 in the middle and a Hot Rails in the bridge.

Due to the difference in output, I'll probably use the Hot Rails on it's own unless I want to use it as a boost.

According to the SD wiring diagram I should use a 250K pot for the Hot Rails but it seems like most users of the forum recommend a 500K pot.

Dimarzio says the Areas are designed to be used with 250K pots but you can use 500K pots if you want a brighter overall sound.

The options I'm considering so far are:

1. 250K master volume, 250K tones (neck and middle)
2. 500K master volume, 250K tones (neck and middle)
3. 500K volume (Hot Rails), 250K volume (neck and middle), 250K tone (neck and middle)
4. 3 Concentric pots so each pickup has it's own volume and tone. Would that be too complicated or look good? Would I need stacked knobs instead of the standard ones?

Let me know what you think and if you have any other ideas. Thanks!

 

[mudpuppy]

Re: How would you wire this Strat?

You can definitely do tone and vol for each pup by using concentric pots. Yes, you do need stacked knobs. Check out places like Wymore, Warmoth, and StewMac to see what's available. I've only seen concentrics with two identical pots in the stack. 500K audio taper is most common, though you might be able to find 250K.

 

[John Wymore]

Re: How would you wire this Strat?

I've only seen concentrics with two identical pots in the stack. 500K audio taper is most common, though you might be able to find 250K.

CTS makes 500/500 and 500/250 concentrics. I can make up 250/250 but costs a bit more because I have to waste a 250K pot to get the additional 250K resistive element to put in the concentric. I can also get 250/250 in a mini concentric (not CTS).

 

[DMyers77]

Re: How would you wire this Strat?

It sounds like you don't want a tone control on the Hot Rails. If that is the case, then I would just stick with 250K pots.

On a normal humbucker, with 500K pots on volume and tone, the actual resistance is that the pickup sees is 250K.... the same as a single 250K pot with no tone control. The only difference is there is no capacitor in the circuit.

Based on that, I would wire it like this:

Area 58 - neck
Area 67 - middle
Hot Rails - bridge

250K master volume
250K neck tone
250k middle tone

I think that you'll like it this way, and it keeps things simple.

 

[NutsInFreddy]

Re: How would you wire this Strat?

It sounds like you don't want a tone control on the Hot Rails. If that is the case, then I would just stick with 250K pots.

On a normal humbucker, with 500K pots on volume and tone, the actual resistance is that the pickup sees is 250K.... the same as a single 250K pot with no tone control. The only difference is there is no capacitor in the circuit.

Based on that, I would wire it like this:

Area 58 - neck
Area 67 - middle
Hot Rails - bridge

250K master volume
250K neck tone
250k middle tone

I think that you'll like it this way, and it keeps things simple.

Right, I wasn't going to bother with a bridge tone to keep things simple.

I was wondering how the tone pots affected the total resistance so thanks for that!

One of the stocks pots seems to be reading low on the multimeter (215K) so I might replace it while I'm in there. I'll probably wire it with what I've got and see how it sounds. If I'm not happy with it then I can always change it.