HSS - 250K for Vol./Tone 1, 500K for Tone 2

[hcarlh]

I'm wiring an HSS Strat.

My thought is:

250K for Vol./Tone 1
500K for Tone 2

Single coil (Alnico 2 Pro) tone is more important to me than the bridge humbucker (59 Trembrucker).
I've tried 500k for the volume before and it was horrible for the single coils.

Q: Would it be better to use a 500k tone control for the bridge Trembucker or simply leave out the tone for it altogether since I'm using a 250k for the volume?

Thanks, guys!

 

[SixStringMamba]

Re: HSS - 250K for Vol./Tone 1, 500K for Tone 2

What about caps? .022 for SC and .047 for HB? (or maybe the other way....can't remember...:smash

For my HSS setup, I gave up on this complexity and decides on Active pickups and use 25k pots for all of them.

 

[hcarlh]

Re: HSS - 250K for Vol./Tone 1, 500K for Tone 2

What about caps? .022 for SC and .047 for HB? (or maybe the other way....can't remember...:smash

For my HSS setup, I gave up on this complexity and decides on Active pickups and use 25k pots for all of them.

I usually use .011 value for everything as anything else is too muddy and the .011 has a more usable range. I don't want to spent $$$ on active pickups, but
that is an interesting way to do it. I used to have the EMG Gilmour SCs on my Strat 30 years ago.

After tweaking my search parameters I was able to find this which possibly reinforces my original thought so we'll see how this works out:

I would suggest starting with the stock 250k volume with no tone control on the bridge and see how that sounds. if its not bright enough then switch the volume to a 500k but leave the tone contols only on the neck and middle single coils and keep those values 250k

 

[jake_xms3_punk]

Re: HSS - 250K for Vol./Tone 1, 500K for Tone 2

Why not use 500k volume, and two 250k tone pots but with two 500k resistors from each of the single coils hot wire to ground? That way the humbucker would "see" a 500k pot, and the two singles would "see" a 250k pot, Works great on my HSS strat.

 

[hcarlh]

Re: HSS - 250K for Vol./Tone 1, 500K for Tone 2

Why not use 500k volume, and two 250k tone pots but with two 500k resistors from each of the single coils hot wire to ground? That way the humbucker would "see" a 500k pot, and the two singles would "see" a 250k pot, Works great on my HSS strat.

I tried that before with this guitar. I used 470K (only thing available from Radio Shack) for the 2 single coils and they were muddy. I know Suhr does something like that but they know what they're doing. :1: I'd rather use 250K straight up for volume/tone for the single coils because that works well.

I found a diagram at Strat-Talk which I'm going to try. A separate independant volume for the single coils and Trembucker. Later in the thread a few mistakes are corrected on the diagram.

http://www.strat-talk.com/forum/pickup-forum/51937-2-volumes-1-tone-strat-wiring.html

 

[IMENATOR]

Re: HSS - 250K for Vol./Tone 1, 500K for Tone 2

Do you really use the tone control for bridge? If not then you can try not using the tone pot, in theory may make it a little brighter as opposed to having it installed but I guess it may compensate with the fact you have a 250k volume pot which people say can make a HB a bit darker. I was looking for something that you are looking for regarding two volume pots, 250k for singe coils then 500k for bridge, it definitely requires a super switch if you want to try it in a pickguard that is going to be the definitive one but I plan on using myself a "test bed pickguard", that means I can put some pot and switches and get to hear how it sounds changing the volume pot for the guitar on the fly and better compare the sounds.

 

[hcarlh]

Re: HSS - 250K for Vol./Tone 1, 500K for Tone 2

Do you really use the tone control for bridge? If not then you can try not using the tone pot, in theory may make it a little brighter as opposed to having it installed but I guess it may compensate with the fact you have a 250k volume pot which people say can make a HB a bit darker. I was looking for something that you are looking for regarding two volume pots, 250k for singe coils then 500k for bridge, it definitely requires a super switch if you want to try it in a pickguard that is going to be the definitive one but I plan on using myself a "test bed pickguard", that means I can put some pot and switches and get to hear how it sounds changing the volume pot for the guitar on the fly and better compare the sounds.

One reason I'm leaning towards no tone control for the bridge Trembucker is my Charvel SoCal Pro Mod has a single, 500K volume control for all pickups (HSS). I have a Dimarzio Mo Joe in the bridge and SD STK-S4 Classic Stack Plus in neck and middle. Surprisingly, the 500K volume works fairly well for the single coils with no extreme brightness. I know it all comes down to the choice of pickups, bridge, and body wood which affect the sound. The wiring diagram at the link I provided does require a Superswitch.