P-Rails in Fender Modern Player Telecaster Plus wiring help PLEASE!

NoDimeAboveFive

NoDimeAboveFive

New member
Just got the Modern Player Telecaster and love it except the bridge pickup. It has a SPDT mini toggle already (factory) that splits the bridge humbucker.

Current Setup:

5 Way selector switch
1- Bridge humbucker (or coil split, depending on mini toggle)
2- Bridge + middle single coil (RW) (HB or SC from bridge, dependent on the mini-toggle position)
3- Middle
4- Middle plus Tele neck
5- Tele neck

I want to replace the humbucker with the P-Rails, and replace the switch with a DPDT so my final result is:

5 Way selector switch
1- P-Rails Bridge (HB or P90 or Rail, depending on mini toggle)
2- Bridge + middle single coil (RW) (HB, P90, or Rail from bridge, dependent on the mini-toggle position)
3- Middle
4- Middle plus Tele neck
5- Tele neck

Question 1: What direction will I install the pickup (Rail or P90 forward)
Question 2: What will the wiring look like (Pickup to toggle, toggle to volume and tone)

I have attached the factory wiring diagram.View attachment fender-modern-player-tele-plus-wiring-2.pdf

Thanks for your help.
 
Re: P-Rails in Fender Modern Player Telecaster Plus wiring help PLEASE!

1) Rail coil nearer to the neck. (IMO, the other way about will produce excessive treble.)
2) Your revised circuit will be an amalgam of this http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=2_prails_1v_1t_3w_mini as far as the DP3T on/off/on switch and stock Fender wiring thereafter.

It is possible that you will experience phase relationship problems between the P-Rail pickup and the stock middle pickup. The solutions are
EITHER - reverse the orientation of both bar magnets in the P-Rail pickup
OR - reverse the conductors per coil. (Black for white, red for green.)
 
Re: P-Rails in Fender Modern Player Telecaster Plus wiring help PLEASE!

I see. Because its normally used in an HH setup, the bridge is RW to the neck. In my system, the neck is standard wound and the middle is RW, resulting in out of phase with the already RW wound bridge pickup. How difficult is reversing the magnets?
 
Re: P-Rails in Fender Modern Player Telecaster Plus wiring help PLEASE!

Wait- this is not about RW. It's magnet phase, right? How can I check the phase on my guitar and compare it to the P-Rails?
 
Re: P-Rails in Fender Modern Player Telecaster Plus wiring help PLEASE!

Coil phase is relative.

Magnets do not have "phase". They have polarity.

It is the combination of phase and polarity that enables hum-cancellation between two coils.
 
Re: P-Rails in Fender Modern Player Telecaster Plus wiring help PLEASE!

I personally like the Rail coil next to the bridge. It gets more of a single coil tone there. When the rail coil is toward the neck, there isn't much tonal difference between the rail and the P-90 coils. If you want more variety in the tones you can generate with a P-Rail pup in the bridge position, the rail coil really needs to be next to the bridge with the P-90 toward the neck. If you find that, in this orientation, the rail coil is too thin/treble sounding or if you find it a little too weak, just put an A8 magnet next to the rail (keep the A5 next to the P-90).
 
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