Pearly Gates/Strat Wiring question

[Steve_T]

I'm trying to upgrade my 2007 MIM HSS strat and learn a bit about POTS in the process.
I've added Fender noiseless single coil in the neck and middle spots and a Pearly Gates in the bridge spot.
Replaced 5-way switch, tone pots and Volume switch with an S-1 500k.
Does the S-1 need a ground like the back of the tone pots have?
I want S-1 to split the PG when pushed down and everything else normal when up.
I'm not hearing any difference when I press S-1. Should I?
I'm also noticing that the tone controls sound like they do nothing. I'm old and my hearing is getting off but i can hear well enough. :laugh:
I used the below diagram and I'm not too terrible at soldering. Am I missing something? I have no problem with pulling it all out and redoing.
Thanks

 

[Blille]

Pearly Gates/Strat Wiring question

Tap (carefully) the poles/screws of the pickups to see which pickups / coils are active in each position.

Also be mindful of colors and phase when mixing Fender and SD.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Pearly Gates/Strat Wiring question

You don't want the black and white wires connected. That totally removes the slug coil from the circuit. Put the white wire with the red wire on the S-1 and the black wire on the 5-way. Looks like "tone 1" is wired incorrectly...the wire from the 5-way should attach to the middle lug of "tone 1".

 

[LesPaulPlayer001]

Re: Pearly Gates/Strat Wiring question

I'm not sure about the ground but I think you need to bend and solder lug three of the volume pot to the pot . Also use a .047 uF tone capacitor instead, this will allow you to roll of more of the high end than with a .022.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Pearly Gates/Strat Wiring question

I'm not sure about the ground but I think you need to bend and solder lug three of the volume pot to the pot . Also use a .047 uF tone capacitor instead, this will allow you to roll of more of the high end than with a .022.

Lug 3 of the vol pot IS grounded (to the back of the tone pot). The .022uf cap is really the better choice considering which pups he has. The .047uf cap doesn't roll off more of the high end, it reduces a lower range of the higher frequencies. The cap is what determines the frequencies which are effected by the pot. The POT is what rolls off the high end. But this is a matter of personal choice anyway.

 

[LesPaulPlayer001]

Re: Pearly Gates/Strat Wiring question

I found this on Seymour Duncan's website:
"The capacitor only contributes to guitar’s tone when you lower the tone pot. If you always play with your tone pot wide open, none of this matters."
"As the cap gets smaller, the minimum tone knob settings gets less dark."
"Now let’s go in the opposite direction, using higher value caps for a darker sound when the tone knob is lowered all the way"

This means that a higher value cap will let you make the guitar darker. Here is the link to the site: https://www.seymourduncan.com/tonefiend/guitar/customize-your-caps/

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Pearly Gates/Strat Wiring question

I found this on Seymour Duncan's website:
"The capacitor only contributes to guitar’s tone when you lower the tone pot. If you always play with your tone pot wide open, none of this matters."
"As the cap gets smaller, the minimum tone knob settings gets less dark."
"Now let’s go in the opposite direction, using higher value caps for a darker sound when the tone knob is lowered all the way"

This means that a higher value cap will let you make the guitar darker. Here is the link to the site: https://www.seymourduncan.com/tonefiend/guitar/customize-your-caps/

That's all true. I totally agree with it. That doesn't conflict with anything I said.

The value of the cap determines the FREQUENCIES (range of the higher frequencies) which are reduced by the pot.
The tone pot reduces the AMPLITUDE (amount, not range) of those frequencies.

"As the cap gets smaller, the minimum tone knob settings gets less dark."

Because only the highest frequencies are reduced.

"Now let’s go in the opposite direction, using higher value caps for a darker sound when the tone knob is lowered all the way"

Because with larger value caps more of the mid range is also (in addition to the highs) reduced.

 

[LesPaulPlayer001]

Re: Pearly Gates/Strat Wiring question

Right so wouldn't it have more of an effect than smaller caps? I know that I put in smaller caps in my guitar and they do less now, so I kind of wish they were a bit bigger.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Pearly Gates/Strat Wiring question

Of course...a smaller value cap will have less of an audible affect because only a few of the higher frequencies are shunted to ground. A larger value cap will shunt more high frequencies (and even going into the mid frequency range) to ground.