Rebuilding my High-School sweetheart

[jhale667]

BUMP - and a question?

BUMP - and a question?

OK, might drop for the neck this week, debating...:naughty:

But meanwhile, had a question for the wiring gurus, and didn't want to start a whole separate thread about it. I'm competent enough with basic volume/tone scenarios, but here's one I've never wired...

I'd like to, since I only have two control holes on this body, wire it so one volume governs the bridge humbucker with no tone control, and use a dual concentric pot for volume and a tone control for the neck position only...using a 3-way switch in the scenario too, if that helps...
Anybody got a schematic for that, por favor? :scratchch

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Rebuilding my High-School sweetheart

Why don't you just use a LP schematic?

They're 2 volume / 2 tone / 3-way.

You just don't install a tone in the bridge pu

 

[jhale667]

Re: Rebuilding my High-School sweetheart

Why don't you just use a LP schematic?

They're 2 volume / 2 tone / 3-way.

You just don't install a tone in the bridge pu

I've only got three holes to deal with, and one is going to be for the switch? Don't want to drill the vintage body....

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Rebuilding my High-School sweetheart

That's what I said.

Use the LP 2-vol/2-tone/3-way wiring schematic but just don't use the bridge tone pot in that schematic.
(i.e. the neck pickup will be wired exactly like in an LP, only the volume and tone pots will be one concentric pot and the bridge will just have a vol. pot.)

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Rebuilding my High-School sweetheart

OK, here is the schematic.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=2h_2v_2t_3w

In this schematic you will simply ignore the "Bridge Tone" pot and wire everything else as shown.
(well, the neck volume and tone pots will in fact be one big concentric pot but that's just that the natural orientation will be different)

It's pretty straightforward, the only thing to be careful is that in that schematic they use the bridge tone pot's chassis as the final stop to grounding before sending it to the output jack.

It is pretty obvious that everything that is grounded on that chassis STILL needs to be grounded with every other component and the ground lung of the output jack.

 

[jhale667]

Re: Rebuilding my High-School sweetheart

Thank you very much! Sorry, misunderstood you at first - popped in for two seconds on my lunch at work..basically glossed over the thread, my bad...was slammed today.

Still considering options, may just do vol/vol, but wasn't sure how to pull that particular one off...never wired a concentric pot before, usually a single volume kinda guy except for my 2 more traditional mutt Strats...the most exotic thing I've done to date is the Eric Johnson tone mod, and that's just moving a single connection from the standard schematic...lol
Wiring isn't necessarily my favorite part of the assembly process...I've yet to screw up a circuit, but always end up burning myself somehow...:banghead: :lol:

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Rebuilding my High-School sweetheart

I haven't wired anything ever either but I can kinda get the visual gist of it though.
Usually when I see a schematic or a real "live" wiring I can visually follow the trail and "get" what does what.
So, from LOOKING at a concentric pot it looks just like two ordinary pots that share the same shaft, nothing complex. If nothing else the two should have a common grounding so, less soldering for you

Here's the 2 humbuckers/2 volumes/3-way wiring schematic if you want it:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=2h_2v_3w

Myself I like using the two push/pull pots master volume/master tone wiring.
The volume pot splits the neck pu, the tone pot splits the bridge pu, I get 8 combinations with them and the 3-way.

In your case however I'd be more inspired to use the concentric pot for the neck and bridge volumes and a push/pull pot for the neck tone that would also split both pickups.
You'd get 6 combinations but you'd also get to balance the two pickups (both split or both full) in the middle.
I think that'd be worth it!

Here's the schematic BTW for 2 volumes, 1 tone and a push/pull (that splits both 'buckers).
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=2h_2v_1t_3w_pp
In this schematic the 1 tone is used as a universal tone but it'll be REALLY easy to follow the schematic I posted in my earlier post to make it work for the neck pu alone; just wire it to the neck pu's volume pot like the 1st post shows and you'd be set.

If you have any problem just tell me and I'll combine the two schematics to show you how it's done (but it's REALLY easy)

 

[jhale667]

Re: Rebuilding my High-School sweetheart

Thanks again. I'll let you know what I decide. My only concern about the concentric pot is that it will be weird visually on the face of the guitar (shallow, I know.. ) might go with the two volume, 1 (neck only) tone w/split deal with the concentric and a push-pull...that would be extremely versatile...I like your idea, but not sure I'd dig the concentric for both volumes.
Interesting, what seemed like it was going to be a fairly straightforward re-assembly has opened up a wealth of electronic possibilities that certainly wouldn't have occurred to me in high school...

Gotta love upgrading...:bling:

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Rebuilding my High-School sweetheart

The reason I chose the concentric pot to be the two volumes was purely a preference thing.
If both volume knobs are stack one over the other it makes turning the volume down in both pickups with one move possible; you just put your palm in a way that touches both knobs and you flip it.

You might prefer the lower pot to be the neck tone and the push/pull to be the bridge volume.
Whichever works the best for you.
Either way would have NO bearing in the wiring part of the scheme

---

And, I know what you mean man.
My current best sounding, best playing axe is Izzy, a guitar made from a Korean company (Swing) that I bought dirt cheap - 300€.
I just fell in love with how it felt and how it played and, with its' acoustic tonal response and characteristics - although the pickups were the cr@ppiest of cr@p pickups that give Asian pus a BAD name :9:

Ever since I bought it I was saving money to do upgrades:
New Gotoh Floyd, Sperzel tuners, Suhr and Tom Anderson pickups (those two alone cost 300€), two DiMarzio push/pulls, good quality resistors/caps (including the Treble Bleed mod) and just to top it of, new Seymour Duncan trembucker pickup rings and Evidence Audio cable used for the internal connections (basically from the volume pot to the tone pot and from the tone pot to the output jack :9
All this cost me a whopping 700€ (including labor), bringing the total cost to a cool one grand but man, was it worth every last single penny!!!
The body even seems to resonate substantially more than when I first bought it, only 3 months ago!

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Rebuilding my High-School sweetheart

KeeperSOS,

you should start another thread or resurrect your orig swing thread since you have the mods done to her...

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Rebuilding my High-School sweetheart

Actually I did, with before and after photos and everything, although not a lot of people seemed to notice (maybe it was the title I chose? Dunno :9

Here it is:
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=144163

It's actually two posts, the first was about how I upgraded my MiM and the second about my Swing, I did them both at the same time.
That week I was constantly withdrawing money from my savings account - I ended up going way overboard and paid 1000€ in whole for them both...
(Actually, 994.50€ - that's about 1470 USD; more than enough for a new axe or two...)

On a side note, man, is that Suhr Dough Aldrich THE neck pickup for 24 fretters.
I LOVE everything about it; So meaty and full (but not boomy) when in series humbucker while when split, it produces the smoothest, sweetest neck tone I have EVER heard from ANY guitar (including actual Suhrs!!!)

 

[jhale667]

Cha-ching before you know it...

Cha-ching before you know it...

Yeah, I feel you on the going overboard financially thing - my two simultaneous refurb/upgrade projects are probably going to run into the $1000 range for me...but will be SO worth it when I'm done...

It all started so simply...hated the body on one, was going to replace that, check. Then decided to redo this Kramer one, too...need neck. Can't find what I want, so have to get a Warmoth paddlehead to spec and have it custom-shaped...film at 11. Anyway, then decided new pickups and black hardware for both...check. Big Blocks for both Floyds...done. Right now I'm a set of tuners, the neck of course, and a paint-job away from completion, but kind of stalled at the moment.
DID find a cool Explorer template available online, but I just need the headstock, for cryin' out loud...

The neck for the Kramer and the finish for the Charvel neck/Musikraft Charvel replica body are going to be the two most expensive items...the Musikraft body was just over 2 bills...

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Rebuilding my High-School sweetheart

D@mn, you kept saying that that Charvel should get its' own thread - that sounds like a little more than just an upgrade though :9:

I just realized that I spent in one go 1000€ just in upgrades (plus the 300 for the actual guitar - plus whatever I spent for the Strat ever since I bought it :9 and frankly, I'm still trying to take it in but I just love the results!

Sometimes, even though it's not the most financially sound course of action it will be the most rewarding (having a guitar that means sth more to you than the money you spent for it be the best it can be).

 

[jhale667]

Re: Rebuilding my High-School sweetheart

I agree, can't see either having huge value to anyone but me, however...that's kind of the point.

For fun, from left to right: The Kramer's original Floyd, one rebuilt from a baseplate I found cheap on Ebay, and a newer (both still 'Made in Germany') one I've tricked out further with Graph Tech Saddles and stainless bolts in addition to the Big Block...that's goin' on the Charvel...

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Rebuilding my High-School sweetheart

Nice

What do you make of the graph-tech saddles?
Do they make a difference in tone and/or performance or is it just for string brakes?

 

[jhale667]

Not sure...

Not sure...

Dunno yet, this will be my 1st experiment with them - they're for the body that's waiting to be painted. :lol:

They're supposed to increase sustain beyond the capacity of steel OR brass, but I'll believe that when I hear it...:28: Will let ya know on that, too!

Actually, if they increase sustain at all, coupled with the Big Block, Look out...reduced string breakage (not like it's a problem as it is) will be an added bonus...:cool2: