tone bypass in pos 2/4 for strat?

jarvis

New member
Hi,

I'm looking for a diagram to do the following:

Regular 5 way switching for strat but....
bypass the tone in position 2 and 4. (for a more sparkly sound)
and have 2 tones:
1 tone for neck
1 tone for bridge
-------no middle pup tone

i have searched and havnt found anything, except the fact that a superswitch is needed.

If anyone knows how to wire this It will be really helpful,
reasons for really wanting to dot this:

I think that this a mod for everybody, I havnt heard anyone use the tone in the in between positions, plus while its there it sucks a little bit of the tone.

a lot of times your'e playin' in the second position some pop rythem with chorus, lets say and you need to play a solo with bridge pup, but need to roll off the tone a bit.... etc etc.
Anyone who plays or played live knows what im talking about.

so tks in advance
 
Re: tone bypass in pos 2/4 for strat?

Interesting...

-------no middle pup tone

...easy, just remove the lead wire that connects the tone pot to the switch, and solder it to the unused lug next to it.

bypass the tone in position 2 and 4. (for a more sparkly sound)

...this is where it get interesting...

...think we'll have to wait for Artie to wake up.
 
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Re: tone bypass in pos 2/4 for strat?

Tks for answer -I know that You move and connect to the next lug etc....

The main question is tone bypass in pos 2/4--- that means when your'e in that position there is no load from tone, meaning no tone.

as of your second observation, I hope you realize that even with tone or vol at ten you have a "degrading of sound" unless u use a no load pot, which on 10 is completly bypassed and 9 and downward its affected
 
Re: tone bypass in pos 2/4 for strat?

Yes, you need a Superswitch. Like this:

jarvis.png
 
Re: tone bypass in pos 2/4 for strat?

Tks Artie!

I'm gonna look where to order the switch and try that.
BTW, are those superswitches standard or I need a specific one for this?:doh:
 
Re: tone bypass in pos 2/4 for strat?

Generally, the "Superswitch" moniker belongs to one specific switch. As long as you go with that, you should be ok. It has four wafers, with five positions each. Like this:

SuperSwitch
 
Re: tone bypass in pos 2/4 for strat?

Man, this is a valuable thread. That's the wiring I've always dreamt of, but never knew I could have. Thanks for posting this one!

I'm bookmarking that Stewart McDonald link to the superswitch.
 
Re: tone bypass in pos 2/4 for strat?

Interesting read... both of my 3-pu Strats have the no middle position tone/"Eric Johnson" mod, and yes it is accomplished by moving the wire to the lug one over as described...I'm quite fond of the benefits it provides.

Never thought about trying a complete tone bypass in positions 2 and 4, though...hmmm...:scratchch
 
Re: tone bypass in pos 2/4 for strat?

I did a test recently, where I added a switch so that I could switch the tone control in and out of the circuit. When the tone pot was on "10", there was no audible difference between the tone circuit in or out. For this reason, I've never really understood the desire for a "no-tone" switch.

But to each his own. :)
 
Re: tone bypass in pos 2/4 for strat?

I've taken this a step further and inserted a High Pass Filter into the volume pot on positions 2,3, & 4. One of my favorites was an H/H guitar with the following:

1: Neck HB, tone circuit
2: Inside coils, HP circuit, no tone circuit
3: N & B HB, HP circuit, no tone circuit
4: Outside coils, HP circuit, no tone circuit
5: Bridge HB, tone circuit
 
Re: tone bypass in pos 2/4 for strat?

Artie, I have an HSS strat with a superswitch wired like so:
5. Neck
4. Neck + Middle Series
3. Neck + Screw coil bridge
2. Middle + Slug coil bridge
1. Bridge Humbucker

Would I follow the same diagram to take out the tone pots in positions 2 & 4? Also, how would I wire the tone pots in the diagram? You show a single connection, and I don't know how to wire a tone pot well enough to try and figure it out myself. Sorry for the hijack, but I'd like to try this if at all possible. Also, I currently have my guitar wired (Incorrectly) for a master volume and a master tone control, but both the volume and the tone are acting like tone controls, so If you could show how to wire it for a volume control, and neck and bridge tone controls. Thanks again, sorry for the hijack, and all that jazz.
 
Re: tone bypass in pos 2/4 for strat?

Man, this is a valuable thread. That's the wiring I've always dreamt of, but never knew I could have. Thanks for posting this one!

I'm bookmarking that Stewart McDonald link to the superswitch.

I tried bypassing the tone before and I can tell u it makes a huge difference.
With tone out its like playing old strings and sounding like u just fitted them on.
I like both sounds, I find that the only problem is our ears that are used to hearing the tone "there".I had a master tone before where as I could bypass it via push pull.

I thought of this mod while seeing what my live situation needs are and trying to keep it as simple as possibe at tha same time.

Im sure alot of people have done that and are enjoying awell kept secret
 
Re: tone bypass in pos 2/4 for strat?

I did a test recently, where I added a switch so that I could switch the tone control in and out of the circuit. When the tone pot was on "10", there was no audible difference between the tone circuit in or out. For this reason, I've never really understood the desire for a "no-tone" switch.

But to each his own. :)

Yeah, but the point of this circuit would be so the tones could be backed off on the bridge especially, then when switching to notch positions, you hear it with no tone pot. The way I'd always like to hear my guitar is every position on 10 except for the bridge, where the tone is 7-8.
 
Re: tone bypass in pos 2/4 for strat?

Would I follow the same diagram to take out the tone pots in positions 2 & 4? Also, how would I wire the tone pots in the diagram? You show a single connection, and I don't know how to wire a tone pot well enough to try and figure it out myself.

No prob. Remember, a tone control is simply a 2-connection device and one side is always ground. Doesn't matter if the pot or cap comes first. So, in the following diagram, pre-wire up your tone control, ground one side, then connect the white dot to wherever you want tone control. That would be those two lines in my diagram.

tone_control.png


Remember also that that diagram doesn't have a tone control on the middle position also. Those 5 lugs on the lower-left quadrant are for tone connections. Just jumper either tone control to whichever lugs where you want tone control. For example, you may want to jumper between the #1 and #3 lugs so that the neck tone works neck and middle, but not when in the #2 or #4 positions. Make sense?

Yeah, but the point of this circuit would be so the tones could be backed off on the bridge especially, then when switching to notch positions, you hear it with no tone pot. The way I'd always like to hear my guitar is every position on 10 except for the bridge, where the tone is 7-8.

That makes perfect sense. Now I get it. :)
 
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