Tune O Matic Custom Passive Wiring

[jshape]

Hey all. Longtime reader, first time poster here. Got a question on a custom wiring scheme. I have a Les Paul with a JB in the bridge/lead and a Seth Lover in the neck. A while back I also installed a tune o matic piezo bridge with a Fishman Power Chip preamp and stereo output jack. I currently have it wired up so the bridge and neck each have their own volume and they both go to one tone. The Power Chip volume knob is in place of what is normally the 2nd tone knob. This allows me to blend the piezo with the magnetics. Very versatile setup that has served me well. However, I've realized that I really never use the blended sound of the piezo and magnetics - just not that useable of a sound for me in the settings I play in. Right now I have to turn the volume to the piezo all the way down when I want full magnetic sound, then turn the magnetic volumes all the way down when I want full piezo. What would really be useful though (and not require a battery...I hope) is if I had a push/pull that could activate one and at the same time deactivate the other and still fully function as a volume knob. It'd be even better if it could be wired so that one of the tone pot could control both a magnetic and the piezo as well, depending on the switch position.

Is this possible? Since I am not blending could I do it passively, without the preamp, battery, and stereo jack? Anyone know how I would wire that up? 2 tones, 1 neck volume, and a push/pull volume that controls the magnetic bridge when pushed and the piezo when pulled and acts as a kill switch for the pickup(s) not in use? Much appreciated! Thanks for reading!

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Tune O Matic Custom Passive Wiring

Sure.

Disconnect wires from your tone pot (leave the capacitor wired on it).

Replace your "blend pot" with a push/pull pot.

The output wire from your piezo (which currently goes to the "blend pot" or jack) should go to the input lug of the vol pot portion of the p/p (just like a normal vol pot). The output from the pot (middle lug) goes to the lug on the p/p switch closest to the pot. The middle lug of the p/p goes to the tip of the output jack (you don't need a stereo jack, but you can keep it and just not have any connections to the sleeve lug) and to the outside lug of your current tone pot. The middle lug of your tone pot already has the cap wired to it.

The output wire from your 3-way switch (that used to go to the tone pot or output jack) should go to the lug of the p/p switch farthest from the pot. All of these wires connected to the p/p switch are on the same side of the switch. Three lugs on the other side of the p/p are left bare.

When the p/p knob is in the down position, your passive pups are connected to the jack and the piezo is disconnected. When the knob is up, the piezo is connected to the jack and the passives are disconnected. The tone pot will function for all of the pup selections.

 

[jshape]

Re: Tune O Matic Custom Passive Wiring

Sure.

Disconnect wires from your tone pot (leave the capacitor wired on it).

Replace your "blend pot" with a push/pull pot.

The output wire from your piezo (which currently goes to the "blend pot" or jack) should go to the input lug of the vol pot portion of the p/p (just like a normal vol pot). The output from the pot (middle lug) goes to the lug on the p/p switch closest to the pot. The middle lug of the p/p goes to the tip of the output jack (you don't need a stereo jack, but you can keep it and just not have any connections to the sleeve lug) and to the outside lug of your current tone pot. The middle lug of your tone pot already has the cap wired to it.

The output wire from your 3-way switch (that used to go to the tone pot or output jack) should go to the lug of the p/p switch farthest from the pot. All of these wires connected to the p/p switch are on the same side of the switch. Three lugs on the other side of the p/p are left bare.

When the p/p knob is in the down position, your passive pups are connected to the jack and the piezo is disconnected. When the knob is up, the piezo is connected to the jack and the passives are disconnected. The tone pot will function for all of the pup selections.

Gosh, I could not have asked for a better description. Even better than a schematic. Thanks so much. You're the man! Who do I make the check payable to for your time and expertise?

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Tune O Matic Custom Passive Wiring

Our knowledge and experience are happily and freely shared on this forum. Glad to have helped.