Wiring diagram help

stevenrb718

New member
I'm bad at understanding wiring on my own, but I can follow directions. I'm looking for a custom wiring diagram using push/pull pots and a 5 way blade for my SSS strat. I want the whole thing wired to the Gibson 50's vintage wiring (better than a treble bleed IMO), but I love to have lots of options in one instrument. I really would like the volume push/pull pot to add the neck pickup a la david gilmour, next tone pot to pull out of phase, and bottom tone pot to pull in series. Also, I would like the bridge pickup to be wired through the bottom tone control, as my current config allows tone control over the other 4 positions only. Help?
 
Re: Wiring diagram help

Welcome to the forum.

Some details require clarification. For instance, when you say that you would like the upper tone pot push-pull switch to engage phase reversal, what is expected to become out-of-phase in relation to what else? Similarly, for the lower tone pot push-pull switch, what would you wish to connect in series with what else?

Some of what you have requested will involve a 24-contact Superswitch. Some of the pickup coil permutations that you seek might be more easily obtained via a Fender S-1 switch.
 
Re: Wiring diagram help

I'm bad at understanding wiring on my own, but I can follow directions. I'm looking for a custom wiring diagram using push/pull pots and a 5 way blade for my SSS strat. I want the whole thing wired to the Gibson 50's vintage wiring (better than a treble bleed IMO), but I love to have lots of options in one instrument. I really would like the volume push/pull pot to add the neck pickup a la david gilmour, next tone pot to pull out of phase, and bottom tone pot to pull in series. Also, I would like the bridge pickup to be wired through the bottom tone control, as my current config allows tone control over the other 4 positions only. Help?

enters to the sound of some random "stadium Rock".. lol

Ill get right on it.. give me a day or 2.. I could have it done today but something might come up.. so, hence the extra day:)
 
Re: Wiring diagram help

Welcome to the forum.

Some details require clarification. For instance, when you say that you would like the upper tone pot push-pull switch to engage phase reversal, what is expected to become out-of-phase in relation to what else? Similarly, for the lower tone pot push-pull switch, what would you wish to connect in series with what else?

Some of what you have requested will involve a 24-contact Superswitch. Some of the pickup coil permutations that you seek might be more easily obtained via a Fender S-1 switch.

good points.. would of probably had to do a few follow up post for clarification once I started..

the series is an easy one though... just make the middle one in series and wire it so that its either in series w/ the neck or the bridge.. problem solved
 
Re: Wiring diagram help

Thanks. Obviously for the series and phase options I'd be thinking the combos of position 2 and 4. But with the ability to pull the neck pickup on at any time, I'm not sure if I can make the same combos using that ability, i.e. selector on bridge pickup, pull volume knob to add neck pickup in standard parallel, but then be able to pull tones to swap series or phase, etc with other positions. I'm pretty good at confusing myself on it, also confusing others lol. I'm trying to get as many pickups selection/polarity/circuit options as possible with as little hard modifications to the pickguard as possible...
 
Re: Wiring diagram help

Thanks. Obviously for the series and phase options I'd be thinking the combos of position 2 and 4. But with the ability to pull the neck pickup on at any time, I'm not sure if I can make the same combos using that ability, i.e. selector on bridge pickup, pull volume knob to add neck pickup in standard parallel, but then be able to pull tones to swap series or phase, etc with other positions. I'm pretty good at confusing myself on it, also confusing others lol. I'm trying to get as many pickups selection/polarity/circuit options as possible with as little hard modifications to the pickguard as possible...

im done dude.. I still have to add color to it as its in B/W

way I did it which seemed the most logical.. well.. to me

Master Volume: I added the neck always-on switch
N+M tone: i put the middle in and out of phase.. so it will give you OOP for pos 2 and 4
B tone:I added the series switch to again put the middle in series with the neck or bridge in pos 2 or 4

also added the bottom tone to the bridge 'pup

ill color it a bit later and proof read it a few times.. then post it here and others will either worship my abilities or ridicule them LMAO.. seriously though.. others will look at it and see if there is anything I missed.. don't think i did as it looks good to me but I wont really be able to tell until I add some color.. B&W is hard on the eyes
 
Re: Wiring diagram help

here you go.. check it over and let me know if its A) what you want B)if you want to add anything else to it
 
Re: Wiring diagram help

Awesome Brandenburg. I do have a couple questions. Is this using the 50s gibson style wiring that allows for better treble control upon volume rolloff? There are several jumpers on the switch, and some splice off to a pot or pickup. Am I able to connect in at any point in that chain, or should it be specific to the picture, i.e. the blue wire on the first tone connects into the switch jumpers at #4 or the pink route going into the volume. Also, do you happen to have a chart or a quick walkthrough for following the position/DPDT options? Thanks again!
 
Re: Wiring diagram help

Awesome Brandenburg. I do have a couple questions. Is this using the 50s gibson style wiring that allows for better treble control upon volume rolloff? There are several jumpers on the switch, and some splice off to a pot or pickup. Am I able to connect in at any point in that chain, or should it be specific to the picture, i.e. the blue wire on the first tone connects into the switch jumpers at #4 or the pink route going into the volume. Also, do you happen to have a chart or a quick walkthrough for following the position/DPDT options? Thanks again!

no 50's wiring.. id actually have to look what that it.. Im assuming a treble bleed circuit?

Maby i should give you my color code description:
For pickups I followed Seymour Duncan color codes by default unless requested to do otherwise
HUMBUCKERS
-------------------
NORTH start(+):BLACK
NORTH finish(-):LT Grey
SOUTH finish(+):RED
SOUTH start(-):GREEN
SINGLE COILS
---------------
Start(+):RED
finish:thin black lines

--My color codes--
hot/signal:Magenta
Grounds:thin black
Tone/caps:Blue
nodes or solder points: dark grey

dont try to overthink it here.. If you don't understand whats going on with the wiring.. don't try to be clever here or things might not go according to plan.

"warning".. Its not advisable to change stuff around unless you understand what I had done, why I had done it that way, and the theory behind it. FOR SURE.. there are several wiring solutions to each problem alot of time.. not all the time but most the time there is.. Just a friendly warning but you can do as you see fit.... Its best just to get it working then tweak it a bit..or get one switch working first.. then add another and so forth.. easier to troubleshoot when you do it like this .. especially when you are new at this.. I speak from experience here

generally.. if a wire goes off the switch to the pot.. its better if its done that way. Not always but IMO.. its easier and keeps wire length to a minimum which helps keep the noise from seeping into the circuit.. longer wire increases the possibility of noise IMO.. Now some you can just wire where ever as long as they are connected in the "chain" (i.e electronically connected) but there some cases where it has to be done a certain way...

best thing to do is just trace the wires with you fingers or print out a few copies and start drawing arrows with a pen.I use legal sized paper in this program BTW. just find you an explanation of how a DPDT or super switch works..

here is a quick explanation on the push/pull DPDT pot.. the 2 middle lugs are "commons" and depending on if the pot is pulled or pushed.. there will be an electronic connected to either the top or bottom lugs.. think of a DPDT switch like having 2 SPDT switchs that are linked together but are electronically isolated.. i.e. You pull the pot.. the commons and both bottom lugs are active at the same time but must treat them as individual switches unless you add a jumper so that current can pass through one side to the other.easiest way to remember it for me is that down(push) or default are the top lugs of the switch and when you pull the pot (up), the bottom lugs are active.i.e ones closest to the pot

Not sure about drawing you a diagram/chart about what every switch does as I thought I had already done that right above my name. Maby I can give you a graphical walk through wire trace but that will take time to do and not exactly sure how I want to do that.. several different ways but it might be time consuming..Ill try to work on it tonight.. try is the operative word though..Let me think on it

This drawing should meet your requirements and work as advertised.. unless one of my peers comes in and tells me there is an issue or something doesnt look right.. sometimes it happens.. sometimes it doesn't.. if it does and its proven that the drawing is in error.. Ill make a revision
 
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Re: Wiring diagram help

here is an example of a wire trace for the volume push/pull

yellow is the default or down position.. green is the up position of the switch

LOL had to break out a military drawing program..Thought it would take more time with PSP..I think this program works well in showing the signal path

if this will help you to understand.. I can do the other 2 push pulls the same way.. i think it would easier to do one switch trace per drawing though or it might get to cluttered IMO

 
Re: Wiring diagram help

I follow it now after some studying. Here's a link for the description of the 50s vintage wiring: http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Gibson_50s_wiring_on_a_Stratocaster It is a form of treble bleed that I prefer in comparison...can't stand standard treble bleed circuits. I believe it's the placement of the cap in the circuit is the difference, but yet again I'm pretty clueless. Is there a way to include this mod on the circuit? BTW, you're the man.
 
Re: Wiring diagram help

I think for 50s-style wiring here, all you would do is replace the blue wires from the switch to the tone pots (outer lug) with the tone cap and then ground the tone pot center lugs. Essentially it's about only showing high frequencies to the tone pot. For independent volume pots, the tone cap is taken off the output lug, but for a master volume, you need to go further up the chain, which is the blue connections in the diagram.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Re: Wiring diagram help

Nice work, but I do see a couple of "issues". 1st, the bottom-right quadrant of your superswitch does nothing. You have the neck & bridge ground wires shorted together, and then connected to every terminal of that quadrant. Just wire them together and go directly to the lower right terminal of the push-pull pot. Saves a lot of unnecessary soldering. ;)

The 2nd issue is a bit more complicated. The "series" mode will only work when the SS is in the neck or bridge position. When in the 2/3/4 positions, the n/b, or both, will be hanging out on the "hot" side of the circuit, acting as big "noise antennas". Made even worse by the fact that they're single coils. Like this:

Brand-ser-par.png

It may not be a problem, but it probably will. :)

I'll look this over some more later.

Artie
 
Re: Wiring diagram help

Nice work, but I do see a couple of "issues". 1st, the bottom-right quadrant of your superswitch does nothing. You have the neck & bridge ground wires shorted together, and then connected to every terminal of that quadrant. Just wire them together and go directly to the lower right terminal of the push-pull pot. Saves a lot of unnecessary soldering. ;)

The 2nd issue is a bit more complicated. The "series" mode will only work when the SS is in the neck or bridge position. When in the 2/3/4 positions, the n/b, or both, will be hanging out on the "hot" side of the circuit, acting as big "noise antennas". Made even worse by the fact that they're single coils. Like this:

View attachment 73047

It may not be a problem, but it probably will. :)

I'll look this over some more later.

Artie
lol.. good tip on 1#

not convinced #2 is an issue..
 
Re: Wiring diagram help

Do not think this adds much but am posting a part of a wiring diagram I have used several times to get OOPs and series in SSS Strats. This has an added cap which gets added in series to the bridge pup in normal OOP to thicken up the sound. This is automatically removed when series is engaged as it would be detrimental.

I also use the 2nd tone (3rd push pull ) as a neck on switch but do not usually connect it as a tone control as to get 50s wiring the easiest way is to have a master tone connected to the volume output lug.

1 apologise for the complete lack of any artistry in the sketch but hopefully its understandable.

Of course if you can tolerate a simple on/off switch on your scratchplate for adding the neck pup, you need only 2 push pulls and your master tone can then be a no-load at 10 which means you have the additional option of the open sound..

I appreciate that you requested series between bridge/ middle and middle/ neck but you can transpose the wiring for the middle and bridge pick up.

FWIW Stat players,in my experience prefer the bridge/middle and bridge/neck option in this set up.
 

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Re: Wiring diagram help

I think for 50s-style wiring here, all you would do is replace the blue wires from the switch to the tone pots (outer lug) with the tone cap and then ground the tone pot center lugs. Essentially it's about only showing high frequencies to the tone pot. For independent volume pots, the tone cap is taken off the output lug, but for a master volume, you need to go further up the chain, which is the blue connections in the diagram.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I'm not following..are you saying run the blue from the switch to the tone lugs where the cap currently is, and then attach the grounded caps to the center lug?
 
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