Wiring Help--Nashville Telecaster (SSS)

[daugustus]

Hey everybody,

First post and I'm wiring my first guitar. I've been scouring the net for the last couple weeks trying to learn some basics--and I'm making some solid progress--but I was hoping to find some help with finding a wiring diagram that does what I would like.

I would like to wire the guitar with standard strat wiring (got that covered), but then also have the option to AT LEAST have a bridge on switch (hoping you guys can help here as the switches throw me off when it comes to altering diagrams online).

If possible I'd also be interested in some series options too (neck/middle--middle/bridge)...though I haven't found anything that I can make sense of in this department with the parts I have--and if its more hassle than it is worth--bridge on would help me sleep at night just fine.

In the parts department, I have this toneshapers kit: (http://www.toneshapers.com/wiring-p...ter/tele-sss2.html#.WOVomPkrKUk)--essentially a 2 pole five way super switch and pots, a CTS push/pull and a DPDT (on/on) toggle switch.

Please let me know what you think I should do. I'm using an SSL-1 (neck), SSL-52 (RWmiddle) and ATPL-1 (bridge). I apologize if somehow I missed something obvious online, but everything I've found is just a little different than what I was looking for. I appreciate any help in advance

Thanks!

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Wiring Help--Nashville Telecaster (SSS)

Sounds do-able, but I have a couple of questions for you.

• Do you want the bridge-on switch to be on the push/pull or the mini (the series switch will be on the other one)?

• Is this going to be 1 Volume and 2 Tones like a typical Strat? If so, do you want the tones to be for the neck & middle with nothing on the bridge (typical Strat) or some other configuration?

 

[daugustus]

Re: Wiring Help--Nashville Telecaster (SSS)

Right now I'm actually feeling just a bridge-on switch via push/pull and leave the toggle out for now--I probably won't use a series switch and it keeps things simpler.

I'm using a typical Tele setup with one volume and one tone.

I appreciate the help.

 

[BRHGM]

Re: Wiring Help--Nashville Telecaster (SSS)

Why not a super switch. It will give you more options and less hassle.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Wiring Help--Nashville Telecaster (SSS)

Why not a super switch. It will give you more options and less hassle.

Unnecessary... the two-pole version he already has will do the job quite nicely given the options for which he's asking.

EDIT: I feel like my answer was a little abrupt, and I want to apologize for my rudeness.

The switch version he already has is actually a 2-pole version of a super switch design, which is plenty to get his job done. If he had a 4-pole switch, we'd still only use two of the poles for this job.

A typical 4-pole super switch is generally handier for use with humbuckers where you may want to have splits, parallel, etc automatcally come on in a given switch position. In daugustus' case the "special" sounds he's asking for (bridge always on switch) are such that he wants to be able to manually apply the mod which makes no change to switch positions 1 or 2, makes 3 a duplicate of 2, but adds new combinations in positions 4 and 5 by giving him the option of all three pickups (4) and bridge + neck (5).

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[BriGuy1968]

Re: Wiring Help--Nashville Telecaster (SSS)

Hey everybody,

First post and I'm wiring my first guitar. I've been scouring the net for the last couple weeks trying to learn some basics--and I'm making some solid progress--but I was hoping to find some help with finding a wiring diagram that does what I would like.

I would like to wire the guitar with standard strat wiring (got that covered), but then also have the option to AT LEAST have a bridge on switch (hoping you guys can help here as the switches throw me off when it comes to altering diagrams online).

If possible I'd also be interested in some series options too (neck/middle--middle/bridge)...though I haven't found anything that I can make sense of in this department with the parts I have--and if its more hassle than it is worth--bridge on would help me sleep at night just fine.

In the parts department, I have this toneshapers kit: (http://www.toneshapers.com/wiring-p...ter/tele-sss2.html#.WOVomPkrKUk)--essentially a 2 pole five way super switch and pots, a CTS push/pull and a DPDT (on/on) toggle switch.

Please let me know what you think I should do. I'm using an SSL-1 (neck), SSL-52 (RWmiddle) and ATPL-1 (bridge). I apologize if somehow I missed something obvious online, but everything I've found is just a little different than what I was looking for. I appreciate any help in advance

Thanks!

Right now I'm actually feeling just a bridge-on switch via push/pull and leave the toggle out for now--I probably won't use a series switch and it keeps things simpler.

I'm using a typical Tele setup with one volume and one tone.

I appreciate the help.

All right daugustus, first things first... I neglected a serious piece of protocol in my first reply to you:

Welcome to the forum! [emoji41][emoji2][emoji1303]

Now that we have THAT out of the way, the second thing I want to do is apologize. You wouldn't have any way to know this, but the reason you didn't get this diagram last night is that I literally fell asleep at my computer! [emoji42] Sorry about that!

Okay... now for the good part. Here's your diagram. Strat-style switching with Tele-style volume/tone and a switch on the push/pull that turns the bridge pup "always on."

Let me know if you have any questions, and be sure to tell me how your project turns out! [emoji1303][emoji41]


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[GuitarDoc]

Re: Wiring Help--Nashville Telecaster (SSS)

Hey Brian,
Why do you have the green wire coming from the p/p going to the "common" lug of the part of the switch where the middle pup is connected? Don't you want that green wire going to ground, to short out the bridge pup?

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Wiring Help--Nashville Telecaster (SSS)

Hey Brian,
Why do you have the green wire coming from the p/p going to the "common" lug of the part of the switch where the middle pup is connected? Don't you want that green wire going to ground, to short out the bridge pup?

I want the bridge pup to be always on when the push/pull is "up," no matter what position the 5-way is in, not grounded out. By connecting it to the common (or the other common, or the right lug of the volume pot) the bridge pup is re-routed directly to the output instead of having the 5-way decide whether it's on or off (red wire).


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[daugustus]

Re: Wiring Help--Nashville Telecaster (SSS)

Thanks for the warm welcoming everybody! That diagram looks great! Nice and clean

One noob questions here: when I'm soldering a wire on multiple lugs on the switch (like the middle pickup connected to 2,3, and 4 on the second pole) is it better to strip more wire on the end and solder through all three at once or is it better to make small wire connectors from each lug? Have not really seen any videos that explain that aspect.

Also I was under the impression that I did not need the extra bridge ground (the brown line on the left) since my pickup is screwing into the metal bridge plate...should I make one anyway?

(EDIT) *Also just realized I'm using a CTS Push/Pull (with the black plastic on the back)--is there a conventional spot to ground from the back of the pot to the output ground? (I already translated the alpha connections, but haven't found a clear sign on grounding with the CTS).

Thanks again for the help!

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Wiring Help--Nashville Telecaster (SSS)

Thanks for the warm welcoming everybody! That diagram looks great! Nice and clean

One noob questions here: when I'm soldering a wire on multiple lugs on the switch (like the middle pickup connected to 2,3, and 4 on the second pole) is it better to strip more wire on the end and solder through all three at once or is it better to make small wire connectors from each lug? Have not really seen any videos that explain that aspect.

Anyone else feel free to jump in here as well, cuz I'm no great solderer! It seems like the best way would be to do each one separately if for no other reason than to just keep the wire in between from being bare across its length. That being said, if you just extended the wire through the three with a drop of solder on each one and then made sure it wasn't able to touch anything else, it should work just fine.

Also I was under the impression that I did not need the extra bridge ground (the brown line on the left) since my pickup is screwing into the metal bridge plate...should I make one anyway?

You know what? I had honestly never considered that before now! I did a quick search on the internet and it seems that there are both schools of thought out there. I can't see a reason why it wouldn't work either way, so here's what I know about it electrically:

• Assuming the bridge pup is grounded to its plate and that the bridge itself is a sufficient conductor of electricity, it should work fine to leave the separate bridge ground wire off.
• I don't believe that having the bridge ground will hurt anything. If memory serves, using two wires to ground something (which is essentially what you're doing) won't cause a ground loop unless there are other components in between. If you weren't using a typical Tele bridge (say you had installed a Tune-o-matic or some other bridge that didn't touch the pickup), you WOULD need to ground it separately. So with this logic, if you have any doubts about your components, GROUND it!

(EDIT) *Also just realized I'm using a CTS Push/Pull (with the black plastic on the back)--is there a conventional spot to ground from the back of the pot to the output ground? (I already translated the alpha connections, but haven't found a clear sign on grounding with the CTS).

Thanks again for the help!

You should be fine to just find a metal part of the pot's chassis to which you can easily solder. You can also get special washers that stick out from the top of the pots and can make the soldering job a little easier.

 

[daugustus]

Re: Wiring Help--Nashville Telecaster (SSS)

Well, got it wired and drilled today. Had one decent head-scratcher, but I just missed the blue line from the two control terminals on the switch. Wiring looks a little messy but she's singing like she should! Thanks Brian!

*still finishing up the neck so I should be able to actually put some strings on sometime later this week

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Wiring Help--Nashville Telecaster (SSS)

Awesome! Can't wait to hear how it works once it's complete!


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