wiring lil 59's with p/p

Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Hi Artitoo,
I wrote out the routing. Can you take a look at it and tell me if it is correct?
Thanks.

Bridge: wired to bass p/p pot
1. Red and white pair goes to the middle position.
2. Green goes to “A”.
3. Green from “A” and bare goes to ground.
4. Black goes to pole #1 on 5-way.

Middle: wired to treble p/p pot
1. Red and white goes to middle.
2. Black goes to “A” position.
3. Black then goes from “A” to pole #3 on 5-way.
4. Green and bare goes to ground.

Neck: wired to volume p/p pot
1. Red and white pair goes to the middle position.
2. Green goes to “A”.
3. Green and Bare goes to ground.
4. Black goes to pole #5 on 5-way.

5-Way Switch:
1. Pole #1, black wire from bridge pup.
2. Pole #2 and pole #7 jumpers together.
3. Pole #2 goes to “C” on volume pot right side.
3. Pole #3 goes to “A” left side treble pot.
4. Pole #4 connects with jumper to pole #6.
5. Pole #5 is black wire from neck pup.
6. Pole #6 connects to pole “A” right side on bass pot.
7. Pole #7 is jumper from pole #2.
8. Pole #8 connects to pole “B” on treble pot.

Pots: all right side wiring.
1. Right side pole “B” on bass to right side pole “A” on treble.
2. .022 Capacitor solders one leg to right side pole “A” on treble and other leg to ground.
3. “A” on vol. right side to ground and ground on output jack.
4. “B” on vol. right side to hot on output jack.
5. All green and bare wires to ground.
 
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Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

That sounds about right. The neck, middle, and bridge I'm sure are right, but I'm not positive about the 5-way part. But thats only because there's no standardized way of numbering the terminals, so I'm not sure I follow your numbering scheme.

You're correct about all the green and bares going to ground.

I just caught this late. I'll reread it tomorrow. Maybe then the numbers will "click" with me. :)

Artie
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Yeah, I'm putting this old mind to bed as well. I'm using a rectangular instead of a rotary fiveway. So I just number the poles as they lay out on the switch. Figured that would either work okay, or I will have the unpleasant options of changing it or learning a quirky fiveway. Hoping for the former. :)
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Caution, caution! Anyone who attempts this project should know how to use a plunge router. P/P pots are much longer than regular pots and the pocket on some Strat bodies, especially after-market and foreign-made ones, are not deep enough to accommodate the extra length. :smack:

I taped off the face of my Strat (not a relic) with quick-release masking tape (blue). Regular masking tape may pull off the finish on an older instrument and is harder to remove. Then I used three different sizes of router bits with a plunge router. The trick is not to take out too much wood at once. I used the smaller bit—because it is easier to handle and maneuver—to rout around the edge of the pocket. Then a larger bit to remove most of the wood. Finally, the largest bit to clean it up. Just thought I'd warn folks before they bought parts and began wiring. :eek13:
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

^ That's odd ... every Strat control cavity I've ever seen has been routed almost all the way to the back of the guitar. What brand of push-pulls do you have, and where is your Strat's body from?
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Yeah . . . that is odd. Is this a Squier Affinity? Affinity's have slightly thinner bodies than standard Strats.
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Hi Artitoo,
You’ll laugh, as did my wife, when I tell you where the Strat came from. Then you’ll think I’m a nut. I found it in a flea market. It was standing against an old rusty trailer like a lost kid. Someone had spray painted the body red, and some other color under that. I asked the man what he wanted for it, and he replied, “A buck.” So I took it home, stripped it, and found this great three-tone sunburst underneath. Some of the finish was rubbed off where someone had played it a great deal.

At first I thought it was a Fender, but it is no doubt a vintage foreign copy. The maple neck is very straight and the frets are good.

Anyway, I fell in love with it. Remember Jerry Jeff Walker’s song, the Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe? One day I decided to let it talk again, and that started my Strat project. I sprayed about 10 coats of lacquer on it, wet sanded with 600 grit, and compounded it, but left all the blemishes. Then I put a bone nut on it and dressed the frets. I am really anxious to hear what it sounds like. Now laugh. :)
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Man . . . with 3 Lil 59's . . . thats gonna be the quintessential "junk-yard dawg". :D

The mojo alone will reek outta that thing. Now . . . if you can just solve that depth problem. (Sounds like you already did.)

We gotta have pics when this is all done. ;)

Artie
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Yep, I hurried to the shop and routed it. I'm getting ready to solder the wires. Did you take a look at my 5-way numbering? Looking at the first diagram you posted, I started with the first pole and called it "one" and so forth. Is that going to to do it, you think?

Oh yeah, I'll certainly post some pics and write a short review of the sound. I tapped the body, and it has a very good resonance. I believe it is alder, but it could be something else. I can tell you that when I routed it, the old "smell" had seeped into the wood quite a bit. I could smell it in the router dust right to the very end. :smokin:
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Cool story! I'm not laughing at all ... I would LOVE to be able to pick up a beater at the flea market and mod the hell out of it.
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Thanks for not laughing RD and Artie. My wife, and I love her dearly, has one of those looks when I do these things like, "When are you going to get some help?" But seriously, I have an affinity for old, broken, guitars. I like to put them back together again and make them sing. I have an old Harmony Sovereign that I am getting ready to work on. I know what you're thinking but...it has a one piece solid mahogany back, solid mahogany sides, Brazilian rosewood fretboard and bridge, and solid spruce top. You can't even buy some of that wood and people sell these in yard sales and flea markets for $25.00 or less. I will remove the neck on this one and reset it, replace the frets with medium/jumbo's, a bone nut and saddle, and it will blow a D-28 out the door and down the hall.
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

CFisher said:
Did you take a look at my 5-way numbering? Looking at the first diagram you posted, I started with the first pole and called it "one" and so forth. Is that going to to do it, you think?
Click to expand...

Yeah. Here's the deal. Now that I have a better idea of what Strat you have, it could be any of these switches:

5-way_styles.jpg


Which one does it match? The terminals on each is a bit different.

Artie

Edit: Ignore the "finger" on "A". Thats from another post.
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Cool. Even though thats a cheap switch, its easier to show how to wire. Film at eleven. (4-ish actually.) ;)
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Yeah, I'm in a major learning curve here, Artie. The p/p's throw me because I don't just like putting something together, I want to know how and why they work. I know they ground one side of the humbuckers, effectively turning it into a single coil. But before I get through with this wiring, I'll know how the ground is effected, and the reason for the route of all the hot circuits. I'm not getting how the pots are gounded. My other old strat has a ground wire looping from pot housing to pot housing. But most important, do you think that I have the proper route on the 5-way?
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Hi Artie,
Do you think I should install a better 5-way? If so, please tell me which one would be the best.
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

CFisher said:
Hi Artie,
Do you think I should install a better 5-way? If so, please tell me which one would be the best.
Click to expand...

Switch "A" or "D" are better quality, but not in a way that you'll hear. More in a "solidness" that you'll feel. The good news is, if you upgrade to a better guitar later, all your pups and electronics will transfer over, so its not like your wasting money on a cheap-ish guitar.
(At least . . . thats how I justify polishing my own turds.) :D

Guitar Electronics.com and Stew-Mac are two good sources for those switches.

I don't mean to keep putting off your final drawing . . . but its been a long week. I'll definitely get this posted in the morning. I'd go ahead and wire it up with your present switch. It won't be that hard to swap in a new one later. Unless, of course, you really hate soldering. Then I'd wait for the new switch.

Artie
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Hi Artie,
I went ahead and got a WD like A or D, they look alike to me. It's all wired and ready to go. Also looped ground wires to the casing of all three pots even though I didn't see it on the diagram. Everything tests out okay plugging it into an amp and tapping the pickups as the various switches and pots were operated. However, I won't know for sure until I get the strings on. The pickups might be out of phase in one or more position and the wiiring may need to be tweaked. That would of course be my fault.

I changed the pickguard, so I'll have to drive small hardwood dowls in some of the old holes and drill pilot holes for the new guard. When it's on with the knobs, I'll take pictures. I already took pictures of the wiring job, and the pickguard without the body. I greatly appreciate all your time and effort. :)
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Great. Although it shouldn't be out of phase. The dowel trick is the same thing I did to my boy's Squier Bullet Strat when I put the new pickguard and pups in it. It came out pretty nice:

bullet02.jpg


Artie
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

That's an awesome clean looking axe! :eek: I like the pups setup too. I put a black pearloid (mother-of-toilet-seat) pickguard on mine. I hope by tonight to have it all together and the pics uploaded. The out of phase thing is a real possibility because—to make an honest confession—I reached the point on the wiring where I became too anxious to get it done. I had it completely wired, but then considered the fact that I had all this investment and a cheap 5-way. So I took it to a friend, Brian Ingold at Guitar Repair Center, and he put the WD 5-way in and rewired it for me. I had him wire it per your diagram. The true test will come when I string it up and plug it in.
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