wiring lil 59's with p/p

C

CFisher

New member
HI,
I'm a newbie who needs some advice on wiring a strat with a 5-way, three p/p pots, with three little 59's. I want to split all three into single coils with the p/p pots. In addition, I would like to have tone adjustment on the bridge. Does anyone know a link to a ledgible diagram or pics? Or maybe a thread on this forum that has proper information.
Thanks
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Oh well, thanks anyway folks. However, it amazing thing. The Seymour Duncan site tells me to go to this forum for answers to my wiring questions. I find a thread here about fretboards with 170+ replies, but no one responds to my question about wiring SD pickups. :grumble: Maybe ya'll thought I meant I was a newbie to wiring. Not! Just a newbie to the forum. Put me onto a diagram and I will not ask another wiring question, which apparently goes over here like a Cort in a vintage Strat display.
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Thanks Artietoo,
You are very kind to respond. I be an old guy, so patience comes and goes, depending on how many times I strike out I guess--or whether I get a burr under my saddle blanket. I will check out those schematics and I'm truly grateful that you took out of your busy schedule to post links to them. :arms:
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Okay, Artitoo,
You licky ( or blessed) chap! I got my first grandbaby on the way and I'm looking forward to it. :clap: Now, in the second schematic, which is the one I liked the best ( its colored, lol) there is only one tone pot and apparently a 5-way. I'm workig with a 5-way, two p/p tone pots, and a p/p volume pot--no mini switches. I'm not grasping how the schematic gives me the routing to wire the 59's for coil splitting. Can you elaborate a bit?
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Sure. The basic idea is, that for each pickup, you run the red/white wire pair to the center lug of each respective push-pull switch. Then, just take the lug above that to ground. I say "above" because I tend to want the split function when the switch is "pulled", rather than "pushed". That part is just a matter of diagram orientation.

If you don't mind waiting 'til tomorrow, I'll whip you up a custom diagram. (Complete with the bridge tone mod.)
Now I'm the one who's old and tired. ;)

Artie

Edit: I may not have been clear there. The wiring of the push-pull pots to split, is independent of the wiring of the 5-way. You wire all three pups like "normal" to the 5-way. Then just do the "split" thing separately. (Hopefully, my diagram will clear that up.)
 
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Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Hi Artitoo,
Even though I believe I'm getting the picture, I'd better wait for the diagram. I need to pick up a .22 microfarad film capacitor anyway, so I couldn't complete the job tonight. I've never wired p/p pots before, just standard Strat routes. Once I get it in my head, everything will click. I really appreciate your help. Have a nice evening.
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Great. I'll post a diagram as soon as I get home from work tonight.
btw - I assume that cap value was a typo. A .22uf cap will convert your tone control to a volume control. You probably meant .022uf. ;)

Artie
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Hee, hee...yep, I meant .022 uf. Lordy, I don't want two volumn pots!
 
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Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Ok . . . I did this like this so as not to have to redraw the whole thing. This should make sense. If not, we'll go from there.

(Click on the little image to get the full-size version.)



Note that I only show one push-pull pot as a reference, in the upper right-hand corner. Note also that on all three pickups, the red & white wires attach together, then each one of those pairs goes to the center of a push-pull pot switch. (Point "B" in the upper right-hand corner.)
One pair, to one switch.

Now you have two choices on point "A":

1. Connect them all to ground.

2. Connect the bridge and neck "A's" to ground, and the middle "A" to the middle's hot wire on the 5-way. (The dark blue dot.) That will make the #2 and #4 notch positions humbucking, even when split.

Lastly, connect a jumper where the blue line is on the 5-way to get the middle pup tone control to work the bridge pup also.

There's a black line on that diagram that may be hard to see, so just be sure to connect all three of the cyan dots together. There's two on the 5-way, and then that goes to the volume control.

Does all that make sense? Let me know if it doesn't.

Artie
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Hi Artitoo,
Thanks for the diagram. I will study it in a clearer light tomorrow morning since its kinda late here on the east coast. It looks like I can follow it and get the desired route on the strat. If I get hung up, I might plead for more help. :crying:
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

I've got the "other" diagram about 90% done. As it was taking shape, there were just lots of wires criss-crossing back and forth due to the switches being under the pots. I thought the one above might be more clear.

I can finish up the other and post it tonight, so that you can see both ways. (To draw it, that is. Electrically, there the same.)

Artie
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Could he install a mini toggle that would split all the pick ups at once? This might be easier than 3 push/pulls unless you want to combine HB w/ SC.
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Let's hear an applause for Artie, the always helpful wiring guru here at the forum!

Long live Artie! :)
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Hi Artitoo,
I'm sure the other diagram will answer these questions, but I'll ask them anyway. The questions and answers may help someone else who is trying to do the same wiring job in the future.

Just so I don’t get into a soldering redo mess, I need clarification on a couple of areas. The p/p pots of course have two sets of poles. On one side, (left) I am going to solder the red/whites to the middle pole (B).

2. Connect the bridge and neck "A's" to ground, and the middle "A" to the middle's hot wire on the 5-way. (The dark blue dot.) That will make the #2 and #4 notch positions humbucking, even when split.
Click to expand...

Call me dense and I’ll do penitence, but by “A’s”—I assume I should solder 3 wires (color? I have several rolls of various colors.) to the “A” posts and connect them as per your instructions.

Secondly, I want to be sure about connecting the wires from pot to pot. That brings up the other side of the p/p pot. The “A” on the other side is to ground, B corresponds to the middle position on the normal pots in the diagram. Thus, the cyan dot on the normal pot is basically the “C” on the right side of the p/p. I know that sounds elementary, my dear Watson, but have you noticed that we always have time to do something over? Therefore, I take a little extra time and ask questions so that I don’t have to redo. So, if I got those two points right, then I’m going to have a rockin’ Strat a half-hour after I get home from work tonight. :fingersx:

Thanks again. Your help is much appreciated and you are a credit to this forum. :bigthumb:
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Yes, no, not exactly. :D

The push-pull pot/switch in the upper corner represents only one switch. You would have three. So, only one red/white pair goes to the middle of only one switch, each. See if this helps:

CFisher02.png


For the moment, we'll only deal with the Lil 59 and switch. Wire up the neck and bridge like the top diagram, and the middle like the bottom. Note that in both cases, you're left with a green and a black. Now, just wire those up as if it was an ordinary Strat, with green and bare going to ground, and all the black wires going to their appropriate position on the 5-way switch - which then connects to the volume and tone pots.

Don't forget the blue jumper in my first diagram to add the bridge tone. I'll still try to get the complete diagram up. (May be tomorrow.) ;)

Artie
 
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Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Hi Artietoo,
Yep, that's what I meant, i.e., a red and white to B on each pot..the left side as we are viewing it. I just didn't express myself clear enough, or didn't pluraize a word...or pluraized...oh what the heck.

To answer Hucubus, yes, I could install a mini toggle, but I want to split the coils individually for more variations in sound. :)
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Great. I'll try to get the full diagram up tomorrow. I just gotta make it "neater".

btw - That sould be a killer sounding Strat. Three Lil 59's should have a nice amount of punch, while still being a bit "smoother" than a typical Strat. Once you get it all wired up, I hope you can write us a little review. I'm not sure if anyone has done all three 59's yet.

Artie
 
Re: wiring lil 59's with p/p

Will do Artitoo...I like the sound of that. Anyway, I play jazz, pop, country, and some other stuff. I've got another Strat that I wired with hot texas specials and 500k pots. It's much too bright for me. That's why I dropped in the lil '59's. I'll probably take the 500k's out and wire in some 250k's on the other one, but I'm too interested in the current job to get motivated in that direction. I believe the '59's with the p/p's will give me the versitility that I want. :dance:
 
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