Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David L. on June 4, 2016 at 3:14am

Hi Philip,
Using a SPDT switch will only let you have one or the other pickup on at once. If you use a DPDT on/on/on switch you can wire it for neck/both/bridge pickup options.
Warman guitars is a good UK based company that sells them
http://www.warmanguitars.co.uk/product/double-pole-double-throw-3-p...
If you look at the switch diagram in the link and you wire one pickup hot wire across the top two lugs, the other pickup hot wire across the bottom two lugs and the output to the volume pot wired across both middle lugs you should see how you get the 3 switch options to work.
Do you want a diagram with the SPDT switch or with the DPDT on/on/on I am suggesting?

Permalink Reply by Philip Hale on June 4, 2016 at 6:04am

Hi thanks I will get a DPDT switch then , as I said I've never done this before, so that and thinking that the capacitor was connected to the volume are obviously my first 2 mistakes, but still no harm done, just a little money wasted.
Can you please assume that this will be the setup, when doing a wiring schematic, and thanks for the responses..
Yes please would really appreciate that diagram.
Thanks again
Phil

Permalink Reply by David L. on June 4, 2016 at 6:28am

Hi Phil,
Enclosed is the diagram needed for a DPDT on/on/on switch as discussed.
Sometimes they use the capacitor limbs to join the volume to the tone pot in regular guitars and I suspect that is where you got the idea.
You might be able to use the pots you already have - do you know if they are audio or linear pots? (Look on the back for A250k or B250k).
What you have will work but if you know what type you can have an idea in advance how they will work in the circuit. I will add an explanation later on as I am on the way out.

Regards,
David

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Permalink Reply by Philip Hale on June 6, 2016 at 12:41am

Hi David many thanks for taking the time to respond, it's greatly appreciated.
I only hope that the day will come when I can help others in this regard.its something I like to do in other areas of my life, like playing.
Just an aside, but I recently bought an old radio, which I want to make a sort of Art Deco style case for.
As an amp.
I currently have so many build projects on the go, including a pink strat copy I want to donate to a young relative, when I have stripped it, and wood finished it and turned it to a leftie.
All of which I hadn't thought about when I offered it to him.
But still, I firmly believe in " what goes around comes around "
So that will be on my bench next.
Take Care, and thanks my friend.

Permalink Reply by David L. on June 4, 2016 at 3:42am

Hi attached is a simple drawing of the SPDT (which only allows one or the other on at a time)
Please note-
On the switch (the same is true for a SPDT or the Warman type one) observe the orientation of the wire to the position of the switch otherwise you end up with forwards switching on the bridge and backwards the neck.

The pots are shown from the back. On the volume you can add a wire to ground the right hand lug to the back of the pot or as many people do you can push the lug so it touches the side of the metal pot and solder at this point.
When you solder to a pot they often have a film on them so you get a better solder joint if you score the back of the pot with coarse sand paper or a file first.
To solder the capacitor be quick as they can fry under the heat of the soldering iron and ideally use a crocodile clip as a hearsink if you have one. (Though I assume you are used to changing caps so can do this).
You will need to ground the strings.
If you add copper or aluminium tape to screen the pots from electric hum pushing a pot through the tape automatically grounds the tape but be careful the pot lugs (or any of the bare areas on the hot wires) don't touch the tape because it will short the circuit so you get no sound output.
This is a good set of simple wiring diagrams for future use (once you build one it is hard to stop building more)
http://www.artecsound.com/wiring/wiring_book01.pdf

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Permalink Reply by David L. on June 4, 2016 at 9:37am

Back in again - so this is the general thought on which pot for volume and which pot for tone (taken from here http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/showthread.php?164476-Audio-Tape...(whats-what)-and-Cap-Questions) which is the answer you get from most places. 

"Choosing audio (log) vs. linear depends on what you will be using the pot for. You should always use audio pots for volume control, otherwise you will find that the volume does not change smoothly as you turn the pot up and down. With a linear taper pot, you will find that the volume increases slowly from 0 to about 60 or 70 percent, then increases rapidly from that point on. This is because there isn't a direct relationship between resistance and volume in a passive circuit (which is what a guitar with passive pickups is). Audio taper pots compensate for this, and give you a consistent volume change throughout the sweep.

A tone control, on the other hand, works best with a linear taper pot. The role of a tone control is to feed part of your signal to a capacitor that bleeds the treble to ground. In order to have a smooth transition from bright tone to mellow tone, the pot has to be linear. You can use an audio taper pot in a tone control, but you won't find the tone roll-off to be as smooth as it could be."

 I have found linear or B pots on  cheap imports and for playing in my bedroom it works okay (the volume works only over a very small section of the dial).  If you are used to gigging you might notice the difference much more.  Also be aware the cheap pots off ebay (which work great for me) vary greatly with just how logarithmic they are.  If you want something a bit higher quality I would stick with Warman guitars or axes r us http://www.axesrus.com/ which are both UK based.

Regards,

David L

PS the Ted Crocker diagrams are good but if they use a Les Paul 3 way the visible toggle knob is larger than the DPDT on/on/on switch.  Be aware the DPDT switches all look the same, but come as on/on  on/off/on  on/on/on types so if you shop anywhere else than Warman Guitars make sure you are being sold the right one.

Permalink Reply by Philip Hale on June 4, 2016 at 11:46pm

Thanks, I have in fact ordered the one you suggested from Warman Guitars.
I have created an account with them, as they seem to have the parts I will need on an ongoing situation, and their prices seem pretty good anyway, so many thanks for the steer in their direction.
I am hoping that with the help of people like yourself on here, that eventually I will get a good grasp of this side of guitar building, a side that I have to admit to not giving too much consideration, during my playing years.
So thank you all for your support.
Best Wishes Phil

Permalink Reply by Denis U on June 4, 2016 at 4:09am

David's switch will only let you have the lipstick OR the strat pickup active.

The alternative from the same company is this, which will work the pickups like a Les Paul, so you can have neck, bridge or both with just the one switch.

Also you said you'd got the "volume with the capacitor connected". perhaps my little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but for me, capacitors are tone not volume.

I always like having a tone control. you can get really different sounds even out of a CBG.

Denis

Permalink Reply by Dave Lynas on June 4, 2016 at 4:28am

I have received great diagrams from Ted Crocker which helped me find my way. They clearly show what to do without rocket science involved. Have fun and don't inhale the solder smoke. I now have a good solder pen which makes it easy. It's a Soloman with digital readout of temp. I love it. Cost 100$, but worth it.

Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on June 4, 2016 at 7:48am

The Ted Crocker diagrams are great. I always run the pickup ground wires to the back or side of the volume pot and a wire to the back of the tone pot and then to the input jack negative with a separate ground from that point to bridge or stop tail piece. So all components are grounded and linked in a chain.

One thing I didn't see posted in this thread was about the pickups. With single coil pickups in a 2 pickup schematic, the neck pickup needs to be RWRP(reverse wound and reverse magnet polarity) of the bridge pickup so the 2 pickups will work together in the middle switch selection.

Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on June 4, 2016 at 7:54am

Basically the 2 pickups will be out of phase and have a dull/thin sound when played together. 

You may be able to switch the wires on the neck pickup to remedy the problem without having to get another pickup. 

Permalink Reply by Philip Hale on June 4, 2016 at 11:35pm

Thanks for your response, but I don't really understand the reason for this, or the wire switching option.
Could you please elaborate, on the possible problem, and the solution.
I would be grateful.
Phil

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