Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Habanera Hal on October 4, 2012 at 4:26am

I did a similar build recently. (I know, it looks like a rat's nest!)

I used a 4-pole mag pup and a piezo encased in wood.  A three-way Strat switch lets me choose between just the piezo, just the mag pup or both.  The volume pot controls both, but the tone pot (.047 orange drop cap) is only wired through the mag pup as tone pots really have no effect on disc piezos (rod piezos seem to react a bit to tone controls).

I'm curious as to why you never want to be able to utilize both pickups at the same time.  IMHO, the setup above has some of the nicest, richest, and adaptable tones of any CBG I've built. The only thing I might do differently in the future will to give each pickup seperate volume contols. 

You've got both pickups, and you still have to wire a selector switch, so why not take advantage of both?  You may regret not having the versatility later on.

Smoke 'em if ya got 'em. 

Permalink Reply by Jillian Holladay on October 4, 2012 at 4:50am

I wired one this way (Hal's) and it worked great.

Permalink Reply by Habanera Hal on October 4, 2012 at 5:05am

Hey, Thanks Jillian!  That's nice to know!

Permalink Reply by wormil on October 4, 2012 at 6:47am

For a single coil or piezo you'd generally want a 250K pot for a warmer sound.

Permalink Reply by Rob (Uker) Porras on October 4, 2012 at 8:50am

Hi Hal,

After reading your response it occurred to me that I have a telecaster plate all wired and ready to go.  All I would have to do is solder in the pick ups.. 

Permalink Reply by Habanera Hal on October 4, 2012 at 11:11am

I'm guessing you're talking about one of these:

I think that circuit runs both pickups through the tone pot, but it should work.  Try changing the cap values for different tone shapes.  Remember though that when switched in the position for just the piezo, the tone control's not going to do much if anything.  Good luck and let us know how it sounds!