CBG wiring & electronics.

StunbleCol -

Look right above here at the discussion "Will this work the way I want it to?".  Replace the Strat switch with a pot to blend the two pups instead of just switching between the two.  That should do it.

Stumble,

I prefer to go with a 3 way switch in order to completely remove the piezo from the circuit when I'm not using it.  No need for a blend pot when both inputs have a volume control.  Here's what I'd do:

* * More wiring diagrams HERE

.

is it absolutely necessary to ground the bridge...?

I am not a fan of blend pots, would prefer Ted's style setup if a Piezo is installed along with a mag pup personally.

Grounding the bridge, or whatever method of providing a ground to the strings, is a good idea anytime you are using a mag pup for the purposes of reducing hum and noise. The noise that you get, combined with the effect of it changing every time you touch/release the strings can be pretty annoying and distracting.

So while not "absolutely necessary" I would encourage it strongly as a good building practice.

thanks, doesn't seem to be an issue with the last 2 guits ,but i've only got battery powered amps , i've just sold a guit and i know the cust, only has mains amps ,....? should i call it back and fix it ? he won't mind..

Jabes,

There was a previous thread on this group where John (Roadkill) found his CBG was clicking with metal slides or a metal pick and  he found removing the bridge earth stopped it (single coil pickups). The thread is here http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/clicks-when-using-picks-...

and I got the impression having no bridge earth didn't create a problem (it stopped one).  It might be worth emailing him to see if this was with a battery or mains amp.

I have read in various places that humbuckers may not need grounded strings - I always do ground out of habit but next time may try with out just to see if it makes a difference.

Rather than recall the CBG when there may not be a problem why not do a follow up call to check he is happy and see how he is finding the sound and the guitar set up.

From what I gather reading the "clicks-when-using-picks" link in some cases grounding solves problems and in others it causes them. Would there be any problem with grounding the bridge through a small switch so you could ground or not depending on circumstances?

guit has a pup and a piezo and 2 jack sockets, the pup has v & t controls but i spoke to the guy last night and there is a hum et high volume,and he also wants a pot on the piezo so i'll sort that next week.other than that he's pleased with it . oddly it didn't hum on my 'cube when he tried it out here ...thanks for the feedback...

Bottom input - one volume pot - 4 rod piezo`s in the bridge / top input - volume and tone - 1 mag pickup under the metal part of the washboard. I have it grounded to the metal part too.

...another cause of background amp noise i noticed is dimmer lights....have to record during the day! /-:

hey, a lot of background noise with a magnetic pickup, at high volume or not, is not normal.  single coils are obviously a bit more prone to mains hum than humbuckers, but properly shielded should be pretty good still. 

easy test to see if a string ground would be useful.

in a noisy guitar with no string ground, if the noise goes away when the player touches the exposed nut of the output jack (which is earthed) then a string ground would help.

sometimes people are electrically noisy, a string ground shorts that noise to earth.

e

well, when i see it again, (i'm in essex at the mo') i'll plug it into a mains amp and see what.s what ....thanks for your input. it all helps...;)

going to wire-up a cbg, tele-style, we'll be in touch.

Hey Guy's Gary here from over the pond 

Im having a problem I have two piezo's wired in paralell with a volume pot, when the volume is fully open it sounds good but as soon a I start to turn the volume down the amp starts buzzing loudly and and there is no sound. Happy New Year to Ya,all

I think what I have here is a single-conductor humbucker.

Can someone help me with the correct wiring for wires 1,2 &3?

Also, is A the sleeve(groud) and B the tip(hot) ?

I'd be grateful for any advice. thanks

David is correct about #1,2,3 wires...the jack is hard to tell with the photo, but it's easy to figure if you invest $10 on a multi-tester. This tool is a must for any wiring work. You can check for continuity (i.e. good solder connections ad verify flow of current between two or more points), resistance of pickups (ohms), and most important to you, what those wires & jacks all mean.

1)  String ground

2)  Jack positive - solder to B

3)  Jack negative - solder to A

The string ground is not absolutely necessary, but will help eliminate any hum or buzz from the strings.  Solder it to a metal bridge or tailpiece.

Okay. Thanks for the help everyone.  This will be my second try wiring this one. I'll let y'all know how it turns out.

It sounds great. Thanks for the help.

After looking at the schematics for a boatload of guitars, I realized that every passive "tone control" is basically a bass cut that shunts high frequencies to ground.  There are a bunch of ways to do this, but the most common is a pot and a capacitor wired in series.  There are are also schemes that switch in different capacitance values to change the cut-off frequency of the low-pass filter, but most use a fixed capacitance and a pot in series with it.

So - more or less anything that you do that has a pot and a capacitor in series, going from the hot contact on the volume pot (the one that is connected to the tip contact on the output jack) to the case of the volume pot will work.  (Assuming you're using the case of the volume pot as the common ground connection for everything...)

This works for me

Anyone know of a wireing diagram for a humbucker-volume-jack plug?

Hi Mike!

Your gonna have to forgive me, but I cannot find a way to answer this without at least a slight touch of sarcasm. Dont take it personally......... its just the mood I am in after reading about a hundred snarky posts on another music forum.

For a basic pickup circuit, no taps, no switch, no tone pot?

Look at the post two below yours, memorize it. Burn it into your brain.

Now imagine it with no tone pot or circuit.

Alternative method. Look at the schematic in the header of this thread. Substitute "pickup" for "Piezo" and watch those soldering fumes!

Warning, the sound might be a little bright! Consider the option of adding a tone circuit later if you feel the need.

Now maybe an advanced method. The fixed tone circuit with no pot. Yep!

My work here is done.

For now.

Stay in tune,

Mark

Re the 'Pickup - Volume - Tone - Jack' diagram below. What are the values of the two potentiometers and also the capacitor. Also, it looks like it is a disc ceramic capacitor, is this correct?

Jonesy,

Too many variables, personal preference, interaction of components, etc too give a quick short answer on the comment wall area IMO.

Might start here.

For single coil pickups, 250K pots (both volume & tone), for humbuckers, 500K pots. Capacitor values for tone bleed depend on preference. Suggestions may include .022uF, .033uF, .047uF. Lots of info on the web regarding that detail.

please check out my channel , looking to pick up subs for diy music stuff , thanks to all !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j71AZXPkyhs&list=UUzL6Rp7DwrTOfN...

Great review and really entertaining presentation, too!  I subscribed :)

thanks for watching !! this pedal is just too cool sounding .  i couldnt be happier as my first few attempts at this fell a lil short in the "sounds good" dept . 

Hey guys, hooked up a vol. pot to 2 Piezos but no soap.  Went back to hooking up the Piezos to jack and worked great.  Am I missing something on hooking up a vol. pot?  FYI: I can read a schmatic just fine.  Maybe pot needs to be a certain value or ground the bridge?

Wayne, take a look at the diagram leading this discussion, and you may want to consider a 250K pot.

No ground needed with piezos,  Wire piezos parallel.  I'd use a 500k pot. 

i put one one a regular guitar a lil ways back . i did some tests , best i could come up with , after reading on line as well was this . shorter wire run the better , just rig it up to hard short the output , or on the volume pot . it does pop a bit , but when you use fuzz or hi gain it isnt that bad . initially i had long wires because i was testing different switches , it really seemed with the longer wires it was popping way louder  , but i didnt have em soldered they were clipped on there so ... there is a method involving a jfet , a few coin  cells , but the pop i get not isnt worth the hassle . look over at diy stomp box for more info on that jfet , and good luck :) - i should mention i aint an expert so ...this was just what i came up with after googlin and some quick tests . i am sure there are much better ways to do this ........

jon

as long as your switch is momentary ON, the lugs will effectively be connected when you push on the switch.  you want to earth the signal when you switch, so you can just wire the guitar as normal then wire the switch across the output jack, or between the hot wire (wiper of volume pot.) and the earth on the volume pot.  same thing.

if it pops when you switch it, you can wire a 10M pull-down resistor across the switch too, or,

wire the switch across the pickup instead of the output, this way the coil of the pickup itself acts as the pull down resistor. to wire across the pickup, wire the switch between the two outside lugs of the volume pot, instread of between the wiper and the earth lug.

as you are using a piezo, not sure about the across the pickup solution, but its easy enough to try it out.

OK fellow CBG wiring geeks... I've got a challenge for you.

I have been searching all over and can't find a schematic for a CBG with a piezo and two single coil (tele pups) with "teisco-style" switching.  I want to be able to turn any combo of them on and off.  I plan to have traditional tele volume / tone controls, and a separate piezo volume. 

 >>

CAN ANYONE point me in the right direction ... or draw me a scheme?

thanks!!!!

Toad

The Stracciatella mod looks pretty good -- I might use that as a jumping off point for my design.  I like the use of the diodes - simple yet effective.

i did try resistors and capacitors to lessen the pop effect with the kill switch . nothin really seemed to work though , i should try that trick at some point , thanks for sharing that eric . 

piezos do not show impedance , do they ? still worth a try though . 

Try this Toad http://handmademusicclubhouse.com/photo/humsingle3voltone3piezojack...

I think this might work - same as yours Ted, but with Vol pot before the second 3-way switch.  Gives me the options for any pickup combo, plus volume blend between mags and piezo (because I find piezos generally LOUD compared to mags)

If B is full left, Switch A acts like a regular LP 3-way,

If B is middle, you blend mags (LP style again) with the piezo.

If B is right, the mags are off.

Whoa.... I think I get it.

Now if I add a pair of coil-tapped humbuckers....(HEAD EXPLODES!)

Hello to all: Just finished my first CBG. It turned out pretty decent, there's a few things I will do different next time, but it's not bad. I'm looking for advice on installing a simple piezo circuit. I've wired controls on electrics, so I have some knowledge there. What's a good way to go for this? Parts info / diagrams would be most helpful. Thanks! Will