Tele - single coil bridge - humbucker neck wiring

[WeirdBits]

A forum member asked me for some wiring options for a Tele build with a single coil bridge pickup and a 4-wire humbucker in the neck. The split-able humbucker adds quite a few wiring options, so I thought I'd draw up a few diagrams and post them for anyone who is interested.

First, a note. Mixing pickups types, particularly from different guitars and/or manufacturers etc, can require a bit of extra work. When combining the pickups you may have issues of phase and, if you're linking a single coil to a split humbucker, potentially hum-cancelling problems - or lack thereof. Essentially, you need to work out if the two pickups are in phase and, when split, which coil will give you a hum-cancelling pair. If you're lucky, you can just look up your pickups and see how they need to be wired. Alternatively, you can use a multimeter to test the pickups (this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UfxQBhqen8) may help), but connecting the pickups/coils with clip leads in various combos and into a headphone amp will soon tell you if you're humming under fluoro lights.

For consistency, I've use Seymour Duncan colours for the humbucker wiring in the following wiring diagrams. This means that the coil pairs are black & white and red & green. Depending on how you wire your coil splits, one coil or the other will be active when split. If the active coil is the one you need for hum-cancelling, great. If it's not then you either have to change your split wiring, or change your coil ordering so you get the coil you want. Same goes for phase issues.

6297

So, if you need the red & green coil for hum-cancelling but the split wiring gives you black & white, then you need to swap the coil order as above. Note that reversing the phase automatically changes your coil order, so if your have the correct coil but it's out of phase then you'll need to reverse the phase and swap the coil order. If you check the diagram above, the first and last example have the same coil order but with the phase reversed. I'll make a note with each of my diagrams which coil is active for any splits. The key is to work out the colour pairs for your pickups and then translate them to the colours I've used.

In all the diagrams I use '+' to indicate parallel link between pickups and 'X' to indicate a series link. If the diagram has both parallel and series I'll normally state which is which in square brackets. Also, '(hum)' indicates the neck pickup is in humbucker mode, while '(split)' indicates only a single coil is active.


3-way Lever switch diagrams

Standard Tele layout, no splits:
6298

Bridge with split neck in middle position (red & green coil active when split):
6299

[WeirdBits]

4-way Lever switch diagrams


Bridge with split neck in position 2 (red & green coil active when split):
6300

Bridge with split neck in position 2, and split neck in position 3 (red & green coil active when split):
6301

Standard Tele 4-way layout with parallel and series combinations, no splits:
6302

While it's possible to do a lot of switching and splitting options just using 3, 4 and 5 way lever switches, I think the most flexible and usable layout is the above standard Tele 4-way layout in combination with an On/On/On mini-toggle. The 4-way lever switch allows you to combine the pickups in either parallel or series, and a mini-toggle will allow you to set the neck humbucker as either series, single coil, or parallel. For maximum flexibility with the easiest wiring, you just wire the toggle switch like below and then connect the + and - to the 4-way as shown in the diagram above.

6303

Adding a mini-toggle to the standard 3-way wiring has the same effect, albeit without the series between pickups option.

Push/Pulls can also be used for series/parallel switching instead of a toggle switch, or even for phase switching if you want a scooped nasally sound when your pickups are combined. A push/pull is also an easy way to add coil splitting, as you can directly control which coil is active (let me know if you need a diagram for that).

6304

[WeirdBits]

5-way switches give you even more flexibility, but each position needs a separate lug for the wiring to work. So, you can't use a standard CRL style 5-way where positions 2 and 4 bridge two lugs. Instead, you need to use larger separate lug switches like the Grigsby 5-way 2 pole (http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/SWL53/5-Way-2-Pole-Pickup-Selector-Switch-Oak-Grigsby.html) and 5-way 4 pole (http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/SWL54/5-way-4-Pole-Strat-Guitar-Lever-Switch-USA.html).


5-way 2-pole Grigsby Lever switch diagrams

The 5-way 2-pole is a fairly large switch, so the stock PBG Tele cavity may need to be deepened slightly.
6305

Bridge with split neck in position 2, and split neck in position 4 (red & green coil active when split):
6306

Bridge in series with split neck in position 3 (black & white coil active when split):
6307

[WeirdBits]

The 5-way 4-pole is a much larger switch with the addition of a second wafer. It will squeeze into the opening of a PBG TL cavity, but the cavity will need to be deepened and, in my experience, a bit taken out of the side wall (like an undercut) to ensure clearance when the switch is in position.

6308
6309


With so many lugs it's difficult to show how to wire the switch with an actual image, you can't see all the lugs from any one angle. So, I've modified a side view with the inner wafer sticking out so that all the lugs are visible and you can see, mostly, where the connections need to go.

The extra poles on the switch means that you can also do things like having different tone capacitors for different postions/pickups. So, in all of the following examples, one of the switch's poles is used to select between two different capacitors, cap 1 for single coils/split, cap 2 for humbucker combo's.


Bridge with split neck in position 2, and split neck in position 4 (red & green coil active when split):
6310

Bridge parallel with split neck in position 2, and bridge in series with split neck in position 3 (black & white coil active when split):
6311

Bridge parallel with split neck in position 2 (black & white coil active when split):
6312

As I've only used 3 poles on this switch, one of which is for the caps, it's possible to replicate these options on the 5-way 2-pole just minus the cap switching.

There are other combo's possible, it just depends what you want.

[WeirdBits]

TL;DR

I'd suggest a Tele 4-way lever switch with a Series/Single Coil/Parallel mini-toggle switch:
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6302&d=1446389898
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6303&d=1446389954

[kimball492]

Jeez Scott, How the heck do you come up with these. Thank you so much for the options dude
Much appreciated
Kimball

[dave.king1]

Time to resurrect a zombie thread, sorry.

I've been googling for the last couple of days as well as using the search function here and not finding what I am looking for ( maybe need new glasses :D )

I've just sorted the hum on my mates Tele with HB neck and SC bridge pups and now having told him that the selector is stuffed he wants a wiring change that I can't find a circuit for.

He's purchased a genuine Fender 3 way and push / pull volume pot and wants the HB changed from standard config to coil split via the PP.

The HB is supposed to be a Seymour Duncan but is unbranded, the wire colours are correct but the guy who wired it joined the black & white rather than the usual red & white ( standard of soldering was appalling with chicken sh1t and melted insulation everywhere)

The whole guitar is pretty weird, on Reverb.com the serial shows as a 93-94 MIJ Tele but the Fender serial search has it as a 2003-04 Jazzmaster Special Edition. The neck also has an allen key adjustment at the heel which I've not seen before.

Regardless of what it really is he loves it and it's really nice to play so any assistance here will be greatly appreciated. ( weirdy :) )

[Fretworn]

This site is always a good place to start...
https://guitarelectronics.com/guitar-wiring-resources/2-pickup-guitar-wiring-diagrams/

[dave.king1]

Thanks Fretty, close but no cigar but having said that it really isn't all that hard to work out with a multimeter so guess I should stop being so lazy

[WeirdBits]

So, the hummy is definitely a 4-wire SD but currently has the black and white wires linked thus shorting out one coil? Permanently in split mode?

All you really need to do is get some clip leads and a set of headphones and see which coil from the humbucker makes a hum-cancelling pair with the bridge pup, the green/red+ or white/black+ coil. Then you just connect the 3-way as normal and run a wire from the hummy's red-white series link to the push/pull with a switched connection to ground if the green/red coil is unwanted in the split, or to the pup's hot to cancel the white/black coil.

[dave.king1]

Thanks Scott

[dave.king1]

Thanks for the help guys, job is done now to see what Scott thinks of it when I give it back to him.

[Tidus55]

TL;DR

I'd suggest a Tele 4-way lever switch with a Series/Single Coil/Parallel mini-toggle switch:
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6302&d=1446389898
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6303&d=1446389954

Hi Scott @WeirdBits

I am assembling a Telecaster with Humbucker at the neck and single coil at the bridge and this type of solution is interesting.
But if you can I need some clarification:
- there are two types of mini toggle switch on / on / on for the central position
34103
for which type is the connection right and how would it possibly be for the other?
- what are the possible couplings between the two switches (lever and toggle) and if there can be noises and hum
- see if you can in this link https://www.tdpri.com/threads/the-four-way-pickup-switch-for-teles.972133/ .... some put a jumper on the 4 way to cancel interference .... can it be useful in this too?

Be patient if I said bullshit that I'm a newby and I've been learning a lot in the past month to build something I've wanted since I was a kid.

Thanks

[WeirdBits]

The diagram above is for the Type 2 version of the On/On/On mini-switch, as that's the type I usually encounter. If you have a type 1 you just mirror the connections:
34114

You then just connect it as: neck pickup -> mini-toggle -> 4-way lever switch.

The way the 4-way layout works is that the neck pickup's + (hot) is permanently connected to the output of the lever switch and the neck - is only connected in positions 2,3 and 4. This leaves the neck - 'dangling' unconnected in position 1 (bridge pickup only selected) and can potentially act as an antenna to introduce noise, depending on a lot of things. The 'extra jumper' on the 4-way lever switch in the linked thread is intended to reduce this by shorting the neck pickup's + and - together (as a closed loop) on the lever switch's output when in position 1. On a well shielded guitar with the neck humbucker screen/shield (bare wire) connected to ground the effect of the additional jumper may be minimal, but some people prefer to add it.

To include the extra jumper on my layout you can simply add another solder point to connect the first lug on the left bank/pole of the lever switch to its output.
34115

Any other questions?

[Tidus55]

You then just connect it as: neck pickup -> mini-toggle -> 4-way lever switch.
.....
Any other questions?

Many many thanks Scott, I appreciate very much.
Now I understand some things better.

One last thing to complete and understand better, so when I finish this wiring diagram I will have depending on the lever switch position:
1- bridge (whatever the position of the mini-switch)
2- bridge + (three possibilities depending on the position of the mini switch?)
3- bridge x (three possibilities depending on the position of the mini switch?)
4- neck (three possibilities depending on the position of the mini switch?)

Right or wrong ?
Thanks again Scott.

[WeirdBits]

Correct. The mini-toggle controls how the neck humbucker is configured (series coils, parallel coils or split to a single coil), and the 4-way lever switch controls which pickup or pickups are selected and how they are combined.

I should mention that the wiring diagram above doesn’t show the bridge plate ground wire, but you should always connect one. That is, a bare wire that sits under the bridge base plate and runs through a hole in the body to the control cavity (or pickup cavity) where it connects to a ground point (usually the back of a pot). A standard Tele kit should have the hole pre-drilled, so all you have to do is remember to add the wire before you screw down the bridge.

[Simon Barden]

Nte that if you are mixing pickups from different manufacturers e.g. stock kit bridge pickup with a bought-in neck humbucker, you may find that the mixed positions have the wrong polarity ('out of phase') and sound very thin. It's quite common and has happened to me several times recently.

In that instance (probably a 50/50 chance it's best to swap around the wires coming from the humbucker mini-toggle switch, as a Tele bridge pickup normally has a grounded plate underneath, which means unsoldering it and running a separate ground wire. So it's less work to modify the humbucker wiring.

[Tidus55]

Correct. The mini-toggle controls how the neck humbucker is configured (series coils, parallel coils or split to a single coil), and the 4-way lever switch controls which pickup or pickups are selected and how they are combined.

I should mention that the wiring diagram above doesn’t show the bridge plate ground wire, but you should always connect one. That is, a bare wire that sits under the bridge base plate and runs through a hole in the body to the control cavity (or pickup cavity) where it connects to a ground point (usually the back of a pot). A standard Tele kit should have the hole pre-drilled, so all you have to do is remember to add the wire before you screw down the bridge.

Wow Thank you so much.
Well Scott I will do this your wiring diagram, and I will shield all the cavities and everything that must be on the ground .... like the bridge, I can also check the continuity with the multimeter.
You are a Master


Nte that if you are mixing pickups from different manufacturers e.g. stock kit bridge pickup with a bought-in neck humbucker, you may find that the mixed positions have the wrong polarity ('out of phase') and sound very thin. It's quite common and has happened to me several times recently.

In that instance (probably a 50/50 chance it's best to swap around the wires coming from the humbucker mini-toggle switch, as a Tele bridge pickup normally has a grounded plate underneath, which means unsoldering it and running a separate ground wire. So it's less work to modify the humbucker wiring.

Thank you Simon, I think I understand ... maybe it refers to the north south of the pu, if there are two pu north is not good and this is out of phase right?
Can I check with the multimeter and / or a magnetic polarity checker if everything is in the right place?

You are all Great ... Thanks

Stefano

[Simon Barden]

You can check the output polarity of each unconnected pickup with a multimeter. You really need test clips to attach the wires to the multimeter, or someone to help you, as you need at least one other hand free. Connect the pickup main signal ground to the -ve terminal and the signal wire to the +ve terminal of the multimeter.

Put the multimeter on ohms and have it display the DC resistance. Move something reasonably large made of steel (say a big screwdriver or a spanner) towards the pickup. The resistance reading will either go down or up slightly depending on the pickup's output polarity. If both pickups' readings go down or up, then they have the same output polarity and will be fine wired as normal. If one goes down and one goes up, then they have opposite polarities and one will need the connection wires swapped over.

Moving a steel object towards the pickup induces a current in the pickup the same way that a string does. The multimeter detects the resistance of the pickup coil by putting a known voltage through the coil and measuring the voltage drop (which the gets converted to an ohms reading). The extra coil/voltage induced by the steel object moving towards the pickup coil either adds or subtracts from the voltage provided by the multimeter, and so changes the resistance reading (it doesn't change the actual resistance).

[Tidus55]

You can check the output polarity of each unconnected pickup with a multimeter. You really need test clips to attach the wires to the multimeter, or someone to help you, as you need at least one other hand free. Connect the pickup main signal ground to the -ve terminal and the signal wire to the +ve terminal of the multimeter.

Put the multimeter on ohms and have it display the DC resistance. Move something reasonably large made of steel (say a big screwdriver or a spanner) towards the pickup. The resistance reading will either go down or up slightly depending on the pickup's output polarity. If both pickups' readings go down or up, then they have the same output polarity and will be fine wired as normal. If one goes down and one goes up, then they have opposite polarities and one will need the connection wires swapped over.

Moving a steel object towards the pickup induces a current in the pickup the same way that a string does. The multimeter detects the resistance of the pickup coil by putting a known voltage through the coil and measuring the voltage drop (which the gets converted to an ohms reading). The extra coil/voltage induced by the steel object moving towards the pickup coil either adds or subtracts from the voltage provided by the multimeter, and so changes the resistance reading (it doesn't change the actual resistance).


Thanks Simon, I will do it, in case I have problems I will let you know .... Mille Grazie :)

[McCreed]

You can check the output polarity of each unconnected pickup with a multimeter.

Simon, don't you mean phase? Or are they one in the same? I've just never heard it referred to that way.

I use the "steel rule & multimeter" trick for matching phase if using different makes of pickup that I don't have documentation on.

[Tidus55]

Simon, don't you mean phase? Or are they one in the same? I've just never heard it referred to that way.

I use the "steel rule & multimeter" trick for matching phase if using different makes of pickup that I don't have documentation on.

Hi McCreed take a look , while we wait for Simon.

https://www.fralinpickups.com/2017/01/23/whats-deal-polarity/

https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/the-tone-garage/pickup-polarity-and-phase-made-simple

[Simon Barden]

'Polarity' is the correct term as 'phase' is time/frequency related. If you swap the output connections over on a pickup, you reverse the polarity of the signal. At any single instance in time, the output voltage is either xv or -xv, depending upon the connection. But phase is a level + time related value. Polarity is a one dimensional value whereas phase can be viewed as a two dimensional value. Phase is more about the relationship between two different signals, whereas with the output from one pickup, you can only really call it a polarity change. Phase shift is measured in degrees, so you can't simply 'reverse the phase', you have to shift it by 180° (or 540° or 900° etc) to get the physical effect of a polarity change.

Mainly down to semantics, but 'polarity' is certainly the correct term.

[McCreed]

If you swap the output connections over on a pickup, you reverse the polarity of the signal.

Yes, I get that and follow the theory, but my point is that in discussing pickups, polarity is generally related to "magnetic polarity" (north or south) not signal polarity.

[Simon Barden]

Works for both. So one has to really be a bit more precise and state either magnetic or output/signal polarity. And TBF, I did state output polarity.

[RFeltman57]

Hi Scott. I am modifying a Tele with a Lollar Tele Special Bridge PU and Imperial neck HB using the 4 way lever switch and 3 way mini switch as as described in your post. The Loller HB has 4 conductor wires + a braided outer wire. I have been assuming that the Lollar HB has the same wiring colors as the SD in your post, but this could be incorrect. I was also unaware of that there were two types of the 3 way mini switch. When I finished putting the guitar together The 4 way worked as expected but the neck PU produced no output in the middle (split) position and there doesn’t seem to be any discernible difference between the up and down positions. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Rick

[WeirdBits]

The Lollar HB wiring colours should indeed match SD colours, and so line up directly with my diagrams.

Are you certain your mini-toggle is an On/On/On and not an On/Off/On? Either type of On/On/On should give you a single coil in the middle position regardless of type 1/2 wiring (just a different coil with each type), so that suggests you’ve got an On/Off/On instead. Having said that, even an On/Off/On should give you noticeably different series/parallel coil sounds in the up and down positions, so something else may be going on. Are you testing that with just the neck pickup selected on the 4-way?

Can you post some clear photos of your mini-toggle wiring? Hopefully we will be able to see what’s connected where and what should be happening for each switch type.

[RFeltman57]

Hi Scott. Thanks for getting back to me. I took a closer look at the mini switch wiring this morning and was able to see that the red and black wires had been bridged by some excess solder ( there’s not a lot of real estate to work with there) so the pickup was basically in series in both the up and down positions and shorted in the middle position. Once I broke the excess solder joint the 3 switch positions seem to be working as intended, with the series position sounding clearly louder and fuller than the other 2. Now I just have to figure out why my volume pot is acting like a tone pot and my tone pot doesn’t do anything :).
Anyway, thanks for responding to my post so quickly.
Rick
P.S. I’m new to this this forum and don’t know how to post pictures. Is there a simple way to do it?

[Simon Barden]

'Insert image' icon on the post toolbar. Maximum picture size to upload is 1500 pixels on any side and less than 1Mb in size , so you'll probably need to resize any photos you have. Once the pic has been selected, then click the upload file(s) text below the browse button. If it doesn't upload, then the pic's still too big (you should get an error message but sometimes just nothing happens). If you use the Tapatalk forum app, it has a resizing feature built-in.

Or host elsewhere and link.

[ShimmyFix]

Very informative thread. Thank you Scott & Simon.
Im putting together a two pickup guitar that im hoping will be able to do full creamy humbucker distortion and also be able to do clean funky sounds like a Strat Quack position 2 or 4.

Heres what i have so far;
Neck Hum (SDuncan SH) and
Bridge Single Coil (texmex 10k)

Ideally id like 5 options;

1 bridge
2 bridge & neck split parallel (is this similar to Strat 2&4 ?)
3 bridge & neck Hum parallel
4 bridge & neck Hum series
5 neck hum

(Or more? What about a Bridge & Neck Split series?)


is it possible to pull this off with a
3way Toggle, and 2 push/pull pots (1vol 1 tone). ? ( i Have caps & resistors if needed)


Also ;
The Neck Hum Has the (north P)slugs top (closest to frets)
And screws (South P) closer to bridge)

The single coil is South P

Is this correct or Should i flip the Hum around and put the screws (southP) (closest to frets)

Lots of questions i know . I hope this all makes sense.


Any and All help /diagrams VERY greatly appreciated!

[Simon Barden]

The Strat 'quack' is reliant on the pickup spacing. The three pickups on a Strat are closer together than the two pickups on say a Tele, so a Tele won't give you quite the same sound and less 'quack' in the middle position as positions 2 and 4 on a Strat do. You can obviously position two pickups closer together to get a similar 'quack', but then you compromise the single pickup sounds, either less bright if you move the bridge pickup forwards, or less depth and bass if you move the neck pickup back. Or a bit of both if you move them both together a bit.

Bridge humbucker orientation won't make that much difference to the sound as you can select, via the wiring, which humbucker coil is used for the split sound. The slug coil will sound a tiny bit more like a Fender single coil than the screw coil, but not a lot. Probably more difference in sound due to the screw poles being higher (so closer to the strings) than the slug poles.

What style of guitar body will this be going in? Trying to fit fairly complicated wiring solutions into a Tele control cavity can be 'interesting'.

[Woltz]

Agreed with Simon. I just drew up the diagram roughly on a piece of paper for what it would look like. It'd be tough to squeeze it into a tele cavity and be tidy. Can share it with you if you want. Perhaps have a look at the diagram on this thread as an idea as well - https://www.tdpri.com/threads/wiring-a-4-way-switch-with-an-s1.787197/

[ShimmyFix]

Thanks guys.
Woltz- it's Not a Tele. Control cavity is 1.5” deep and approx 5”x 2.25”. The push pull pots fit nicely along with the 3way toggle already installed. I'm ok with adding mini toggles too if needed.

Also worth noting there's room for another Humbucker at the bridge. The single coil is in a custom mounting ring. (I already have a Les Paul- thus mixing it up a bit on this one)

I'm wide open to possibilities. Even considering a piezo To add more flavor options. I saw someone demo one they added to a start it had its own preamp onboard and sounded really good. Kind of in between an electric and acoustic. I would think that option with a blend control to mix it in with regular pickups would offer a wide sonic spectrum

I'd be Interested to see what you drew.
.also I looked at the thread and saw numerous' diagrams. Was there one in particular you wanted me to see?

Ps What's a push push?

[Simon Barden]

A push-push is a switch (as first used on guitars by Yamaha on the SG2000 I believe) where instead of having to grab the knob and pull it up to engage, and push it down to disengage it, you push it down to engage, the knob pops up, and you then push the knob down to disengage it. It's a lot easier to use than a push-pull knob, especially if you have sweaty hands. Though if your hand moves over the and knocks the control knobs a lot when playing, you could possibly operate the switch by accident (although you do need to apply a modicum of downwards pressure to operate them).

They aren't as common as push-pulls, but are normally a very similar price.

[Woltz]

Thanks guys.
Woltz- it's Not a Tele. Control cavity is 1.5” deep and approx 5”x 2.25”. The push pull pots fit nicely along with the 3way toggle already installed. I'm ok with adding mini toggles too if needed.

Also worth noting there's room for another Humbucker at the bridge. The single coil is in a custom mounting ring. (I already have a Les Paul- thus mixing it up a bit on this one)

I'm wide open to possibilities. Even considering a piezo To add more flavor options. I saw someone demo one they added to a start it had its own preamp onboard and sounded really good. Kind of in between an electric and acoustic. I would think that option with a blend control to mix it in with regular pickups would offer a wide sonic spectrum

I'd be Interested to see what you drew.
.also I looked at the thread and saw numerous' diagrams. Was there one in particular you wanted me to see?

Ps What's a push push?

The link was more just for ideas.

I realised I'd misread your intial post and drawn something different.

For what you originally suggested I stumbled on this schematic which is is relatively tidy - https://forum.seymourduncan.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=82268&d=1502103951 . Just means you need a 4 way switch instead of a 3 way. I think this is nicer than messing around with two push-pull or push-push pots.

[Tidus55]

.....
Any other questions?

Hi Scott @WeirdBits & Simon @Simon Barden , now I resume our previous March posts

i'm on the way to finish my telecaster.

37980 37981

Now I have to prepare the control plate with the right wiring.

So to confirm that everything is right I put here the Scott diagram to which I made some small changes, I put two Bourns potentiometers of 500 for tone and volume with an orange of 0.22, I changed the connection from tone to volume as that of the 50s.

37979

Is it right or do you have some advice to give me in particular also for the orange cap?
Also a question: but in this case it is necessary to put a resistance of 470 for the bridge single coil to see the pots at 250?

Anyway tell me everything that goes into your mind .... and thanks for the suggestions.

Cheers Stefano

[WeirdBits]

Sorry Stefano I had completely missed your post.

Your changes to the diagram look correct. The modified tone will give a vintage 50’s style control, just make sure the capacitor connects between the lug and the back of the pot (can’t see the back of the pot connection on your diagram). The key element of the 50’s style layout is that the tone link connects to the middle (output) lug of the volume pot.

The 500K vs 250K volume pot is always a compromise when you’re mixing a humbucker with single coil. The humbucker should sound better with the 500K pot, and I think particularly for the bridge + neck series setting on the 4-way. You can compromise and try to get a lower spec 500K pot with a value closer to 400K, or permanently add a resistor across it to give you a custom value but that alters the taper of the pot. I’d stick with the 500K volume pot at first and see how it sounds across all the different pickup combinations, as you can always roll off some tone if it’s too bright but you can’t passively add treble if a sound is too dark from a 250K pot.

Your question “necessary to put a resistance of 470” I assume is about adding a switched resistor across the pot for the bridge position so it has an effective 250K value? Unfortunately, with the way the 4-way switch is wired to give the series position you can’t add a resistor that is only connected in the bridge position, it would have to be in the circuit for all combinations with the bridge pickup. As stated above, I’d stick with the 500K initially and then decide later. You can always temporarily clip/connect a 500K resistor across the volume pot to see how it would sound if it was 250K.

[Simon Barden]

This didn’t flag up for me either. Maybe the forum software had a bad day?

[Tidus55]

Sorry Stefano I had completely missed your post.

Your changes to the diagram look correct. The modified tone will give a vintage 50’s style control, just make sure the capacitor connects between the lug and the back of the pot (can’t see the back of the pot connection on your diagram). The key element of the 50’s style layout is that the tone link connects to the middle (output) lug of the volume pot.

As stated above, I’d stick with the 500K initially and then decide later. You can always temporarily clip/connect a 500K resistor across the volume pot to see how it would sound if it was 250K.

Hi Scott and Simon

Thanks and Happy New Years, hope for the best for all of us.

Well, I went on with the project as in the previous msg; yes the 0.22 capacitor is soldered to the back of the pot and the central lug (Right?)

Now, after shielding the cavities and attaching the neck to the body,
I'm connecting the pickups:
Neck Humbucker and Bridge Single.
I attach photos with the polarities, As you can see from the neck to the bridge the polarities are:
South North (Humbucker) South (Single) .... is everything okay?
Or should I check something else?

Again thanks to all of you.

Stefano

[Tidus55]

Post Scriptum ....

The wires of my Humbucker: Black for - , green for + , Red/white for Series/Parallel (Black with White & Green with Red)

Stefano

For more info on the Humbucker at the neck this link is related to mine.

https://www.tdpri.com/threads/donlis-dls51-set-analysis-and-review.795448/

[WeirdBits]

Sorry Stefano, I didn't realise you were asking a question.

Your compass indicates that the humbucker's screw coil is magnetic south, and the TDPRI link appears to show that the green/red wire pair are connected to that coil. That means the north slug coil is the black/white pair. If your bridge single coil is south polarity as you've stated then you'll need to split to the neck's black/white slug coil to get a hum-cancelling coil pair with the bridge. That means rearranging the mini-switch connections to split to the slug coil. Like this:
38853

It's possible you may still have phase issues, particularly if the two pickups are different brands/manufacturers. It this is the case it will sound thin and nasally in positions 2 and 3, regardless of the mini-switch setting. In that situation swapping the black and green connections on the 4-way switch should solve it. That is, black would go from the mini-switch to the top two connections on the 4-way and the green would go to the lower left connection instead.

[Tidus55]

Sorry Stefano, I didn't realise you were asking a question.

Your compass indicates that the humbucker's screw coil is magnetic south, and the TDPRI link appears to show that the green/red wire pair are connected to that coil. That means the north slug coil is the black/white pair. If your bridge single coil is south polarity as you've stated then you'll need to split to the neck's black/white slug coil to get a hum-cancelling coil pair with the bridge. That means rearranging the mini-switch connections to split to the slug coil.

It's possible you may still have phase issues, particularly if the two pickups are different brands/manufacturers. It this is the case it will sound thin and nasally in positions 2 and 3, regardless of the mini-switch setting. In that situation swapping the black and green connections on the 4-way switch should solve it. That is, black would go from the mini-switch to the top two connections on the 4-way and the green would go to the lower left connection instead.

Hi Scott,

I had the impression that this was the case, but one thing at a time:

1- the manufacturer of the pickups is the same (Donlis), what I have read and heard have a truly excellent yield, I hope there are no out of phase problems
2- does the fact that I split the slug coil compromise the sound in single (position 4) at the neck ?
3- and if yes, I could put the pickup like in Keith Richards' Micawber, would it be better ?

After these last explanations I will finally go on to finish all the connections, and then put the strings, do the intonation, the action and so on, finish my first guitar :)
Thanks a lot, Stefano

[WeirdBits]

There is no compromise/problem splitting to the slug coil, in fact it is quite normal (particularly on a bridge pickup).

There will be very little sound difference splitting to the slug or screw coil (mainly from the slight positional difference along the string length). The most important thing is that the split coil is reverse wound reverse polarity to the bridge single coil so you get a hum-cancelling pair when combined.

Good luck.

[WeirdBits]

Just posting an image related to this thread for a member.

Quick sketch of a 4-way twin hum layout with two volumes. Not ideal, but designed to minimise the compromises of having the individual volumes:

40483

Neck volume is always in the circuit, so 1M volume pots would help to reduce the impact.

For those interested, a 3-way with a separate multi-pole series/parallel switch would be a better option for this type of configuration.

[Tidus55]

There is no compromise/problem splitting to the slug coil, in fact it is quite normal (particularly on a bridge pickup).

There will be very little sound difference splitting to the slug or screw coil (mainly from the slight positional difference along the string length). The most important thing is that the split coil is reverse wound reverse polarity to the bridge single coil so you get a hum-cancelling pair when combined.

Good luck.

Hi Guys

I want to confirm that everything is fantastic and working ...... Now I am learning to play ...... My blondie yellow mesh.

Thanks for all ..... Cheers.