1 Attachment(s)
1H, 1S, 1 vol, 2 tone, 5 way switch - questions
I've never really understood all the science behind the wiring, pot resistances, tone caps and how/why different components have different effects/sounds. I usually just find compatible wiring diagrams for what I'm putting together and go with that without really understanding what I was doing. However, what I'm putting together on my current build is a bit different from common builds and the corresponding wiring diagrams I've found don't answer a couple of questions I have.
The build in question involves 1x humbucker and 1x single coil. It's in an ST kit, so the standard pick guard has provision for 3x pots - therefore, I'm opting for 1x vol, and a tone pot for each pickup. There's a 5-way switch and it will be wired for:
1. Bridge humbucker
2. Bridge north
3. Bridge north + neck single coil
4. Bridge humbucker + neck single coil
5. Neck single coil.
Here's the proposed wiring diagram:
Attachment 44894
The questions I have are regarding the pot types I should use. The diagram doesn't specify and I can't find a definitive answer. I'm going with A pots for all three, but I'm stuck on the 500k v 250k part. From what I understand, 500k is usually used for humbuckers and 250k for single coil (although not a strict rule, it's the norm). What I don't know is if I should follow this rule here and get a 500k for the bridge tone and a 250k for the neck tone or if it's not advisable to mix them in this configuration, especially since two of the switch positions use both pickups. If I should be sticking with the same values for both, I'll be leaning towards 500k as I'll probably be playing with the bridge 80% of the time.
A secondary question is regarding the volume pot. Is there any difference between using a 250k and a 500k for the volume?
I'd really like to be able to understand the mechanics of all this wiring of pickups, pots, switches etc so I could look at these wiring diagrams and understand the purpose of each connection.