Tele - single coil bridge - humbucker neck wiring

[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:

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

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-fo...-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:


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.


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