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Topic: VERY confused. Pots and Caps for Gretsch G5715 p/u? |
Ted Duncan
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 3 Nov 2022 7:11 am |
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I am building my first lap steel. This is the first time I have ever done anything to an electric guitar. I have NO knowledge about these things and I'm about as lost and confused as I can be.
I listened to a lot of vids on various lap steels and decided to try to replicate the sound that I liked best. I purchased the pickup used in the Gretsch G5715 lap steel. I like the sound and the price is right.
Now I need to order volume and tone pots and a capacitor plus a correct wiring diagram for it. Unfortunately, the more I search and read, the more confused I become.
Initially based on something I read, I thought this pickup is a humbucker. NOW I find it's a single coil. I cannot find the impedance for this pickup, what ever it is, anywhere.
My initial reading indicated that the impedance dictated the value of the pots and cap needed ... now I read that it's a taste kind of thing.
I will never play gritty blues on the lap steel I am building. I am more into the Hawaiian/50's - 60's Country kind of sound.
Could anybody tell me which volume and tone pots I need and which cap? And maybe point me in the direction of a correct wiring diagram? I'd like to buy them from Stew-Mac.
Thanks.
Last edited by Ted Duncan on 3 Nov 2022 8:12 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Bill A. Moore
From:
Silver City, New Mexico, USA
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Posted 3 Nov 2022 8:02 am
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| Generally most single coils. (like Strats, and Teles) use 250KA pots for both. Fender also uses a .050- .047 tone cap, but I generally use .033 uf as I feel is gives more sweep to the control. |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 3 Nov 2022 1:23 pm
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I'm unfamiliar with the Gretsch pickup, but I generally wire up my single-pickup, single-coil rescues (usually using custom P-90s from Jerry Sentell) like Gibson wired their '50s Les Paul Juniors, and have achieved excellent results.
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 3 Nov 2022 5:47 pm Re: VERY confused. Pots and Caps for Gretsch G5715 p/u?
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| Ted Duncan wrote: |
I am building my first lap steel...and I'm about as lost and confused as I can be.
Now I need to order volume and tone pots and a capacitor plus a correct wiring diagram for it. Unfortunately, the more I search and read, the more confused I become.
I cannot find the impedance for this pickup, what ever it is, anywhere. |
Who cares? This isn't rocket science, and most all magnetic pickups will work fine with the same values of pots and tone caps.
500k log taper for volume
250k linear taper for tone
.05 mfd/ufd for the tone cap
(The diagram in the post above is fine. And "gritty" doesn't come from any of these components. It comes from the amp, and how it's set.)
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Ted Duncan
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 4 Nov 2022 5:30 am
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Well thank you, Bill, Jack and Donny! Y'all gave me a good place to start. I spent the night listening to Youtube vids about what you all suggested so I could hear what your suggestions all sounded like ... and I placed my order at Stewmac. I did order a range of caps and an extra 500k pot for experimenting later.
Jack, I especially liked the 1950's wiring. It really does make a difference holding the high strings when you roll off the volume. Could I ask where you found that page? Do they have more teaching like that?
To sum what I learned:
Everything will work with nearly everything but, generally speaking:
250k goes with single coil (think Fender) and will give a warm tone
500k goes with humbuckers (think Gibson) and will give a bright tone
Two types of "taper": log (also called audio) and Linear.
There's more, but this got me over the hump.
I really appreciate you all giving me a hand with this. |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 4 Nov 2022 6:15 am
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| Ted Duncan wrote: |
| Jack, I especially liked the 1950's wiring. It really does make a difference holding the high strings when you roll off the volume. Could I ask where you found that page? Do they have more teaching like that? |
The wiring diagram above is from Axecaster, an online parts retailer based in the U.K.
https://www.axecaster.co.uk/ |
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Ted Duncan
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 4 Nov 2022 6:37 am
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| Jack Hanson wrote: |
| Ted Duncan wrote: |
| Jack, I especially liked the 1950's wiring. It really does make a difference holding the high strings when you roll off the volume. Could I ask where you found that page? Do they have more teaching like that? |
The wiring diagram above is from Axecaster, an online parts retailer based in the U.K.
https://www.axecaster.co.uk/ |
Thanks again Jack.
For nubes like me ... the axecaster site has a very good description of how pots work. Definitely worth a look. |
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 4 Nov 2022 7:20 am Re: VERY confused. Pots and Caps for Gretsch G5715 p/u?
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| Donny Hinson wrote: |
| Ted Duncan wrote: |
I am building my first lap steel...and I'm about as lost and confused as I can be.
Now I need to order volume and tone pots and a capacitor plus a correct wiring diagram for it. Unfortunately, the more I search and read, the more confused I become.
I cannot find the impedance for this pickup, what ever it is, anywhere. |
Who cares? This isn't rocket science, and most all magnetic pickups will work fine with the same values of pots and tone caps.
500k log taper for volume
250k linear taper for tone
.05 mfd/ufd for the tone cap
(The diagram in the post above is fine. And "gritty" doesn't come from any of these components. It comes from the amp, and how it's set.)
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As usual, uncle Donny shares everything you need to know |
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