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Topic: Wiring a two pickup & four pot guitar |
David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 24 May 2006 4:32 am |
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| On a normal Les Paul-type wiring scheme, both pickups will cut off if you have the selector switch in the middle and you turn either volume knob all the way down. I have a couple of schematics that show you can avoid this by wiring the center lug from the volume pot to the pickup and the bottom lug to the switch, instead of the "normal" way - I gather that Fender Jazz basses are wired this way. My question is, is there some disadvantage to this? Why on earth would Gibson and virtually every other maker using two pickups and four knobs wire it up the way they do, if the Jazz bass way eliminates the shutoff problem? |
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John Daugherty
From:
Rolla, Missouri, USA
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Posted 24 May 2006 6:14 am
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David, when the pickups are connected to the slider of the pot, rotating the pot changes the resistive load that the pickup sees. As the load changes, the tone changes.
When I used to play lead guitar, I kept the volume controls at max and used a volume pedal. There was less tonal loss by using this method.
You can also leave the pickups wired as they were wired originally and add a resistor in series with each wire connected to the center taps. I would say 100k ohms would be okay. This will minimize the effect that each control has on the other, but will result in a slight decrease in volume (output level).
There is a link on my website to guitar wiring diagrams.
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www.home.earthlink.net/~johnd37
[This message was edited by John Daugherty on 24 May 2006 at 07:16 AM.] |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 25 May 2006 7:51 am
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| Does anybody know the answer to this question? Why does Gibson wire their guitars so that both pickups will cut off from either volume control, when there's an alternative? |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 25 May 2006 7:58 am
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| I don't know Gibson's reason, but I prefer it that way. First, if you want to do Tele-style volume swells with the volume knob with both pickups on, you need this type of wiring. Second, if you just want to quickly shut the thing off with both pickups engaged, you also need this type of wiring. Of course, you can't just gradually disengage one pickup that way - that's the tradeoff. |
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John Daugherty
From:
Rolla, Missouri, USA
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Posted 26 May 2006 4:14 am
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"Why does Gibson wire their guitars so that both pickups will cut off from either volume control, when there's an alternative?"
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David (Mason), I thought that was covered in my previous post. The alternative you speak of, causes a tonal loss. Most players would prefer the sound from an unloaded pickup. The loss would not be as noticeable on a bass guitar.
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www.home.earthlink.net/~johnd37
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 26 May 2006 4:59 am
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| Exactly what John said. It's a tonal issue. Unfortunately, you have a choice - versatility or better tone. |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 26 May 2006 7:51 am
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| Thanks for the replies. I'm specifically going to be wiring up a Warmoth Mustang clone with concentric volume/tone pots for each pickup, a Lawrence humbucking at the bridge and a Lawrence single-coil at the neck. I don't expect loss of brightness to be too big a problem, as I can EQ most anything one way or another. I am specifically trying to find a way to roll off the click from metal fingerpicks easily, so I can switch back and forth between flatpicking and fingerpicks - when you roll off the click with conventional wiring, you roll off most everything else too. I'm buying a sackful of different capacitors (.015, .022, .033, .047) and hooking up the control panel for quick disconnecting so I can dig in and fool around easily. It might not work, but I guess there's one way to find out.... |
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