Capacitor type

[dprozzo]

I was looking for some 0.022 microfarad caps at Radio Shack. What they carried were not the round, orange drops. Instead they were shiney, green, rectangular...didn't write down the composition...sorry. Assuming someone knows what I'm describing, can they be used interchangably with the orange drops?

[Chiba]

I know exactly what you're talking about - small, shiny green, with black type on them.

They sound slightly different than the orange dots (not better or worse, just different) but they will get the job done.

--chiba

[dprozzo]

Thanks.

I've noticed on some Strat wiring setups, the two tone pots share the same capacitor. On others, each has it's own. Is the difference important?

[Aldwyn]

I just put one in my SE Soapbar. I agree with Chiba... not better, not worse... just different.

I think the tone has more bite... more briteness... from about 8 to 10 with the Radio Shack cap. But it's easily rolled off if you find it to harsh.

Peace,
Aldwyn

[Jim Collins]

Thanks.

I've noticed on some Strat wiring setups, the two tone pots share the same capacitor. On others, each has it's own. Is the difference important?
Yes, at least I think so. With vintage wiring, the two tone controls share a common capacitor. I have never liked this arrangement. I have always thought the tone controls on a vintage Strat to be fairly useless, because of the way the controls are wired -- common cap, with one control leading into the other. How many of us have noticed that folks who play Strats with vintage wiring never touch their tone controls? (I think this is one reason so many long-time Strat players never really bond with a Telecaster -- a guitar whose tone control is important.)

I rewire my Strats so that the middle tone control works for the neck and middle pickups, and the outside tone control works for the bridge. Furthermore, I wire each tone control independently, giving each its own capacitor. I find that the tone controls are much more usable. The bridge pickup, alone, becomes more usable, as well.

[Stratmeister]

I rewire my Strats so that the middle tone control works for the neck and middle pickups, and the outside tone control works for the bridge. Furthermore, I wire each tone control independently, giving each its own capacitor. I find that the tone controls are much more usable. The bridge pickup, alone, becomes more usable, as well.
Jim, that sounds like a great idea. Got a schematic you'd be willing to share?;)

[Jim Collins]

Try this:

http://home.comcast.net/~jlcollins/strat.JPG

You can experiment with different values for the caps. This pic shows a .1uF and a .047uF for the bridge. Since I drew this, I've settled on .022uF caps for both positions.

[dprozzo]

How would this diagram be altered with an H-S-S configuration, with a coil-split on the bridge?

[Big Mike]

Should be the same. You just add the coil tap provision to a mini toggle or a push pull pot. The potentiometer and Capacitor hookup would be indentical.

[Jim Collins]

I should note that the drawback to my scheme is that the bridge+middle position actually has two tone controls in parallel. For me, this is no big deal, since my Strats have always had three-way switches -- I don't care for the inbetween sounds on a Strat, so I use a three-way. For those who really like the inbetween positions, this scheme could be improved.

One thing that could be done is to elimininate that jumper wire between the third and fourth lugs (the little red line). This would eliminate a tone control for the middle only position, similar to a Jimmie Vaughan Strat (though that one uses a common capacitor). Many people think the middle pickup doesn't need a tone control, anyway. (I am not one of those people.)

If you like all five positions, and want one -- and only one -- tone control active per position, you can either make one of the tone controls a master tone, and the other disconnected, or you can substitute a SuperStrat switch, which is a true 4P5T switch (a stock Strat switch is actually a DP3T switch), and rewire it to give one tone control per position. This isn't hard to do.

[Chiba]

Thanks for the diagram Jim. I've lately taken to rewiring my Strats to have just one tone control - since gravitating away from Strats for a while, upon coming back to them I've discovered that the volume pot stock location is really not convenient for me, so I leave that first hole empty and go with master vol & master tone.

--chiba

[dprozzo]

Should be the same. You just add the coil tap provision to a mini toggle or a push pull pot. The potentiometer and Capacitor hookup would be indentical.
What about this diagram?

http://guitarelectronics.zoovy.com/product/WDUHSS5L1204

Can it be adjusted to achieve Jim's result with the tone controls and keep the coil split in position 2.

[dprozzo]

Jim, in your wiring diagram on the previous page, are the lugs on the switch shown as the switch is viewed from the top (lever) side, or from the bottom? Looks like from the top.

Is there a way to achieve your result, with a bridge humbucker, with the auto coil tap in position 2? I don't want to add a mini-switch for the coil tap.

Thanks

[Jim Collins]

The diagram (and any drawing I may post) is shown from the point of view of the person doing the soldering. In other words, in this Strat diagram, all components are mounted to the pickguard, and the pickguard is upside down, as it would be when you are wielding the solding iron.

What may be confusing is the offset of the lugs, on the switch. These switches can be built two ways -- the lugs on the right side of the switch (in the diagram, that is) can be offset to the right of the lugs on the left side of the switch (that is what this diagram shows), or the lugs on the right side can be offset to the left of the lugs on the left side. It doesn't matter which type of switch you have -- both types work the same; they use the same relative lug positions.

Regarding your question about the bridge humbucker... Are you asking to use one coil of the bridge pickup in only position 2 of a five position switch? If that is what you are looking for, you cannot do it with a standard Strat five-way switch. A standard five-way switch does not actually have five, discreet positions (it is not a 5-throw switch). The two inbetween positions are actually common positions: position 2 gives you BOTH positions 1 and 3, and position 4 gives you BOTH positions 3 and 5. Using the standard Strat switch, you cannot have something in position 2 that neither positions 1 nor 3 has.

If you want to do something like this, you'll need a Strat super switch. StewMac sells these. (You want the Superswitch, not one of the so-called Megaswitches. Those are different.) This is a 4P5T (four pole, five throw) switch. The wiring will be different, but you can get what you want. In fact, with that switch, you are quite free in determining which five sounds you'd like.

[dprozzo]

What you're saying makes sense about positions 2 & 4, but I'm missing something. There's a diagram on http://www.mrgearhead.net/ of a Standard Fat (HSS) Stratocaster that shows what looks like a standard Strat switch. On the accompanying switching/control diagram, it shows position 2 as middle pickup/split bridge!?!? (Of course the tone controls are not the same as yours.)

[Jim Collins]

That is not a standard Strat switch. That is a SuperStrat switch.

A standard Strat switch is a DP3T (double pole, triple throw) that has five positions. This switch has a total of eight lugs.

The switch in the diagrams you mentioned is a 4P5T (four pole, five throw) switch. That switch has a total of 24 lugs.

[dprozzo]

I think that we are looking at different diagrams. The one I'm talking about is indicated by the number 013-4700/02, and is followed by the date 12/20/00. It's the 12th entry from the bottom of the Stratocaster section. Hope I'm not giving you a headache.

http://www.mrgearhead.net/faq/pdf/diagrams/STDFATSTRAT/SD0134700CPg2.pdf (http://www.mrgearhead.net/faq/pdf/diagrams/STDFATSTRAT/SD0134700CPg2.pdf)

http://www.mrgearhead.net/faq/pdf/diagrams/STDFATSTRAT/SD0134700CPg4.pdf (http://www.mrgearhead.net/faq/pdf/diagrams/STDFATSTRAT/SD0134700CPg4.pdf)

[Jim Collins]

You're right. That is a pretty creative use of that type of switch.

Take the top row of the four lugs. The left lug is common -- we'll call that 0. The lugs to the right will be 1 through 3, in order. In position 1, lug 1 will be connected to 0. In position 3, lug 2 will be connected to 0. In position 2, both lugs 1 and 2 will be connected to 0. This wiring ignores the fact that 0 is connected to either lug, but it does take advantage of the fact that 1 is connected to 2 in only that position.

The advantage to this wiring is that you are saved the expense of a SuperStrat switch. The disadvantage is that, if you wish to use both tone controls, you must live with the fact that one pickup will not have a tone control. In this case, it is the bridge pickup that has no tone control (in position #1, bridge only). Of course this is purely my opinion, but of all positions, on a Strat, to be without a tone control, the bridge-only position is the worst. Another drawback is that the neck+middle position is subject to two tone controls. (In this respect, the tone controls work like a vintage Strat, with a five-position switch.)

One could easily give the middle pickup's tone control to the bridge pickup, in this wiring. This would leave the middle position (middle only) with no tone control, but each of the other four positions would be subject to only one tone control. This would actually make the tone controls more effective. Actually splitting the tone controls apart, giving each its own capacitor, would make the tone controls even more effective.

The advantage to using a SuperStrat switch is that you do not have to make these compromises with the tone controls. In fact, in the diagrams that I originally thought you were referring to, we see a SuperStrat switch used for normal, five-way Strat switching, but with more effective use of the tone controls. (This wiring gives the neck pickup its own tone control, while the other tone control works in all other positions. I would prefer the bridge pickup to have its own tone control, while having the other tone control work in all other positions. Just my preference.)

[dprozzo]

I'd like to use the standard Strat switch, because that's what I already have.

To change the second tone control from the middle pickup to the bridge, do you move the wire that runs from the bottom most tone control to the left-most lug on the bottom row? The same lug that also receives a wire from the bridge pickup?

[Jim Collins]

Yes, that is correct. Move "White wire to tone pot (middle side)" to the lug that has "green wire from Bridge PU."

Do yourself a favor, though, and get an extra capacitor, and wire the two tone controls like I laid out in my diagram. In your diagram, the tone controls are tied together by a common capacitor. This is the way Leo did it, but it is also one reason that so many Strat players (not all, of course) don't bother using tone controls. You might also experiment with different values. I think .022uF for each tone control works best, for me.

[dprozzo]

Jim - I've noted your recommendation about one capacitor per tone pot and have already obtained a pair.

My 15yo son's main guitar is a Tremonti SE, but he has an H-S-S Peavey with a decent neck and body that is a project guitar for the two of us. We are going to replace all the electronics and pickups....will probably use something like Lace Hot Golds. (We have all the parts now except for the PUPs.) Presently it has only a master tone pot, but there is room in the pickguard between the tone and volume pots to drill a hole for a second tone pot.

Hopefully this fun father-son project will produce a decent Strat sound out of the thing.

All of the help I've received is greatly appreciated.

If anyone has a recommendation for modestly priced PUPs, sing out.