Wiring Diagram Humbucker neck

Hi all - Im looking for a link to a diagram if possible !

My new project has a Gibson 490R in the neck and for now a lace sensor t 150 for the bridge - first of all does anyone know if these will match up ok -Ill be using 500k pots -

I would prefer to have the tone for the bridge only and maybe the resistor trick so the bridge sees 250k although the last time I tried the lace with a 500k pot it sounded ok to me.

So what I need is a diagram for

3 way switch
500k volume and tone
Humbucker neck Gibson 490R (hot wire to switch and brading ground to pot)
Bridge Lace sensor T150 (green and white together and orange to switch)
*if possible Tone for Bridge only (I know it will also add the neck in middle position)

Or even other ideas e.g. 4 or 5 way switch

If anyone thinks these pups dont match up please recommend an alternative. Consider Im not a rocker just some blues and fat cleans are wanted I use Blues Driver and TS9 Pedals etc.

thanks in advance all - Andrew

Just tried out wiring it up as like standard tele wiring but with 500k pots - the Lace sensor bridge is too quiet and too thin/bright with the 500k - so another pick up is needed - the gibson 490r sounds fine to me -

So any ideas on a better suited pick up -it must be hum cancelling below is my current shortlist please feel free to ad to that list. (must be good with 500k pots)
From what internet babble Ive gathered so far -

SD Lil59 (read someone said 500k pots will sound best with this?)
SD Hot Stack (Is it loud enough to keep up with the neck)
SD Hot Rails (Im not a high gain user at all)
SD Quarter Pounder (not sure about the noise)
Other brands considered if they are not to expensive (could look on ebay for a used one)

please someone help thanks all

I think the 490R is around 8K, so I'd go for a bridge HB around 9K to balance it up.

What about the Dimarzio Area T?
I have a humbucker in the neck and to remove it from the tone pot simply move the wire from the volume pot and connect it to the switch lug connected to the bridge pup. I am adding a no load tone pot so in the middle position I can remove it by simply turning it up to 10 :)

Thanks Nick and Johnny for your replies -

Nick -the lace sensor reads 13.5k and still a bit quiet even with it very close to the strings and the neck sunk into the body. I heard the lace sensors are a quiet pup anyway even with the high reading.


Johnny do you mean the Area Hot T and will it be ok with a 500k pot (I know according to dimarzio it will).

Also when you say move the wire to the lug connected to the bridge pick up - do you mean the wire coming from the tone pot through the volume pot to the switch - please excuse my lack of technical terms. thanks

I put that same Gibson pickup in 66 Telecaster and played around with a lot of pickup, and wiring options for year before settling on the 490R. What a great pickup!

When I got my 66 Tele 27 years ago it had a DiMarzio SD humbucker in the neck and the original Tele pickup in the bridge. The guitar case had a huge hand painted Rolling Stones tongue upon it. I guess the previous owner was trying to go Keith Richards?

The DiMarzio had no tone to it and the original bridge had become microphonic. I tried a Duncan P90 in the Neck and Duncan Broadcaster model in the bridge. The latter was too far on the treble side and both pickups were too noisy. I went back to the original bridge after I soaked in hot paraffin for a couple of hours and went back to a full size humbucker in the way of a Gibson 490R. This combo lasted about about 6 years until I found out about Joe Barden's pickups C/o Danny Gatton. I installed one of those staggered rail humbucking jobs in the bridge of my 66 and it was a beautiful match with the Gibson 490R with no noise.

Along the way I have monkeyed around with the volume and tone pots starting off 500K pots to "Gibsonize" my Telecaster. However it wasn't too long before I reverted back to other values that better support what Telecasters are about. I have a nice audio taper 250K pot for the volume that allows for nice swells and a 1meg pot in the tone position for that quick "Wha" effect.

Anyway, I highly suggest you check out the Barden. If it worked for Danny Gatton among others, it will probably work for you.

Twinkie -thankyou for you input its much appreciated -I will look at the Barden.

I also tried a phat cat duncan neck with a stacked vintage the neck hummed like hell but sounded ok - I also tried a SD 59 Neck but the low strings were very wooly even with 500k pots it also overpowered the bridge too much - Im finding The Gibson 490 sounds good to my ears with the low strings sounding clear enough - with the current lace sensor in the bridge the middle setting sounds great but on its own sound hollow or something lacking that I cant describe in words.

Can I ask whats the push pull pots do on your tele there and the switch in the middle -any chance you can lead me to a diagram of some kind.

Thanks again for the Barden tip Ill look into it.

On one of my tele's I installed the Barden Bridge Plate which I really like.

My tele with the gibson is a CV 50's squire Body with a Blacktop Tele Rosewood board neck so looks a bit like yours - cheers Andrew

Twinkie -thankyou for you input its much appreciated -I will look at the Barden.

I also tried a phat cat duncan neck with a stacked vintage the neck hummed like hell but sounded ok - I also tried a SD 59 Neck but the low strings were very wooly even with 500k pots it also overpowered the bridge too much - Im finding The Gibson 490 sounds good to my ears with the low strings sounding clear enough - with the current lace sensor in the bridge the middle setting sounds great but on its own sound hollow or something lacking that I cant describe in words.

Can I ask whats the push pull pots do on your tele there and the switch in the middle -any chance you can lead me to a diagram of some kind.

Thanks again for the Barden tip Ill look into it.

On one of my tele's I installed the Barden Bridge Plate which I really like.

My tele with the gibson is a CV 50's squire Body with a Blacktop Tele Rosewood board neck so looks a bit like yours - cheers Andrew

Hi Andrew,

I wonder if you might be dealing with some phase cancellation with both pickup deployed. Pickup manufactures can have different wiring schemes with respect to what color wire represents north and south polarity etc. I believe I had some experience with wiring this same Gibson pickup in my 66.

On the other hand, I have not fooled around with the "Lace Sensor" pickup design in any of my guitars. I understand these pickups to be a true single coil design with added shielding to cancel hum and to reduce RF. they were marketed as the pickup with the Fender sound without the noise. Either way you could be dealing with a balance issue with a difference in DC resistance.

The push/pull pot wiring you inquire about took a long time for arrival. In the 250K volume knob position is a series/parallel switch for the Barden. In the down position is in series, up is in parallel. I use the Barden in series a lot more than I do in parallel. In between the volume and tone knobs lives a mini toggle switch for series/parallel options for the Gibson 490R. I tend to use this pickup more in the parallel mode. The 1meg push/pull tone is a master series/parallel switch that when deployed will bypass the pickup selector switch and put both pickups in series. This wiring configuration gives me the versatility of 16 tonal options.

I have two other Telecaster that I have wired up in this fashion with the addition of a 4-way pickup selector allowing for the option of the neck pickup trough a large filter cap like the vintage style Tele wiring. I can also put both pickups in series through the big filter cap. In the case these other Telecasters, they both have the Barden bridge pickup. One has a Barden neck and the other has a Duncan vintage stack. I also have a 73 Telecaster Custom wired up with a Barden bridge that has the same options with the addition of a phase switch.

I hope enjoy the Barden pickup. It has worked out great for my four Telecasters. I hope it works for you.

Dave

Thanks again Twinkie -

I'm very happy you spent the time to send me your info - I really enjoyed reading it all - I wish I could solder well Id dare to attempt that sort of wiring - great set of tele's by the way - it also looks like you have 2 amps for each guitar LOL

cheers Andrew