Wiring Question

So I recently switched out the 250k pots in my tele for a set of 500k pots and I love how the neck and middle positions sound but now I find that the bridge pickup is just a bit too bright for my liking. I've been reading that some people use resistors in HSS guitars so that their single coils sill sense 250k even when using a 500k pot for volume. I was wondering if there is any way to apply this to the bridge in my tele to tone it down a little so that the bridge isn't as bright. Any help (or a wiring diagram) would be helpful!

Wire a resistor from the bridge lug of the switch to ground. You can experiment with different values to get the tone you want. 470kOhm would make it sound roughly the same as a 250kOhm pot for the bridge pickup. It will make your middle position a little darker, since the bridge pickup will always be connected to that resistor. You could remedy that with a super switch.

If you want to land somewhere between 500 and 250k, here's a parallel resistance calculator to help you pick resistor values. The volume pot is just a variable resistor, so R1 will be 500kOhm. R2 is whatever you add in. For example a 1MOhm resistor will net you 333kOhm. http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-paralresist.htm


Here's a Bill Lawrence diagram showing how the resistor would be wired:

http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb390/wildepickups/Wiring%20Diagrams/tele3way.jpg

Thanks! It worked just fine. It did darken my middle a little which I'm sad about because it sounded perfect but at least the bridge isn't as harsh. I'll keep experimenting until I find something that I'm happy with.

If you used a 470k, try a 1meg and see how you like it. Otherwise, you can get a three way super switch so you can have that resistor in only the one position.

The diagram is for a 2 pickup. Put the 200k directly on the bridge pickup wire to ground and revert your controls to where they were before.

If you like the way it sounds, you can leave the R/C on the pot....personally, I'd remove it and potentially change the break point on the tone control instead.

I measured my pot and found it was at around 560kOhms. I used a 1MOhm resistor on it, so now my bridge pickup sees a little over 350kOhms. I love the sound. Thanks guys!