Tele Mod - blend, 5-way tone - help wiring 5-way

[Peter Rabbit]

Hey gang - how's she goin', eh?

This time, I'm thinking of getting that 3-way switch out of the way of the volume knob, while at the same time adding some extra tones to the beast.

Figured I'd flip the control plate end-for-end, swap knob positions, change the tone pot for a pup blend pot, add a treble bleed circuit to the volume, and change the 3-way switch for a 5-way with four caps and a pass-through (at the .001Uf end of the switch, by the blend control.)

Of course I dont have a clue about wiring a 5-way and sure could use some assistance.



Anybody (CC) know how to do this?

Thanks a million (I won't say a million what)

Peter

PS- I have a few 1Meg no-load linear pots, any chance of using one for the volume pot? Or is that REALLY wishful thinking?

[cc9cii]

I'm happy enough to draw something, like the 5 way or whatever. However some comments first:

The blend circuit, depending on the taper, may not be that useful. Only you'll be able to tell whether you like it. For me, the change over is too abrupt (I've only been able to get M & N taper pots).

If you're using 1M pots, you won't need treble bleed...

With the 5 way, you most likely would want a 5 way single wafer super switch, *not* a strat 5 way. The strat switch works by combining lugs mechanically, which works fine for mixing pickups but not so suitable for selecting 5 distinct values of caps.

Finally, did you want resistor/cap combinations or fixed resistor & different value caps?

[cc9cii]

Have you made any progress with this?

[Sollophonic]

Not wanting to hijack this thread too much, but I put a blend control into my Squier 51. The guitar had been modded a lot in its past by its previous owner, the rotary switch was gone, it had a 4 way and a tbx control, all of which gave about 10 tones, three of which were any use. I decided to revert the guitar back to two knob operation an wired in a blend pot for the two pickups.

Trouble is that it doesnt blend at all, it simply switches. Not that thats a bad thing, but is there a certain type of dual pot that works as a blend control, and brings in the pickups gradually?

[cousinpaul]

No-load tone controls won't work as volume controls. They do make great blenders because you want the blender to be out of the circuit when not in use. I'm not sure about the linear taper. Mine are 500k audio. You might not need a treble bleed with the tone control removed.

[telepunch]

I personally wouldn't use a 1meg pot on single coils. I thought about it on my mini strat because the only p/p pots i have on hand are 1 meg. I ended up with a single volume 500k pot, and all the way up the highs are pretty shrill. I find myself rolling back the volume ever so slightly just to bleed off the highs a tiny bit. Now, this being said, with my tele plans, i intend to have a p/p pot for bypassing the volume and tone circuitry all together, which would be basically a wire from the switch to the jack... 100% bite.

[Peter Rabbit]

Howdy Pilgrims!

Sorry I haven't been around for a little while - family health/hospital problems just at the mo'. I really haven't thought too much about the REAL WORLD here in Tele-land.

Plus, a few new items arrived from GuitarFetish.com (love 'em), a coupla sets of Strat pups, tuners, bridges, etc, so whatever little brain-power I have left has been devoted to other things.

CC: I will say that you always get me thinking - thanks! I hadn't considered different resistors to go with the caps, have to research that. My first thought (usually the wrong one) is to use a single resistor, maybe around 500k to 1Meg. Actually, do I (electrically) need a resistor at all, or do you suggest it for the (aural) tonal variety? (also, considering the small difference in cost - they sell mostly around $20 - between various types of "superswitches", does it matter if I get twin-wafer models?) And it looks like no treble bleed necessary. Good.

Sollophonic: I haven't actually used an axe with a blend pot, but it sure seems like a good idea - if it works. I see yours didn't. Finding a true blend pot seems to be the problem - apparently many dealers either don't know the difference between blend pots vs pan pots, and linear vs audio taper, or they are choosing to misrepresent them for whatever reason. Either way, it's gonna take some playin around to find the right pots. I do know that the debate between linear pots and audio pots rages on. From what I can find, the right thing is a 500k/500k, linear taper, Fender true blend pot. Pretty sure MrGearHead carries them. Also, have a look at this:
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.co...p?number=G5960

cousinpaul: I did find a drawing on Deaf Eddie's site showing how to wire a no-load pot as a volume with the no-load function intact. I haven't tried it yet.

They do make great blenders because you want the blender to be out of the circuit when not in use.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand. I'm using the blend as a pickup selector - doesn't it have to be in the circuit always?

telepunch: the higher the resistance, the less high-end is lost to ground, putting a 1Meg load is still going to be less 'shrill' than bypassing all the controls (via your P/P pots) - I too am yearning for 110% BITE!

I'll do some work on this when I have some time (usually about 4 a.m.)

Thanks everybody - some great ideas here!

Peter

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Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.

[cousinpaul]

Sorry Peter, I missed the detail on your switch. I was thinking of the blend pot commonly used in addition to a pickup selector switch. Thanks for the Deaf Eddy drawing. I'm gonna have to try that.

Paul

[Peter Rabbit]

Yo, Dudes and Dudettes:

Been a little while - what, a coupla weeks or so? - but we're still tryin'.

CC:

With the 5 way, you most likely would want a 5 way single wafer super switch, *not* a strat 5 way. The strat switch works by combining lugs mechanically, which works fine for mixing pickups but not so suitable for selecting 5 distinct values of caps.

Can I use double-wafer? (they're around the same price +/- a-coupla-bucks) If so, can I use the other wafer for sumpin' else? (no logic, just askin')

Finally, did you want resistor/cap combinations or fixed resistor & different value caps?

Having an idea of what I'm trying to accomplish, what would your recommendations be?

And, yes I would very much like it if you could diagram the wiring-up of the 5-way for me.

Sollophonic: Have you found the blends answer yet? Please keep me posted on this one.

cousinpaul: If you try this no-load volume circuit before I do, let me know how it goes!

telepunch: I'm gonna try the 1-meg pots first, mainly 'cause I've already got them here. If they are toooo shrill, I'll go buy yet some more stuff to try to justify the $28.00 shipping on a $6.00 part.

Thanks again, guys.

Peter

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Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

[jlerhun]

Originally Posted by Peter Rabbit

You can get 5 capacitance values from a standard 5-way switch, using only 3 caps. But these values won't be in natural order. That's because a 5-way switch connects things in parallel for positions 2 and 4, and connecting caps in parallel adds their values.
For example, you could get :

1. 4.7nF
2. 4.7nF//10nF = 14.7nF
3. 10nF
4. 10nF//33nF = 43nF
5. 33nF

For a hi-cut tone circuit, all the other pins of the caps go to ground. The comon lug is tied to the signal line with a resistor, i suggest using a trim-pot to find the value that suits you best. You may use the other side of the switch to get a pass-thru at position 1.

Originally Posted by Peter Rabbit

I'm gonna try the 1-meg pots first, mainly 'cause I've already got them here. If they are toooo shrill, I'll go buy yet some more stuff

To reduce the value of a pot, you can add another resistor in parallel with the pot, e.g. wired from lug 1 to lug 3. That way, adding a 1meg resistor to a 1 meg pot makes it a 500k pot of the same taper. Adding a 330k resistor across a 1meg pot makes it a reasonable 250k pot.

[Peter Rabbit]

Howdy!

jlerhun: That, my friend, is superb information - it means a trip to Radio Shaft - but that's way better than the here's-a-million-bucks-mail-it-to-me option.

Thank you very, very much.

Peter

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