Fat 50s Wiring

[Parisianwalker]

Hi all, I am familiar with the 50s wiring on Gibsons and with the Fezz Parka wiring on Strats, having rewired guitars to take advantage of both.
I recently purchased a CS Tele that is supposed to have a “Fat 50s” wiring according to the shop floor traveller document.
On my guitar, the tone pot looks connected to the output (middle) lug of the volume pot, consistently with the Gibson-style 50s wiring. However, I see that the cap is connected to the ground lug of the volume pot, whereas in most schematics I’ve seen, the cap should be between the vol output and the tone ground.

Do I need to wire the cap to the volume output lug like in the schematic below?

Attaching pictures

 

[jackal]

As long as the cap has a good ground, it doesn't matter. How does it work? If it works fine, leave it alone.

 

[Parisianwalker]

I need to test it more thorough with my band and my JCM800. Witch my Strymon Iridium, I’d like a bit more brightness when rolling down the volume. Otherwise it’s a killer guitar

 

[Tuxedo Poly]

Fender "Fat 50s" Tele wiring. The same as Gibson but I guess Fender wouldn't want use that name.

 

[Peegoo]

@Parisianwalker

"I’d like a bit more brightness when rolling down the volume."

Consider a treble bypass; try several to see which one works best with your rig and your ears. These parts cost pennies, so it's cheap to try 'em all. This works!

Won't be long before they'll have to change "fat" to something else because some snowflake's feelz got hert

 

[Hodgo88]

It doesn't make any difference. They probably use the volume pot ground to keep that gigantic capacitor parallel to the control plate instead of wrapping it back around to the tone pot and making it hard to stuff into the cavity.

Again though, it doesn't matter, because were talking about a Tele. The metal control plate is connecting the pot grounds together already.

EDIT: Didn't even see the pics. The grounds are already connected by cloth wiring as well.

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

@Parisianwalker

"I’d like a bit more brightness when rolling down the volume."

Consider a treble bypass; try several to see which one works best with your rig and your ears. These parts cost pennies, so it's cheap to try 'em all. This works!

Won't be long before they'll have to change "fat" to something else because some snowflake's feelz got hert

I did a treble bleed mod on one of my guitars and I love it. I can turn the volume knob down from screaming lead to clean and it retains all the high-end that would normally be lost. Especially useful in guitars with low-output humbuckers that get really muddy when you turn the volume knob back. I have other guitars with overwound pickups and they don't seem affected quite that much with the volume is rolled back.

 

[fenderchamp]

Hi all, I am familiar with the 50s wiring on Gibsons and with the Fezz Parka wiring on Strats, having rewired guitars to take advantage of both.
I recently purchased a CS Tele that is supposed to have a “Fat 50s” wiring according to the shop floor traveller document.
On my guitar, the tone pot looks connected to the output (middle) lug of the volume pot, consistently with the Gibson-style 50s wiring. However, I see that the cap is connected to the ground lug of the volume pot, whereas in most schematics I’ve seen, the cap should be between the vol output and the tone ground.

Do I need to wire the cap to the volume output lug like in the schematic below?

Attaching pictures

what are you trying to achieve?

 

[Parisianwalker]

@Parisianwalker

"I’d like a bit more brightness when rolling down the volume."

Consider a treble bypass; try several to see which one works best with your rig and your ears. These parts cost pennies, so it's cheap to try 'em all. This works!

Won't be long before they'll have to change "fat" to something else because some snowflake's feelz got hert

So I’ve tried the guitar a bit more through my JCM800 at band volumes and I can definitely hear the ‘50s wiring nature come through. For some reason, it’s quite dark sounding when I roll down the volume on my Strymon Iridium

 

[Peegoo]

So I’ve tried the guitar a bit more through my JCM800 at band volumes and I can definitely hear the ‘50s wiring nature come through. For some reason, it’s quite dark sounding when I roll down the volume on my Strymon Iridium

Probably because the Strymon Iridium's volume control is introducing capacitance as it's rolled back.

 

[Boreas]

I would likely start by replacing that snazzy PIO cap with a cheap 0.022 uf. If you want something brighter, you may want to do a treble bleed (not a fan) or replace the V pot with a 350k or 500k pot which will increase brightness at all levels. Save any removed parts in case you ever sell the guitar to a cork-sniffer.

 

[Parisianwalker]

I would likely start by replacing that snazzy PIO cap with a cheap 0.022 uf. If you want something brighter, you may want to do a treble bleed (not a fan) or replace the V pot with a 350k or 500k pot which will increase brightness at all levels. Save any removed parts in case you ever sell the guitar to a cork-sniffer.

The guitar is plenty bright (but not ice-picky!) already at full volume. The rolloff is less noticeable when playing through an actual amp than through my Iridium

 

[chris m.]

50s mod OR treble bleed. Treble bleed is only applicable for typical tone pot wiring going to first vol pot lug. Going the 50s wiring option eliminates the need for any treble bleed....it's an alternative form of treble bleed, sort of.

If you go with 0.011uf tone cap you would get a slower treble roll-off, but for most people 0.022uf is plenty light for a tone cap.

As others have mentioned, ground is ground, doesn't matter where you connect to it.

But it sounds like the issue really is with the way your Strymon Iridium reacts, not conventional amps.

 

[takauya]

I wonder what's inside the Fender cap.

 

[chris m.]

From the OP's photo, the cap is 0.05uF. No wonder it's a fast roll-off. Switch that thing out for a 0.022uF and your problems are solved, for the price of about 25 cents.

Also, I may be wrong, but upon my inspection this so called "Fat 50s" is not the same as a Gibson 50s style mod. The treble cap would need to connect to the middle lug of the volume pot for that to be the case. Good article on the options and how they sound below--

Mod Garage: Three Ways to Wire a Tone Pot

How you connect the tone cap and potentiometer to the volume control has a huge effect on your sound.

www.premierguitar.com