Strat wiring - V V T or V T T ?

[Phil O'Keefe]

'95 Am Std Strat. Should I wire it:

 

1. Standard Wiring: Volume / Tone (neck) / Tone (middle / bridge - TBX)

 

or

 

2. Modified: Volume (neck / bridge) / Volume (middle) / Tone (TBX, master)

 

What do you think???

[Moustache_Bash]

Ugh, maybe the first one? I don't feel like you really miss out on a whole lot with the neck/bridge volume combo, and it's not very essential to the strat sound. Furthermore, ..............

 

Actually, does the second option mean you can only have the middle pickup solo'd and all other positions are either all three pickups or bridge and neck?

[Phil O'Keefe]

By putting the middle pickup on its own volume pot, you can take it off the switch if you want, and run it by itself, or along with the bridge / neck pair (all three at once), or turn it all the way down and run the bridge / neck together without the middle. Or you can leave it on the switch and use the separate volume pot to blend it in with the other pickups in whatever ratio you want. IOW, when in positions 2 and 4, you can have more bridge (or neck) pickup, with a little middle mixed in along with it, or run both (bridge + middle or neck + middle) at the same level, etc.

 

The sheer number of wiring possibilities with a Strat are pretty incredible - I guess I'm asking people if they feel two volume pots + tone is more useful to have on a Strat than the stock master volume + two tone controls.

[cryptosonic]

master volume, master tone, bridge on switch

[Moustache_Bash]

^^^I like this.

[the Dodo]

'95 Am Std Strat. Should I wire it: 1. Standard Wiring: Volume / Tone (neck) / Tone (middle / bridge - TBX) or 2. Modified: Volume (neck / bridge) / Volume (middle) / Tone (TBX, master) What do you think???

 

Do you know a schematic of the G&L S-500 wirings? I would love that in about every strat but to be honest, I may like the VTT enough to never change it

 

Did you also think of adding neck and bridge pickup parallel in the middle selection? Made my strat even more useful.

[V]

Here's what you do, Phil. Here's what you do.

 

 

 

Oh another thought: V/V/V?

[V]

Out of the options you mentioned, I am not quite clear how putting the middle on its own volume allows it to be taken off the switch, though. Are you saying you'd wire it to a pot and then in parallel to the output jack and not put it through the 5-way at all and then wire the 5 way differently? Cause another thing you could do is wire the selector switch like a 4-way tele for the bridge and neck (br/parallel/neck/series) and then just have a push pull pot or a little toggle that brings the middle in in parallel.

[ChuckNorris1982]

I prefer volume/tone/tone, but I think it's more useful to have the bridge pickup on it's own tone pot and make the neck and middle share a tone pot. I find the bridge pickup tends to be the only one that sometimes needs taming, so it makes sense (to me, at least), for it to be on it's own tone pot. I would prefer to go this route and then if you must have the option of bringing the middle pickup in or out independently, I'd put the middle pickup on a toggle switch to bring it in or out of the circuit.

[english_bob]

Do you know a schematic of the G&L S-500 wirings?

 

This is well worth considering. All the G&L strat-style models have the PTB tone controls- essentially separate master treble and bass controls. Very useful, very logical, very cool. The S-500 has the extra switch that allows you to get br/mid/neck or br/neck combos but TBH I could take or leave that.

 

Schematic:

 

[eti]

Option 1.

 

If you can't play Peggy Sue, it's not a Strat.

[NITEFLY182]

Just change the middle tone control to work on the bridge. Everything else stock.

[THAT4301]

Tone on the bridge, master volume, one position empty to stop it from blocking the whammy bar

[hangwire]

V V V series

[SnorkelMonkey]

You could wire that extra tone pot as a volume pot for the middle pup to blend it in with the others. Then set up the the other tone pot and volume as a master for all pickups and setup the 5 way switch to get,

 

neck

neck+bridge in series out of phase

neck+bridge in parallel

neck+bridge in series

bridge

 

That will get you all the strat pup tones and positions, plus all the tele & dano tones. Having that out of phase scores you Mustang, Brian May like tones. Let me know if you need a wiring diagram?

[skr3ddy]

I have two favorites; I'll list them in my order of preference...

 

#1: Volume / Blend (bridge-neck) / Tone (master)

#2: Volume / Bass (ala G&L) / Tone (master)

[skr3ddy]

 

You could wire that extra tone pot as a volume pot for the middle pup to blend it in with the others. Then set up the the other tone pot and volume as a master for all pickups and setup the 5 way switch to get, neck neck+bridge in series out of phase neck+bridge in parallel neck+bridge in series bridge That will get you all the strat pup tones and positions, plus all the tele & dano tones. Having that out of phase scores you Mustang, Brian May like tones. Let me know if you need a wiring diagram?

 

 

That looks cool. Schematic/diagram would be appreciated! I love how the Strat's 5-way switch has 2 independent sides, and it's always seems so under-used whenever I've looked at it in there...

[RoboPimp]

yah that does sound cool

[SnorkelMonkey]

I believe this was what I went off of with some changes. I don't recall having the tone pot only on the neck and bridge pup but that makes sense. I did use 250k pots and a .047uf tone cap. The tone pot for the middle pup was omitted. I also don't recall using that .01uf cap. Pretty cool mod that opens up a ton of tone options. ymmv

 

 

http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/stastic/index.php

[skr3ddy]

Ahh; here's that switch on Allparts.com: http://www.allparts.com/4-Pole-5-Way-Super-Switch-p/ep-0078-000.htm

[jhamnett]

V (master), T (neck), T (bridge and middle) with this switching:

 

[the Dodo]

Or you could go with:

 

Neck Volume with Treble Bleed

Middle Volume without Treble Bleed

Bridge Volume without Treble Bleed.

 

Seems to be cool?

[Phil O'Keefe]

Ahh; here's that switch on Allparts.com: http://www.allparts.com/4-Pole-5-Way-Super-Switch-p/ep-0078-000.htm

 

Thanks guys. :phil:

 

That's similar to what I was thinking about doing - getting the mid pup on a separate volume knob. It's a bit more capable, since it uses that switch's extra capabilities for the phase switching, etc. If you weren't interested in those options, you could do the same basic thing with a standard three way switch - wire up bridge and neck to the three way switch as usual (like with a Tele), and hook them up to a master volume / tone knob, and put the middle pickup on to the second volume knob, in parallel, to the output jack.

 

I'm probably going to just end up wiring it stock, but it's interesting to see what everyone else likes; there certainly is a wide variety of options with a Strat.

[Phil O'Keefe]

V (master), T (neck), T (bridge and middle) with this switching:

 

If you don't mind the three mini toggles, that's certainly a viable option with a lot of flexibility!

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

Or you could go with: Neck Volume with Treble Bleed Middle Volume without Treble Bleed Bridge Volume without Treble Bleed. Seems to be cool?

 

 

Yes, but I'd miss the tone control.