Spike Posted June 5, 2005 Report Share Posted June 5, 2005 For my Project Strat, I have a complete S-1 switching system from a 2005 Deluxe Strat. After downloading the wiring diagram from Fender's Mr. Gearhead, I realized that Deluxe PUs have three wires each while the Texas Specials that I wanted to install have two wires each. Does anyone know if it is possible to connect " normal " two wire PUs to the S-1 system and still use the volume push pot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted June 6, 2005 Report Share Posted June 6, 2005 The third wire is either a tap or a second ground going from a shield too the ground. Is the third wire connected too ground? If so than your fine, just connect the one ground of the texas specials where you had two ground wires before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjski Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 I am wiring one up now with the SCN pickups. From looking at the schematic the three green wires, as stated before in another response are basically chassis ground wires for the SCN pickups. They are all tied directly to ground in the schematic that I am looking at. Forget about them. I would try routing the three black wires of your pickups to the same locations as staed on the schmatic for each of the three SCN pickups. I believe 2 go to the volume / switch on the same pole and one may go to ground on one of the pots. Use the three pickup color codes white, yellow, red, for each of the pickups other wires to route those. white = neck pu = to the designated terminal on the 5 way switch yellow = center pu = the designated terminal on the volume / switch red = bridge pu = the designated terminal on the 5 way You should get the same functionality as the SCN pickups unless one is purposely reverse wound.(the SCNs are specifically marked for each of the three positions). If your pickups aren't stacked humbucks then you will gain various levels of noise depending if in parallel or series. I would copper tape all the cavities and the back of the whole pickguard if it isn't already shieded. If you get a phase problem due to the wiring direction of the pickups you can always add a two position two pole toggle to reverse the phase of one of the pickups. This usually works best on the middle pickup. Break the connections between the pu and where they are solered and wire an X on tthe switch to revese the pu connections. Fender also has the schematics available on their support pages. Good luck Rondog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 The green wire on the Noiseless is simply the shield ground, best I can tell - since the S1 system runs some coil combos in series, it makes sense to connect the shield directly to ground. You can probably ignore it (the green wire circuit to ground) completely with only a slight increase in the noise floor, provided everything else is well-shielded. Are Texas Specials really so much better than SCNs that it's worth the effort, expense and extra noise to make this mod? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Probably not, but I'd be willing to bet he scored the Tex Specs for a lot less than a set of SCNs. BTW, I hate the new SCNs. They sound is just too...brittle or shrill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted June 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 (edited) Thanks for the info. Much appreciated. I just hooked everything up according to the Deluxe wiring diagramm ( minus the green wires ) and it all seems great. Not as vintagey like my '57 reissue Strat or as raw as my Nocaster equipped Ash Tele but I must say it has its own nice sound. It doesn't have any extra noise as all of us expected it to have. As to the question about SCN PUs: some say you have to get used to them and as I got the Texas Specials on Ebay the cost was worth the experiment. No risk, no new sounds. Thanks again everyone and greetings from South-West Germany. Spike Edited June 8, 2005 by Spike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjski Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Spike, Did you already have SCNs and the S1 switching network in a Deluxe or did you get all the gear from EBAY, pickups, harness, and knobs? If you did have the SCNs what is your opinion (difference in sound) as to the Texas PUs? I got all the gear as pieces from EBAY including the SCNs and put it all in an existing strat. Curiosity Thanks, Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted June 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2005 Hi Ron, I got everything in Ebay separate and the Texas Special PUs I had from Ebay before I had the S-1 concept in my head. SCN I didn't have so first hand I can't compare the two. I can give you the opinion of someone who has more authority as far as I'm concerned; he works in a German music store in a city of 500,000 and I respect his opinion as he deals with this stuff on a daily basis. A confessed Strat nut, he finds you have to get used to the SCNs and told me to leave the Tex Specs in which I intend on doing. The reason I did all this was because I just wanted to try it. There was no vision or flash of light. I don't make myself crazy with too many technical things as the magic comes from the hands. If you have SCNs then use them as they are for sure not bad. Jimi played regular off the rack guitars and a $5000 Custom shop strat ( as nice as it is ) still doesn't get sent with the desired licks. I like technical info but I don't want to get too caught up in it as it cuts into my PRACTICE time. I'm reading a book about Jimi at the moment and it says that the first thing he did in the morning was pick up his guitar and the last thing he did before going to bed was yup, put his guitar down. I know it sounds like preaching but I just had a few good German beers, therefore I start to philosophize. I hope this helps a little. I could blab a lot longer but I don't want to bore you or the others to death ( it takes away from your practice time ).Anyway take care and have FUN. Spike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjski Posted June 13, 2005 Report Share Posted June 13, 2005 Are you talking about SCNs or about vintage noiseless? The SCN's I got off of EBAY are incredibly well constructed and seem to sound a little warmer than the vintage noiseless I installed previously. Both are great for hum cancellation and both can be compensated for by the amp eq settings. With the S1 harness I can get many additional rich sounds - like standard humbuckers. I believe Fender knew what they were doing with the new combination. One day, when and if I get the time, I will try the S1 harness with my stock 67 originals single coils and see what happens. I just got tired of aiming the head of my strat at the right place on the wall and having to stay that way throughout a whole recording session. Anybody else out there happy with their SCNs? Thanks, Ron Probably not, but I'd be willing to bet he scored the Tex Specs for a lot less than a set of SCNs. BTW, I hate the new SCNs. They sound is just too...brittle or shrill? ← Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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