How does the tone knob work in this 1 single coil / 1 humbucker / 3 way switch diagram?

[seasaltlatte]

Hi! It's my first time wiring up on my guitar. I wanted to go for a 1 volume / 1 humbucker setup, but I still wanted the neck pickup for certain situations, so I settled with using this diagram:

However, I'm a bit confused on how does the tone knob work. Will it also work when I am on positions 1 and 3 or just on position 2?

Any help and suggestions are highly appreciated. Thanks.

[henrim]

Tone works in all positions in that diagram.

[Bizman62]

Hi and welcome!

First, I'm not an expert in electronics by any means.

However, that looks like a basic wiring, something I've done with my guitars. And the tone works.

The selector may look confusing as there's three switchable options and the two center lugs are connected together so in total there's five lugs.

Utterly simplified the pickup system is a loop from hot to ground starting and ending at the Output Jack. There's gadgets that let the signal pass, adding some modifications on the route.

Take a look at the Pickup Selector: The hot wire from both pickups is connected at the side lugs. There's a common ground going to the top of the Volume pot but for simplicity let's forget any grounding for a second. So, the blue wire continues that path for both pickups either one at a time or simultaneously, then goes to the lug of the Volume pot continuing to the Tone pot. Now we get into the grounding: The signal then goes to the outer lug of the Tone, through the Capacitor to the top of the pot for grounding. From there it continues to the top of the Vol pot which is connected to the sleeve lug of the Jack.

 

[seasaltlatte]

11 hours ago, henrim said:

Tone works in all positions in that diagram.

That clears it up. Thank you!

11 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Hi and welcome!

First, I'm not an expert in electronics by any means.

However, that looks like a basic wiring, something I've done with my guitars. And the tone works.

The selector may look confusing as there's three switchable options and the two center lugs are connected together so in total there's five lugs.

Utterly simplified the pickup system is a loop from hot to ground starting and ending at the Output Jack. There's gadgets that let the signal pass, adding some modifications on the route.

Take a look at the Pickup Selector: The hot wire from both pickups is connected at the side lugs. There's a common ground going to the top of the Volume pot but for simplicity let's forget any grounding for a second. So, the blue wire continues that path for both pickups either one at a time or simultaneously, then goes to the lug of the Volume pot continuing to the Tone pot. Now we get into the grounding: The signal then goes to the outer lug of the Tone, through the Capacitor to the top of the pot for grounding. From there it continues to the top of the Vol pot which is connected to the sleeve lug of the Jack.

 

I see! I was thinking that the center lug was just a single lug that connects to the volume and tone knob so I was confused if the tone will only apply once I switch to position two. Thank you very much for explaining this!

[curtisa]

14 hours ago, seasaltlatte said:

Will it also work when I am on positions 1 and 3 or just on position 2?

The tone control works equally in all three positions.