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Tele Humbucker/Single-Coil Wiring


cacibi

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First off, I'm a newbie to wiring, guitar construction, etc. so please feel free to talk to me like I'm stupid...cause for the moment I am.

I'm looking to wire up a Tele Thinline with TV Jones Humbucker-size Filtertron in the neck and an SD Antiquity in the bridge. I have been reading through a few books and web sites, but haven't found any diagrams yet for an h-s configuration in a tele. My question is this, since 500k pots are standard for humbuckers and 250k pots are standard for single-coils, do I need to have 2 pots (1 of each) for this configuration, or can I use the Filtertron with a 250k pot. If so, will this alter the tone and in what way?

I'd also like to add a blend control to mix the pickups when the 3-way switch is in the middle position.

Any help or suggestions on reference materials would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

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Well, what is "standard" depends from one person to another. If you use a 500k pot, your bridge pickup will be brighter, if you use a 250k, the neck pickup will be "muddier". If I'm not mistaken, current Am. Serie Tele have a "no load" tone pot, so it can't be that bad to use a 500k. Of course, having 2 tone pots would give you more versatility (like switching from a mellow neck tone to a biting bridge tone instantly), but the classic Thinline look is just 2 knobs (including volume). It's up to you.

Wiring a fat tele is exactly the same as wiring a regular Tele, except of course if you go with the blend pot, but again you ruin the classic Thinline look (unless you use concentric knobs). I'm pretty sure it's feasible, but I'd have to experiment it before telling you exactly how to wire it. Maybe someone here can explain it.

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Well for the blending you can just have two vol pots(one for each pickup) and wire them independent. Basically, without going into the theory of it you just wire the pickups output to pin 2 of the volume pot instead of one and use pin 1 as the output to the selector. This will allow each volume control to work seperately when the pu selector is in the middle position.

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Well for the blending you can just have two vol pots(one for each pickup) and wire them independent. Basically, without going into the theory of it you just wire the pickups output to pin 2 of the volume pot instead of one and use pin 1 as the output to the selector. This will allow each volume control to work seperately when the pu selector is in the middle position.

I was thinking about the 2 volume pot option, but then I'm starting to get into a lot of knobs. I'd still like to have 1 volume, 1 tone, then add the blend pot in if possible. My goal here is to have some nice tele twang in the bridge position, but then be able to add in a little Gretsch tone with the middle/blend and neck positions. From country to rockabilly with the flip of a switch so to speak.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm looking to do a similar thing, with a single coil in the bridge position, and a humbucker in the neck, which i'd like to be coil tappable.

I'm also considering using a Black Ice overdrive unit, which would run off the tone control, making it effectively an overdrive control.

Ideally, then i'd have a volume, a tone, and an overdrive control.

Is this feasible/possible at all?

I'm new to this, and have little, if any, knowledge of electronics.

Is there likely to be a large volume difference between the 2 pickups when both are selected, and is it possible to get around this?

Also, a coil tap splits the humbucker into a single coil, yes? How is this usually controlled? A switch, or a push/pull pot?

Is there a site with clear wiring diargrams for this sort of thing? (Both with the extra overdrive control/black ice unit, and just the humb/single coil wiring, as i'm looking to add the black ice with new pickups later on when money allows....)

I'd also appreciate it if someone could explain the principal of grounding to me.... the need for it, and how its actually done....

Many thanks

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...I was thinking about the 2 volume pot option, but then I'm starting to get into a lot of knobs.  I'd still like to have 1 volume, 1 tone, then add the blend pot in if possible....

Get a pair of 500K/250K stackpots and matching dome knobs:

EP_4585-000.jpgMK_0137-010.jpg

You can use a standard tele control plate and still have separate volume and tone settings for each pickup. Brian has these for about $10.00 each - the part #s are EP 4585-000 and MK 0137-010 . Just wire the pots in before the selector switch and wire the switch out to the jack. No blend knob necessary, a totally "sleeper" Tele!

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