Stew

This is what John Suhr just emailed back to me: "On my pickups, Green and shield are ground, Red and white together are Tap and Black is Hot. Look closely at the switch for any overlapping extended wires that could be shorting out."

Yes. Fender uses Seymour Duncan 59's in the neck and a Pearly Gates in the bridge. John Suhr said that his color codes match Seymour's. I do like your schematic lovekraft. In my schematic for my current wiring, there are some jumper wires that cross over to different poles. Also the Double Fat Strat schematic shows about three jumpers from 5,4,3 on pole 1, a jumper from pole 4 to pole 2's connecting both #4 lugs, 4,3,2,1, lugs on pole 3 have jumpers with an additional jumper wire starting at #1 lug of pole 2 ending at lug 2 on pole 1 (see the above link to visualize). It's so confusing since I feel that John had reversed the number order of the lugs on his schematic (Super Switch lists as 5-4-3-2-1, John lists as 1-2-3-4-5 as pole lug order) I'll go by what Stew Mac says about the Super Switch. I just want to add I'm very grateful for your help. Stew Mac's Super Switch explaination

lovekraft, Thanks for your help. It's interesting how I can get so many different wiring attachments for the same config. How would your wiring diagram differ from this one below? Fender American Double Fat Strat with Super Switch

Drak, I'm just surprised about his care, I realize that once it's gone and money has changed hands that it's all over. At first I took it as disregard for my hard work in achieve perfection. I put many hard hours in to be sure that guitar was flawless. Should I relax my finish standards when I know I'm selling a guitar to a beater? To me it's beauty and a tool. But I never beat the hell out of a guitar. I died many painful deaths whenever I would accidentally chip or ding a body or neck. I paid big bucks ($650 for a Strat Plus at 20 seemed like a lot of cash at the time), I was not about to beat it up. Because who knew when I'd be able to afford another one soon. Now that Fender made the Relics, I have a different spin on beat up guitars. It's actually cool now to have some battle scars on a guitar......just not mine. I need to let go of "the children" when they leave the house. Thanks for the nice comment to all.

Oh man, I hate this. I made a beautiful figured koa bookmatched top Tele style guitar awhile back. The owner recently wanted a setup adjustment. I got the guitar back and I could not believe my eyes. There were sweaty handprints all over the guitar, skin cell and sweat debris on the bridge and he threw the guitar in the case with the guitar strap still on the guitar, adjustment buckle side down. Arrrgh! I'd rather not see guitars return like this. I put so much care into building these and this is how it's treated? I've done some work on some customers non-Stewmade guitars and I'm shocked at the lack of care. I'm talking strings so used to the point that your hand sticks when changing chords. And I get this, "yeah, it just doesn't play right anymore" comments. Geez, maybe wipe down your strings after playing might help. I hate seeing my work come back with this much disregard. Yes I know guitars are meant to be played but you don't enter a brand new Jaguar into a Mickey Thompson off road race. I mean, do this to your $500 MIM Strats. The guy paid like $1600 for this guitar. Do you guys get this stuff back like this? Fresh out of my shop after completion

I had no idea there were pop-ups. I have a pop-up killer so hmmmmmm. Yeah, I'll get on that account this week. Pete, working on a "Taboo Tiki" Jag. Think of the Brady Bunch episode in Hawaii. That's where the theme came from. Can't explain in detail right now because there are few snags at this point.

Damn, looks like I'm late again. Well enjoy the pics anyway. Promo shot

With deck navigational light on

Stew Craft boat guitar by Stewmade Enjoy. Sorry for the "Julya" error. I meant to say July.

Thanks John. Yeah neck pickup is to the left, bridge to the right. The Stew Mac shows the poles numbered as 0 5 4 3 2 1 - 5 4 3 2 1 0 instead of my 0 1 2 3 4 5 - 1 2 3 4 5 0. I might just rewire to match the American Double Fat Strat, since I'm not a big fan of the single coil Strat bridge tone, I'll eliminate the split bridge humbucker. The A.D.F. Strat has this arrangement: #5 position = full neck humbucker #4 position = split, top coil neck humbucker #3 position = full neck and bridge humbuckers together #2 position = split bottom coil of neck humbucker, and split top coil of bridge humbucker #1 position = full bridge humbucker. BTW, John Suhr says his pickup color codes match Seymour Duncans.

I did check out the Stew Mac website and they have a little blurb about the Super Switch. I've also checked out the Fender website regarding the schematic on the American Double Fat Strat. So to get the middle switch position (bottom coil of the neck and top coil of bridge humbuckers), should I move a jumper to one of the switches #3 poles? Only because after looking at the Stew Mac diagram (which shows the numbered poles are reversed from my diagram) in order to include that split neck coil, there needs to be a hook up to a #3 lug on the switch. Am I interpretting this correctly? Oh and thanks psw. Stew Mac Super Switch information

Hey, my friend just called me and said the guitar I built for him sounds funny. So I went over and checked it out. The guitar utilizes a 5 way selector Super Switch. He has two John Suhr DSV humbuckers which select in the following order: 5 = full neck humbucker 4 = split bottom neck coil, split top bridge coil 3 = both full humbuckers 2 = split bridge humbucker 1 = full bridge humbucker What we're hearing is: 5 = full neck humbucker 4 = split bottom neck coil, split top bridge coil 3 = sounds like split bridge humbucker, I'll need to do a screwdriver tap test to find which coil is being used. 2 = sounds split but tone does not match a split bridge humbucker like it should 1 = sounds same as #3 position Also #3 position lacks the honk that most middle position Tele's and Les Paul's have. So I'm wondering if maybe the bridge is splitting top coil on one position, then bottom coil on the other, removing the option of full bridge humbucker. What could I do to identify this problem? I'm not familiar with the 24 lugs on the switch to know how to correct. There should be a fuller, somewhat boosted tone coming from the #1, #5 positions, a somewhat Stratish tone out of #4, a Tele tone from #3 and a cross between a Tele/Strat bridge single coil tone from #2. But right now the neck #5 position is the only full humbucker tone, and darker to indicate it truely is the full neck humbucker position. Below is how the switch is wired. Could there be a possibiliy some soldering may be touching an adjacent switch tab and eliminating the full bridge humbucker signal? Plus he's complaining that the overall volume is weak and then while playing, all of a sudden the full signal kicks in and messes with the sound engineer. Grounding problem? Feel free to email me with any advice to problem solve (www.stewplaid@earthlink.net). There are four groups of tabs on the switch, each group has 6 tabs; 1-5 for wire locations a the 6th is a ground tab. Could someone provide some answers as to what each group refers to and how the numbers represent certain options. I'm new to this concept of Super Switchs and have a limited knowledge with electronics. I'm used to Seymour Duncan simpleton diagrams. John Suhr provided this diagram to me and it took me about a month to figure out, what's considered wire crossings versus wire attatchment sites. I'm sure this is simple once I get past the mental block. Thanks for any help. My wiring diagram

Well, got the new LR Baggs stereo Y cable. Plenty of magnetic signal, zero piezo. I'm starting to think my 5 meg pot is dead. No hum or anything coming from the piezo side.

That is a fully functional navigation deck light. I fabricated and wired the whole deal. You can turn the light on or off by the two way slider Jag switch at the chrome plate.

I'm looking for high quality that's not over $45 for tuners and $ 45 for tremolo bridge assemblies. I don't want that Indonesian vibe that some cheap parts give off. I'm looking for both durable perfect finishes and nickel finishes that will age. Some of my guitars require a little used look, while others absolutely have to be spot on perfect and convey that. Is Stew/Mac my only best bet? Some of their stuff I don't like. I'm curious about the following other suppliers: Warmoth WD Music Guitarelectronics.com NO FENDER REPLACEMENT PARTS. I'm not building Fenders, I'm making my own....for now. Thanks for any help.

Oh yeah, I've installed about 4 X-bridges and they are great. You can't beat for great acoustic tone. Do yourself a favor, go and try it out through an acoustic amp. If you ever get a change to plug on into an SWR California Blonde, you'll have a Taylor in disguise. They have an enhancer knob, mess with that until you get rid of the high end fake tone. Congrats.

Light circuit is totally isolated from the rest of the circuits and in an insolated harness. Yes, the big knob is the piezo volume. I know, very inconvienient, but this is supposed to be hung on the wall and not played. My next one will not have the piezo circuit but both tones will be at the top chrome plate and the big knob will be the master volume. The magnetic circuit sounds amazing.

Ok, here's what I did: 1. Connected ground wires from both magnetic vol/tone pots to LR Baggs volume pot. 2. Coming from the LR Baggs ground wire chain is another wiring going to the trem claw. 3. LR Baggs pot rotated so that the termianals are no longer touching side of control cavity (shielded). NO PIEZO OUTPUT THROUGH THE Y CABLE INTO MY ACOUSTIC AMP. So I'm thinking that maybe there is a short in the Y cable. I plugged both magnetic and piezo ends of the cable into the SWR California Blonde acoustic amp. At the junction where the two signal cables split at the Y, if I bend the cable at that point, I get a loud hum (or at least my input signal clip light brightens up to steady). The SWR has two channels so I plugged the magnetic into the second channel. I didn't get any magnetic signal, yet when I plug into my Princeton amp with a mono cable, I still get a magnetic signal. Still hum is eliminated when I touch any metal on the magnetic signal. I have a Blackface '65 Princeton Reverb that has a back ground switch and this switch eliminates the hum. But this doesn't solve the problem if I play through my HR Deluxe amp (which has no such ground switch). It's the Y stereo cable right?

frank, So you're saying that what's missing is the last link between the two magnetic linked ground wires and the 5 meg pot? I'll bet that's the problem because I think that's the only thing I've done differently from other X-bridge installations. I'll try that out. Thanks again Pete. And the battery (navigation deck light circuit) is about 2 inches away from where the toggle switches are. It's mounted on the side wall of the control cavity. I made some new green lenses for the light today. The other one looked too blue when lit. I added yellow to the green dye this time and hopefully will look more green in color when turned on. For those who don't know, the deck light is fully functional by a 12 volt battery and a 3 mm LED white bulb inside the housing. I fabricated the light using a pulley casing and casting resin. It's turned on by use of the 2 way slider Jag switch at the chrome plate controls.

Here's what I have wired, which is exactly what the installation instructions describe in the LR Baggs manual. I've installed about 4 of these in the past and have had no problems......except for this one. I replaced the LR Baggs standard sized 5 meg with a mini 5 meg pot. System is brand new. I have a Fishman Y stereo cable which I've used on my other X-bridge installations to check each signal. The Magnetic signal is fine, strong and free of any hum. This is true when using a usual mono jack when I just want to play magnetic signal only. Now when I switch to the acoustic amp to test the piezo signal, using the stereo Y cable, my gain light is glowing like crazy (you adjust the incoming gain before adjusting the volume. So you adjust the gain until the light goes off which means stop clipping, and then bring up the master volume of the amp). I thought it might be the cable but when I plug the magnetic side of the Y cable into the additional instument jack on the acoustic amp, again magnetic is perfect. So I'm wondering if the tabs on the 5 meg pot (piezo vol/blend pot) might be cancelling the signal due to the contact with the control area, which is painted with shielding paint. I turn off the magnetic volume at the guitar and I hear something trying to happen but nothing as a definite piezo signal. Just bizarre occilation sounds when I'm rotating the piezo volume pot. Plus I get hum when I touch the metal knob on the pot. But then almost all the metal hums when touched. But my magnetic signal does not hum when you touch any of the metal on the guitar. What do you think? After opening link, click on the image to enlarge. http://community.webshots.com/photo/162851...33963910uMdryM#

"Now all we need to do is get your soldering up to the scratch of your guitars...." What you're not supposed to drop a nickel sized glob of solder to ground your wires to the back of the pot? I think you're talking about my lack of knowledge in wiring combinations. And Pete, I'm going to go broke if I have to keep paying you $50. Just kidding. It's nice to be noticed. As far as one trick, it's hard just to limit myself to one concept. It's getting to the point I have to write down all my ideas. I have a leak in my creative faucet. I'm getting into some other techniques as we speak. I'll be getting a new surfboard concept design sometime this Summer. Dave Wronski from Slacktone has emailed me recently and he seems to be interested in my stuff. We'll see. I think the Fender Custom Shop is working on building something for Dick Dale presently so I don't want to step on their toes by offering Dick something as far as endorsements. Ok, now what was this original topic? Oh yeah, wiring.

Ok Pete, your check's in the mail Ok, there is a short in the Y cable and this explains the Hmmmmmmm I got when trying out the piezo through my acoustic amp. I'm pretty sure it's the jack, I must have stayed a little too long on the soldering iron or something. Thanks for the super nice comments. I only get these ideas and then folks around forums are the ones who really make it a reality. I got bored with the standard pickguard factory look and wanted more from my guitars. I guess it's more than what most would want. I didn't know the Custom Shop did a Chris Craft boat Strat. I know Girl Guitars did a Tele like this. That one is closer to the boat details.......except for the deck navigation light. Yeah that surfboard guitar belongs to a Continental Airlines Exec in Guam now. - S

Ok, here's the deal. Jnewman, I resoldered the way you showed in your diagram. Thank you very much....but, no dice. This is what I did, I unsoldered all three connections and hooked up to the 1/4" stereo output jack. I plugged in and the beast was alive! So turns out your switch diagram did the reverse, it worked the momentary and did nothing on the "ON" position. So I swapped the output wires to the bottom instead and now everything works fine. No big, I knew it would be a simple swap. So good, no need to get more switches although it seems pointless to have that momentary, I'll never use it. It's got that "what was he thinking" factor. Now more to come. Neck is nice and full, middle same but with more highs, and a nice surprise, a non brittle bridge but with plenty of cut. I had hoped that the 50's Antiquity I series pickup brightness would be balanced by all of that mahogany. Well I was right. So now it's like a Strat that will sustain for days. Here's what else I have (you experienced builders might want to skip since you might already know this stuff), naturally I have them wired parallel so I still get brighter quack using bridge and middle and darker quack using the neck and middle. Cool factor, using the neck and bridge now gets me that nice Tele middle position tone. I talked to my Masterbuilder friend and he thought using all three toggles at once would sound poor, thin, and compromised output. Surprise! it's the best overall quack tone using all three pickups "ON". No drop in output and the most balanced out of phase tone I've ever heard. No more, "I like #2 position but it's a tad too bright", or "Nice #4 quack position but just a little bit dark". I love it. Bad news: I placed my Fishman Y-cable into the jack (still have not changed back to the Switchcraft stereo deep panel jack yet, using the 1/4" still). Each end is clearly marked so I did the usual piezo end into my SWR California Blonde amp, and the magnetic cable into my Princeton Reverb amp. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. No magnetic signal (no hum, completely quiet) and whenever I touch any roller knob, or toggle switches I get more hmmmm on the piezo end. I vaguely remember a short that started developing the last time I used the cable so maybe it's time to get a new one anyway. LR Baggs makes a stereo Y-cable for the X-bridge anyway. So, now I'm thinking I somehow fried the Switchcraft 1/2" deep panel jack. I have a Switchcraft mono deep panel 1/2" jack so I thought until I iron out the piezo situation, I'll just wire up to that jack. Aahhhhhhhgggh! Decreased output and seems like all highs are bled off. Tell me if I should change my plan of attack. I'm thinking: 1. Bad 1/2' Switchcraft stereo deep panel jack (replace) 2. Check to see if maybe the 5 meg piezo volume pot is grounding out by having the connection lugs touching the sides (which have been painted with two coats of shield paint). Before I tried wiring up the magnetic signal, I did try the piezo with the Y cable and it didn't hum then, BUT there was a slight occilation frequency hum change when turning the piezo volume pot. Still did not get any sound though. 3. Add a ground jumper from the two chained magnetic vol/tone pots to the 5 meg pot, then from that pot send another ground wire to the trem claw. Rigth now I have the piezo grounded to the wall of the control cavity. 4. (Optional) Reverse the lug wiring on the magnetic vol/tone pots. They are in reverse (counter clock-wise to turn up). Oh man this sounded like heaven. Now I just have to get it back. I sense we're closer. jnewman, thanks for your help and patience. All this really educates me and challenges me to keep trying new wiring ideas.

jnewman: your switch wiring did not work. Here's what I have. Keep in mind that everything is hooked up to exact LR Baggs schematic with just a few exceptions: 1. 1/4" stereo output jack replaced with 1/2" Switchcraft deep panel phone jack. 2. DPDT toggle switches for each pickup. 3. 5 meg volume pot is independently grounded by screwed down tab to sheilded control cavity. Is there anything missing? http://community.webshots.com/photo/162851...333963910uMdryM

So would having the magnetic volume pot and the piezo volume pot grounded prevent hum whenever I'd touch the toggle switch? I'm sorry I'm such an idiot when it comes to electronics. This is the one speed bump that's preventing me from taking off. Junior College electronics class might be worth looking into.