GregP

Note that I contacted MusicYo once upon a time, and their R-Trem does NOT include the neck bit. You can, however, get a Synapse neck thingy for more than the cost of the R-Trem itself. Pair it up and you should still have a good combination, PLUS the ability to use regular strings as well as double-ball-end.

Just a thought-- many of Brian May's characteristic tones were very smooth and without high-end. Losing some treble probably contributed to this. When you want the brightness, you just use single or 2 of the pickups. With all 3 in series, you get the *benefit* (not the disadvantage) of a very different tone. Other than that, I unfortunately don't have proper actual practical advice for your question.

Those loothiers(sic) need to brush up on their physics. Compensation is used to help alleviate the problems caused BY fretted notes. If you weren't fretting notes, you wouldn't need compensation.

No pic, but I just use an O-ring type terminal. I suspect I did it the least efficient way last time, sending the ground to the jack via the "lug" part, and then just soldering the rest of the grounds to the "O". I bet it would've worked better to just get a bigger terminal, clamp the living bejeebus out of all the ground-to-stars at once, and throw a glob of solder in there, before sealing'er up with shrink tubing or something. I'm about to rewire a guitar, and I was thinking that one of those screw-on jobbies might be the ticket this time around. I don't "love" soldering, so if I can save some soldering time, I'm a happy guy. Greg

I know, it's a mess... but even this level of messiness took longer than I anticipated. For posterity I guess it'll be good to have done. Click the thumbnail: Is how my guitar is currently wired. Ideally, I'd like to desolder and move the LEAST number of wires as I replace my pickups. If you see any way to accomplish this, I'm all ears. The big difference is the SD pickups' black wire going to the switch, whereas in the Pagelli, there are all-new 2-conductor wires that go from the switch to the control cavity. I'm indifferent about which knob gets the push-pull at this stage of the game. ;-) I'm willing to keep them as-is if it means less re-soldering, but anyhow... there ya go. Greg

Hrm. You could put shielding in each of those cavities, but now that I've seen the pic I have to admit, I have my doubts that it'll do much. It'll do SOMETHING, but not as much as the typical strat with pickguard + shielding. Maybe if you shielded all around the insides of the pickup covers as well, but that's starting to become an involved and picky process by then. Hard to say. Only thing it costs you to try is time and a wee bit of copper tape. Greg

Thanks, Robert! Man I wish I could just understand these things by looking at them. It's funny, some things are so obvious to me and when other people don't "get it", I'm like "what could be easier to understand?" But then every now and then I encounter stuff that probably makes people like you go, "Greg, man... what could be easier?" <chuckle> I'll try to do up a diagram in Paint before ripping it apart. Also, I suspect Crafty is right and that they've put the coils in series on MM pickups before sending out a lead, probably at Cort's request to make the assembly line easier. The 3-ways switch looks funny, too. I guess I'll go ahead and give'er a try anyhow. Worst thing that could happen is that after hours of fiddly de-soldering and new soldering it doesn't work. There's worse things in the world than screwing up an attempt at wiring. <laff> I've had a closer look at the SD now, and did a bit of research on switches, so I think I'm better able to understand the diagram. I can't really tell what's going on in the SD diagram for the 3-way switch, though. It's not very clear-- the "W" shaped bit on the 3-lug side isn't showing which lugs are wired to what. Bit confused there, still, but the rest is falling into place. When I compare the diagrams, I get confused again, though-- - in the PRS one, the outside lug of the volume is connected ot the middle lug of the tone. On the SD, the outside lug of the volume is connected to an outside lug of the Tne (not the middle of the tone). Waaaahhhhh.... I'm such an idiot. Cheers, Greg

Hrm. I might've been wrong about the typical p/p being on volume. This diagram shows otherwise: http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/WDUHH3T1104 However, it also adds a layer of confusion. Sure, I can pick which pot I want to be the p/p -- Tone or Volume. I get that. But why are the 6 p/p "lugs" wired differently in THOSE 2 diagrams if they're doing the same thing? Eg. in the SD one, the 2 lugs closest to the pot are soldered together, and to ground, and to the green/white cables... <shakes head furiously> and in the Guitarelectronics one, not. The p/p lugs are assigned relatively differently. Yet, they're meant to do essentially the same thing. Is it because one is for p/p as Vol and the other as Tone? So confused and sad... <laff>

The push-pull has both the red AND the white from each. On opposite sides of the sets of 3 lugs, each has the red lead connected to the lug closest the pot, and the wite connected to the middle, with the other lug unconnected. Then the black wires lead to a shared bottom lug (not shown in the SD diagram, for added confusion) which I thought was ground (but may not be). Since the replacements are SD pickups with typical 4-conductor wiring, I could do parallel/series wackiness, but for this guitar, a standard 3-way plus push/pull for coil split suits me fine. As long as I know that diagram will work with the parts I have, all is good in the world I suppose. But the Pagelli's "factory" wiring looks SO different, it's throwing me for a bit of a loop. Greg

I have this in another topic already, but you can't edit topic titles, and the title wasn't descriptive of the new problem. I have this guitar (Cort Pagelli): http://www.cort.co.kr/english/products/com...?product_id=140 As you can see from the description, it's supposed to have coil split with push-pull, and it DOES seem to. But a few things about the wiring I don't like, so I wanted to fix it up and drop in an SD Jazz + JB set instead. Here's SD's wiring diagram for the same electronics (I'm not adding or removing any components, and even plan to keep the same functionality): http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/schem..._1t_3w_1pp.html However, when I open up the Pagelli, things are wired TOTALLY differently. For example, the leads coming off the MM pickups have 3 wires within-- a red, white, and ground. How can 'buckers that aren't 4-conductor even HAVE a coil split function? Something's funny. Then, the push/pull is on the tone knob, which is also the knob closest to the bridge. Usually (but not a requirement) the push-pull for these kinds of guitars are on the volume, and the volume is the one closest to the bridge. Weird, no? But not TOO weird, I guess, so the real question is: Can I just go ahead and use the SD diagram even though the Pagelli currently seems to be wired TOTALLY differently? Or do you think there are proprietary switches? I would think that Cort would just use the same generic push-pull and switches that other offshore guitars have, so they should be standardized. How can the guitar currently be coil-splitting when there aren't enough leads? Weird. Greg [edit: sorry, another question} Does this SD wiring diagram produce the expected results for a coil-split push-pull thing? Ie. like the options described in the Pagelli description page? I'm afraid I'm a "look at the picture and solder it the way it shows" kind of guy, with the exception of knowing how to locate the grounds and send them to star. The rest, I don't understand for the life of me. Greg

What is it being inlaid into? A transparent red material (not all these are transparent, mind you) will look bad when inlaid into a dark wood. It'd probably look neat inlaid into maple, though.

Sooo.... I pull'er open and now I'm kinda confused. The Mighty Mite pickups SEEM to be only 2-conductor (there is a red, green, and black (ground, I'm sure)). How can the push/pull be splitting the coils? A diagram would probably work better, but without describing the WHOLE thing-- each of the 2 MM pickups have their red wire attached to the tabs closest to the pot, the white on the middle tabs, the "end" tabs empty, and then there's a tab for ground. The SD diagram shown above doesn't even have a "ground" tab... I dunno. There's not much point trying to verbally describe it all, but suffice it to say that it looks NOTHING like the SD diagram. Are push/pull pots fairly standard? In other words, I don't mind just trusting the SD diagram, but that would be under the assumption that Cort isn't using some weird proprietary push/pull. If I throw in the towel, how much should it cost to get a guitar tech to wire it up? Also-- the MM pickups are fully potted, so I'll have to either use my covers (without holes... I kind of like the way the holes look...) or order a pair of standard ("with holes") chrome covers. The local stores seem to have covers but they're all nickel. <grumble> --Looking at that SD diagram doesn't tell me what's going on, either. Is it a simple coil split? I feel so stupid... Greg

But that's like saying, "I wouldn't buy a boat... mind you, I live in the desert. If you live near water, I guess a boat might work, but it doesn't work for me." Shielding works, and is important to at least some degree for the majority of people. That's why reviewers and knowledgable buyers always check the extent of the shielding done on guitars when they inspect them. Shielding did a world of good in my Tele-style Pacifica. Greg

The only one I have experience with is the little '59 bridge pickup. A good pickup, but not what I'm going to recommend-- I recommend checking out the Lindy Fralin set-- at least to the extent I did, which is that they get great reviews everywhere I look. Greg

Shielding DOES help, as a matter of fact. I'm not sure I understand why you can't do it with the guitar in question-- what is a shaved pickguard with holes filled in? Got a pic? Star grounding is not meant to reduce EMI/RFI/60Hz noise. It is a method for getting rid of ground loops that are caused by the guitar's wiring (which doesn't mean your equipment can't have a ground loop, but you might as well do what you can for the guitar, too. Therefore, it is one of the most useful things you can do when rewiring your guitar. If you're not getting a ground loop there's not much point desoldering everything just to put in a star ground, but it's a great thing to add if you're already replacing pickups or doing other work. There's not one "quieter" way of grounding... you're either grounded properly (ie. no loop) or you're not. So only 2 levels, not a sliding scale*. A star ground would have helped ensure you got it grounded "properly". In summary: yes, shielding IS useful (especially on a strat...!), and yes, star-grounding IS useful. Don't let an "experianced" (sic) tell you otherwise. *In theory, though I can't claim to be a TOTAL expert, some pickup positions might introduce a loop while others might not... so to that extent, I guess it's not necessarily JUST "black or white."

OOoo... Hagstrom. Good idea! I've got a "Big Red Swede" myself, and the 2-sided beveling is very nice.

That particular speciment struck me as "blah", too. But the Phil Collen "archtop" (for lack of a better term!) in plain ol' white, with a Floyd Rose... is a pretty cool axe.

Hrm... the SD site has this diagram: http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/schem..._1t_3w_1pp.html However, my Pagelli's push'pull is on the tone knob. Which is another point I forgot to mention-- it seems "standard" though not etched in stone that the knob nearest the bridge is the volume. On mine, it's the Tone. PLUS, it has the push/pull, which is normally on the vol, right? I guess I could take the opportunity to wire it up that way when I swap humbuckers, but am I just crazy for thinking something funny is going on? Greg

Not being an expert or anything, but you'd be hard pressed to find an LP with a full 1" maple cap. I can't help but wonder about the authenticity or modernity of the drawing if it's asking for 1". As for Setch's chambering, there's no reason that just because Gibson does a solid body you can't improve (or "modify" if you don't consider it an improvement) on their design! No need to follow Gibson's style slavishly. A lighter LP is a good LP. <grin> Greg

Thanks for the replies, guys. I guess I really should have waited for the strings to come off (or cough up the $7 for a new set) and some of those questions could be answered myself. Not sure what you meant about the cover comment, Pete-- I definitely don't think a cover will create a humbucking effect. Just looking for maximal RFI / EMI rejection. I'll check into the Duncan diagrams. Since both are from the same company, the wires are coded the same way and should therefore make it a lot easier to find the right diagram. Enjoy your new guitar, Pete! I was due for one, and it's really inspirational for putting in some practice hours.

I bid $0.01... but the seller pays shipping.

I dunno nothin' about nothin', and I used a router + fence for my truss rod channel. But I don't see why a table saw is a bad idea if you have the right... er... kerf (?) for a one-pass or even multi-pass way of doing it. Even easier if you haven't tapered the neck yet. Seems initially like a good idea to me! Not sure what you'd do about the other end, though-- you want a square end for the truss rod to butt up against. A table saw would get you a very gradual curve up and out of the channel. I suspect there'd be clever and not-difficult ways to accomplish the job, though.

Wes, I'm totally with you. I still like natural finishes on some guitars, but the ones I like are invariably plain, unfigured ones. Just plain ol' plain. But really slick glossy paintjobs are eye-catching for me all over again.

#1 line of questioning: So I got this really cool guitar for Christmas + Birthday, the Cort Pagelli. It is wired up 1 vol, 1 tone, 3-way LP-style toggle, + push/pull coil split. The literature says that when the coils are tapped, it is the "outside" coils that are tapped... which I always assumed that used in combination would buck at least SOME of the hum. But in "coil split" mode, all 3 positions of my switch produce identical levels of hum. By looking at the electronics cavities, I can't tell what's going on. But any insight would be helpful. ---- #2 set of questions: I'm going to drop in a JB/Jazz combo. I like the guitar itself well enough to do that upgrade, and I already have the pickups lying around which I was going to use for an actual build. But since the build is far from complete, I might as well make use of the pickups: - with regards to the coil-split mode, am I correct in assuming that the outside coils should partially cancel hum if used together? - Is anybody aware of a diagram online for when I rewire? Saves me having to keep meticulous track of each wire as I go. - my pickups don't have covers, but I want chrome covers. Are most chrome covers from online sources "conductive" so that they will offer some shielding once I properly ground them? Or are they non-conductive? (ie. painted plastic) - I COULD theoretically use the existing covers, but that might require too much work if they've been potted. Do Mighty Mite covered pickups come fully potted? ---- Sorry for all the stupid questions. As I type them, I know that some of this I could find out myself with some legwork-- but if anybody has insight for any of these questions without spending too much of their OWN time covering for my lazy butt, I'd appreciate it. Greg -

Davie, though the Pacifica is strat-like (mine is tele-like, actually!) its nut is mounted in a similar way to a Gibson nut rather than a Strat nut. Your best bet would be to find out how wide the fretboard is at the nut, check radius, and if it's a match see if a pre-slotted Gibson Graphtech nut is a fit in terms of width, and then use whatever tool you feel appropriate to get the height of the nut correct. Otherwise, if you're starting from a non-slotted blank, look more at PRS- or Gibson- style replacement blanks instead of Strat-style. Being a Pacifica owner, I have looked around for after-market parts and have come up short. They just don't expect a Pacifica owner to want a direct replacement for their nuts or pickguards I guess. Greg