GregP

There's no one way to do it-- use any method you can devise that you think will work! It seems to me that a drill press and a forstner bit (is that what they're called?) will do the basic job, and then use sandpaper to smooth out the perimeter of them. That's totally just a guess, though, and is the way I'd personally try to do it if I wasn't given a better suggestion. Maybe someone here has a better idea than that. Greg

There will be a wire running to star from the cavity shielding or from a pot (which should be in contact with the cavity, meaning the same circuit). This is the part that threw me: He seems to be saying that if the star is touching the chassis, it could also itself be a ground loop, no? Greg

The GuitarNuts' tutorial "Quieting the Beast" uses a ring terminal for it's 'star'. The following diagram indicates that it should be "insulated": But unlike most of his other instructions, he deosn't really elaborate much. From what I gather, despite the fact that the diagram looks like all that metal is exposed, pretty much the entire star should be isolated from the electronics cavity. Is that correct? Or in other words, does he mean that once all those wires are soldered up, I should wrap'er up in electrical tape or other insulating material so that the 'star' is NOT touching the (shielded) cavity? Greg

Yes, it was immediately obvious exactly what he was talking about. A very concise post detailing exactly what he wanted to accomplish. My post was made knowing exactly what he wanted... and my subsequent post also elaborated upon exactly what he wanted. Not sure if I'm supposed to be vagued PO'd, or just vaguely amused... Greg

I think what he means is (and if he doesn't, I'm the one saying it I guess. ) it's a very simple equation-- you have 2 screws, a pickup, and a hole in your wood through which the pickup will pass. That really only leaves 2 problems: 1. how do you prevent the wood from wearing out with repeated adjusting? A: use the inserts, is one option! I hadn't thought of that one, and I like it! 2. How do you keep the pickup firmly in place. This is the one that I think made me, at least, go when you were talking about bushings. Because you can really use anything that's firm yet has some give... surgical tubing, springs, foam... whatever you can get your hands on. Greg

Nope. On a slightly related note... I unsoldered all my kack today and shielded cavities with copper tape. I'm assuming the StewMac stuff has conductive adhesive... and it'd better, since I don't currently have a voltimeter in my possession for testing stuff. When I get this all wired back up again, I dunno.... I bought some flux, then found out it was flux paste. Don't know if that's good, bad, or neither. What I DO know is that I don't know how to solder. Been doing some test soldering, and the combination of no skill and a crap iron is making me a bit worried... don't want to fry a pot. Greg

P90s are mounted directly to the body and are adjustable. I just wouldn't do it too often. Greg

Definitely more fiddly, but I'm not certain that it'd be less reliable or robust. But the more fiddly part is enough to change my mind. After posting that, I went into the other room, grabbed some 22-guage wire, an Xacto, and gave'er a mock-up attempt. Too frustratingly fiddly. And that's reason enough not to do it, in my books. Greg

Thanks, LK. I suspect you're right about the single bridge. It IS a tele-style guitar, after all! I wouldn't want to write to you in a week and say, "You know, it's just not a tele any more". Cool about the wire soldering. I shall do it that way. Though, I'm inspired by a thought: Assuming I can make accurate enough 'incisions' in the plastic 'coating' (shield? insulation? Whatever it's called!), couldn't I take a single length of wire (I wouldn't do it to the pickup wire itself, so this would be coming off the lug to which the pickup is soldered), cut up the plastic sheath, and 'slide' some of it along so that the appropriate number of 'bare' spots are exposed, then solder them to the lugs? I know it sounds like more work and all, but it strikes me as an elegant way of doing it. Greg

Some sick competition, even with only a few guitars in there. Any one of them could have been winners from previous months, so there are no losers in this month's roster at all! Cutting to the chase, my vote goes to Mattia. Greg

I lied. No soldering yet. I got a new iron, but I'm not sure it'll work out, so I'm keeping it in its packaging until I'm sure... it's only 15W, but the guy said that its heat is more consistent and controlled than the POS I have already. BUT, that's not the main holdup... I wanted a new cap for the tone pot, a cap for the treble bleed, and a 400V cap for the 'safety' trick on GuitarNuts (I figured I might as well go whole hog with this). The Source doesn't have ANY of those caps, so I'll have to go to an electronics store that's a bit more specialized. Dunno when that's going to happen because I seem to be working every day for the rest of my life. When I finally get to such a store, though, they may also have better advice for soldering irons, so I'll keep my mitts off this one until I get that chance. In the meantime, I'm going to re-foil my cavities and ensure continuity in the conductivity of the shielding. Any solder blobs I need to throw in there can still be done with my old POS while I'm waiting to shop at an electronics store. I hate when you get the urge to do something and then you don't have the time or other resources to do it. Greg

That guitar is the antithesis of what I find cool in electric solidbody guitars. Greg

A few last things, LK (or anyone else who cares to respond!), and then I'll leave you alone. (Soldering commences in about 4 hours and counting, btw! Yipee!! I'm going to borrow my dad's gun and then also stop at The Source [ie. Radio Shack] to see what they have on hand) 1. Which option did you pick? The single coil or the "all 3 coils"? Without physically having my switch with me (thus showing how the poles interact) I can't tell from the diagram. 2. What's the best technique/materials for short-wiring the lugs? When I've seen the switches inside my guitars wired up, there seems to be just a thin piece of single-strand (with no jacket) wire connecting them together. I only have multi-strand (whatever it's actually called) copper wire at my disposal, so I guess regardless of common technique, I'll just end up using that. Do people often just "extract" a few strands of the copper for the job? Or should I do it as full-on wire connections, in short little 'loops'? Ie., with my available materials (the wire and the solder, and that's about it!) what's the best way to wire the lugs together? Thanks!

Wowee! Thanks, LK!! I'll do my best to check your work before soldering, but I'm not all THAT smart, you know. When a wire is 'split' to multiple lugs on the switch, is it the lugs themselves that actually get soldered together? I think that's how I've seen it done. For example, in your diagram-- the top left "pole" to which the single-coil is attached-- the 3 lugs to which the white wire are attached don't need 3 separate wires coming off the white in reality, the white would get soldered to lug 2 (for example) and then 2 would get soldered to 3, and 3 to 4. Is that right? However, for the black lead of the humbucker, there WOULD be an extra wire added, forming a "Y" split -- one half going to the upper right pole. lug 3; while the other goes to the lower left, lug 2. Then lug 2 would get soldered to 4, and 4 to 5. Or am I out in left field? Greg

Heheheh! Well, in that case.... with position 1 meaning 'neck' position: 1. Neck only 2. Neck and one bridge coil, humbucking, parallel 3. Neck and one bridge coil, humbucking, series 4. One coil of bridge OR "all 3 coils" (see below) 5. Full bridge humbucker If there's an easier way of doing it by switching the order around, I'm pretty indifferent as long as the order makes sense somehow. At the end of the day, even if it doesn't 'make sense', it's only 5 positions... I'll just memorize. The neck plus humbucker (ie, all coils) didn't seem like it'd be all that sonically interesting, though I could be wrong. On the other hand, I'm only keeping the "one coil of bridge" option there for legacy 'true telecaster' reasons, and if the neck plus humbucker (ie, all coils) is actually a decent-sounding option, I'm willing to forego the 'one coil of bridge' option, which I rarely use. I've split the coil on the humbucker before, and I'm honestly not all that thrilled with it as a standalone single-coil. But like I said, if the "all coils on" option isn't all that interesting, then the single-coil bridge is fine. Thanks, LK. You're the best! Since we're in a wiring/soldering thread already... I know there are probably threads to be found with the 'search' function or by Googling other sites... but a quick question about soldering guns/stylus -- I bought a fairly cheap one (stylus/pen/whatever it's called, not full-sized gun) from Radio Shack, and the thick tube extending out of the handle gets ultra-hot while the tip doesn't seem to get hot at all. That tube keeps touching other things and burning/melting them. (including my fingers once... ouch!) I'd like to get something worthwhile that I can rely on and that I can use for the next decade or so. I can drop a few extra bucks on it (ie. not like that $15 Radio Shack one) but I'm not made of dough right now. Soo... like maybe $50 CDN tops. What should I be looking for in a gun/stylus that will be primarily used for guitar part soldering and light household duty? Greg

Instead of tape, you just need to screw the template to your blank. Pick spots that will eventually get routed out anyhow (ie. cavities, assuming that your template doesn't also have the pickup routing integrated into it) and you're golden! Greg

Ah, the old triple-post. A classic!

Have you seen such a diagram anywhere? I can solder stuff if I'm told "wire A goes to tab B" with the help of a diagram, but there's no way I can figure this stuff out on my own. I browsed through all of GuitarElectronics, but the only ones with interesting options were in categories that my pickups don't fit. With more knowledge of electronics, I could "extract" bits and pieces, but I'm not that good. <laff> Greg

That's different than just position 3? Is position 3 parallel, then? Is there any way to add your series neck+bridge sound without additional switches? Greg

Hey all, I'm re-wiring my telecaster-style guitar, which has a stock single-coil in the neck, and an SD Little '59 in the bridge, which is a 4-conductor humbucker. I came across this diagram: http://guitarelectronics.zoovy.com/product/WDUHS5L1101 Which will be fine if nothing else comes up. I will MAINLY want the following 3 options: 1 - neck only 2 - <to be decided> 3 - neck and one coil of bridge, to be hum-cancelling 4 - <to be decided> 5 - bridge humbucker at full (sorry, I've listed them backwards from that diagram, but I'm sure you get the idea) The diagram also has bridge single-coil and neck + humbucker, which are 'fine' options, and I'll go with them and still be happy. But I was hoping that somehow either some series vs. parrallel or in-phase vs. out-of-phase trickery could be had instead, to broaden the sonic palette. Any suggestions, or is that GuitarElectronics diagram pretty much my best bet? Greg

OK, OK, I've been browbeat enough into saying: - Might as well double-pot it anyhow, just to be safe. Potting is bone-simple and even a child could do it, so just give'er. Then you know you're safe. As for the covers-- that's my mistake. I was thinking of the "Golden Age 50's" pickups from Stew-Mac. Stew-Mac used to carry Schaller, and these may have Schaller as the OEM, but they don't answer to exactly the same name, so they may not be the ones you're looking for. Sorry to get your hopes up. Greg

You need one ground connection to the pot case (for shielding), but if it's connected elsewhere, by all means, desloder away! ← So let's say I've just picked a spot for a 'star'... all of my grounds (from the pickups, various cavities, the bridge) are all gobbed together at this one spot, PLUS, a wire soldered to the back of each pot, ALSO leading to my 'star' should be present. Is that correct? And then there should be a solitary ground going from the 'star' to the ground.. er... tab.. thingy... on my input jack, too, right? (sorry for the OT... I should've just made another thread) Greg

Friggin' A. Based on this thread, I headed over to Guitarnuts.com to look up some simple capacitor mods. Made a shopping list (0.001, 0.01, 0.02, 0.022 uf capacitors) and headed to The Source (aka Radio Shack). Of course, they don't stock capacitors in any 'real' sense of the word. A few project 10-packs of miscellaneous caps, none of which were what I was looking for.... <grumble> Since we're on the subject, though-- in my Pacifica, there are wires on the metal casing of both the volume and tone knobs. Are those just both acting as ground spots? In other words, can I de-solder them from the backs of the pots and then create my own star ground somewhere else? I know that on the tone knob, it goes from the wiper to the housing, but it's just going to ground, right? I can ground it to the same spot as the rest of my grounds if I have a long enough wire thingy coming out of the new one? Greg

If they're already potted (and I think they are), you shouldn't need to repot them. I'm a bit confused, though-- can't these pickups already come with a cover??? Just order the ones that already have a cover, if you're buying new. If you're buying used, then yes, it's the adjustable polepieces that go through the holes... because... well... you can still adjust them that way... ! 'Sides, the cover won't seem to fit right unless you do it the right way. The lumpiness of the raised adjustable polepieces will make it an odd 'fit'. Greg

I've got two covers sitting right here, and I can tell you for damned sure that they're not German Silver. A rattling cover will still not cause microphonic behaviour. It might be hella annoying rattling around while you're trying to play, but it won't exhibit microphonic behaviour. Greg