Coil tap and series/parallel switches

Heady Jam Fan · October 06, 2013, 03:48:51 PM

Quote from: fulltone1989 on October 06, 2013, 11:22:23 AM
Quote from: TheSeeker on October 06, 2013, 12:01:19 AM
Sweet dude!! I just finished mine today, and it everything was a success! First run was a failure, second run was a failure, third run and disco! I soldered the pots wrong, and then my tone cap was bad. Re-soldered pots, replaced cap, and it sounds awesome!!

Sick! glad to hear it works! The proud feeling of actually is equally awesome to the sonic textures. The pots were the most difficult for me too, and I was very surprised that the switches soldered up so easy and the splices went fine. I have a ton of shrink wrap tubing I should've used though. Did you use a multimeter to test as you go? Now that I have everything wired up I am inclined to go back in during the winter and reorganize it. Another huge pain for me was stripping leads from the pickups. I should try a pair of small nail clippers or scissors next time. The next project I have though is repairing the extra hole I drilled in the top lol but I have a master plan.

Wire strippers seem to range from about $5-$25 at a hardware store. Nail clippers? Lol. I've probably tried similar things, but wire clippers work much better.

fulltone1989 · October 06, 2013, 09:31:26 PM

Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on October 06, 2013, 03:48:51 PM
Quote from: fulltone1989 on October 06, 2013, 11:22:23 AM
Quote from: TheSeeker on October 06, 2013, 12:01:19 AM
Sweet dude!! I just finished mine today, and it everything was a success! First run was a failure, second run was a failure, third run and disco! I soldered the pots wrong, and then my tone cap was bad. Re-soldered pots, replaced cap, and it sounds awesome!!

Sick! glad to hear it works! The proud feeling of actually is equally awesome to the sonic textures. The pots were the most difficult for me too, and I was very surprised that the switches soldered up so easy and the splices went fine. I have a ton of shrink wrap tubing I should've used though. Did you use a multimeter to test as you go? Now that I have everything wired up I am inclined to go back in during the winter and reorganize it. Another huge pain for me was stripping leads from the pickups. I should try a pair of small nail clippers or scissors next time. The next project I have though is repairing the extra hole I drilled in the top lol but I have a master plan.

Wire strippers seem to range from about $5-$25 at a hardware store. Nail clippers? Lol. I've probably tried similar things, but wire clippers work much better.

I know, I have a few different sets. The leads from the pickups are just very small in diameter and it's easy to cut them when you're trying to strip IMHO

TheSeeker · October 07, 2013, 06:57:29 AM

Quote from: fulltone1989 on October 06, 2013, 11:22:23 AM
Quote from: TheSeeker on October 06, 2013, 12:01:19 AM
Sweet dude!! I just finished mine today, and it everything was a success! First run was a failure, second run was a failure, third run and disco! I soldered the pots wrong, and then my tone cap was bad. Re-soldered pots, replaced cap, and it sounds awesome!!

Sick! glad to hear it works! The proud feeling of actually is equally awesome to the sonic textures. The pots were the most difficult for me too, and I was very surprised that the switches soldered up so easy and the splices went fine. I have a ton of shrink wrap tubing I should've used though. Did you use a multimeter to test as you go? Now that I have everything wired up I am inclined to go back in during the winter and reorganize it. Another huge pain for me was stripping leads from the pickups. I should try a pair of small nail clippers or scissors next time. The next project I have though is repairing the extra hole I drilled in the top lol but I have a master plan.

I too am gonna go back and reorganize. I was actually surprised at how good I was able to solder everything..I don't have a whole lot of experience with that. Like Heady said, I just used wire cutters but I would like to get a pairof wire strippers that is small enough for those leads. Also, I used one of my old push/pulls for the kill switch instead of trying to cram another switch in the caivity.

fulltone1989 · October 07, 2013, 08:28:31 AM

Quote from: TheSeeker on October 07, 2013, 06:57:29 AM
Quote from: fulltone1989 on October 06, 2013, 11:22:23 AM
Quote from: TheSeeker on October 06, 2013, 12:01:19 AM
Sweet dude!! I just finished mine today, and it everything was a success! First run was a failure, second run was a failure, third run and disco! I soldered the pots wrong, and then my tone cap was bad. Re-soldered pots, replaced cap, and it sounds awesome!!

Sick! glad to hear it works! The proud feeling of actually is equally awesome to the sonic textures. The pots were the most difficult for me too, and I was very surprised that the switches soldered up so easy and the splices went fine. I have a ton of shrink wrap tubing I should've used though. Did you use a multimeter to test as you go? Now that I have everything wired up I am inclined to go back in during the winter and reorganize it. Another huge pain for me was stripping leads from the pickups. I should try a pair of small nail clippers or scissors next time. The next project I have though is repairing the extra hole I drilled in the top lol but I have a master plan.

I too am gonna go back and reorganize. I was actually surprised at how good I was able to solder everything..I don't have a whole lot of experience with that. Like Heady said, I just used wire cutters but I would like to get a pairof wire strippers that is small enough for those leads. Also, I used one of my old push/pulls for the kill switch instead of trying to cram another switch in the caivity.

I definitely think it'll cut down on noise. I'm gonna find a time to do that this winter where I can add copper tape to all the cavities, and since the copper is conductive I can ground to that too instead of sending like 6 wires to the back of my volume pot hahah. Yeah wire cutters are a must just having the size for those small leads wasn't an option so scoring was tough. It's pretty easy I guess I just made sure I had a clean tip, tinned everything I soldered, and used heat sinks for the pots. Stewmac.com is my new favorite place. So do you have a tone knob?

I think my next project will be some nice patch cables. Doing the Lava Solderless right now but they like to break right before a show..

TheSeeker · October 07, 2013, 12:05:48 PM

Yeah I have a tone knob...I had to replace the cap, and i use the push/pull on the tone for my kill switch. I use the george L patch cables and haven't had any problems. I have a george l instrument cable, but I dont really like it b/c it's way too stiff. I'm in the market for a good cable that has right angles on both ends....any suggestions?

fulltone1989 · October 07, 2013, 12:10:51 PM

Quote from: TheSeeker on October 07, 2013, 12:05:48 PM
Yeah I have a tone knob...I had to replace the cap, and i use the push/pull on the tone for my kill switch. I use the george L patch cables and haven't had any problems. I have a george l instrument cable, but I dont really like it b/c it's way too stiff. I'm in the market for a good cable that has right angles on both ends....any suggestions?

\

Oh I see now, great thinking! I have a 0.1 mpf or w/e cap in there I installed and it sounds like a cocked wah when engaged so Im not sure if I like it. I prefer a smooth taper down. I am also using the push pull bc I didn't have the correct size bit to enlarge the hole for the shaft. Never tried the george L's. I'd suggest some Mogami wire that has some thin shielding and the Neutrik jacks and you just solder them together, saves a lot of money.

fulltone1989 · October 07, 2013, 09:27:14 PM

For your comedic enjoyment. The technique I talked about worked, I just missed my mark!

TheSeeker · October 08, 2013, 07:06:47 AM

Haha, oops!! It's all good man...just think up a good story of why that hole is there..lol. How do you like that bridge? I was thinking about a getting a tonepros one as well. I was thinking about your tone....how do you have the cap soldered? I have mine connecting to the middle terminal and grounded to the back of the pot, and it sounds fine. At first I had like it showed on that diagram, and it sounded like crap. I think my cap is a .47. What was that cap on the volume for? I took it off and didn't hear any difference.

fulltone1989 · October 08, 2013, 08:05:55 AM

Quote from: TheSeeker on October 08, 2013, 07:06:47 AM
Haha, oops!! It's all good man...just think up a good story of why that hole is there..lol. How do you like that bridge? I was thinking about a getting a tonepros one as well. I was thinking about your tone....how do you have the cap soldered? I have mine connecting to the middle terminal and grounded to the back of the pot, and it sounds fine. At first I had like it showed on that diagram, and it sounded like crap. I think my cap is a .47. What was that cap on the volume for? I took it off and didn't hear any difference.

I've been thinking, so far the best I have is a mojo hole. The tonepros bridge is great, the intonation stays pretty solid anyways but it's just very nice being able to swap strings without having to remember your action settings. I didn't try it with the stock bridge so I can't really comment on how it sustains and such. To be honest I don't think it hugely matters, I just followed the diagram on this site: http://www.1728.org/guitar11.htm and soldered to the 3rd terminal and did the side of the pot which is still ground as far as I know. When I go back in to clean up I will install a .47, I have a 0.1 for a strat in there now because it's the only thing my work had at the time and being guitarists we're incredibly impatient. I have to wait 9 months for a King of Tone! I didn't have a cap on my volume, all a cap does it attenuate the high frequencies to ground. Do you still have the cap? It may be a treble bleed.