Looking for advice on wiring scheme and parts for tele HH build

[Ozopart]

While waiting for my Warmoth Tele body build with 2 humbucker rout, strat contols (1 Vol, 2 Tone), fixed bridge, and rear rout, I am looking into what I need to start now on the wiring. I prefer to learn how to do this myself and have been doing a lot of reading/research. What I want is this: (2) Humbuckers (still not sure which pickup brand and model to buy), 1 Volume (push/pull coil split switch, splits both pickups), 2 Tones (push/pull phase and master series/parallel), with a standard 3 way blade switch. I am attaching a wiring scheme from the Seymour Duncan site which seems to be what I am looking for.
I am thinking that I need the following parts, but not sure. I am looking for feedback as to whether I have the right parts selected and/or if anyone has any suggested changes to my parts list. My parts list is also attached. I have a few extra pots in there just in case, and to maybe use for testing my soldering technique.
Again, I have been researching a lot as to wiring and it is still a bit of a steep learning curve for me at the moment.
Thanks!

 

[Rick]

Have you also perused the dimarzio and freeway wiring diagrams? Those are good source of info also.

 

[Ozopart]

Have you also perused the dimarzio and freeway wiring diagrams? Those are good source of info also.

I did. I can't recall why the dimarzio stuff confused me but I recall that it did. Freeway doesn't seem to have a wiring diagram for a 1 Vol, 2 Tone HH setup. They all seem to be 1/1 HH. I was/am interested in the Freeway swith 3B3-01 that stratamania suggested, but I don't know if it would add complexity. I want to do this myself and learn, but not make it more complex than necessary.

 

[Rick]

If you write to freeway, tell them what switch you are considering, could be the 3B3and they will send you a diagram if they have one.  I bet they do.  Communicate via their website.  Best.

 

[Ozopart]

If you write to freeway, tell them what switch you are considering, could be the 3B3and they will send you a diagram if they have one.  I bet they do.  Communicate via their website.  Best.

I actually did write to Freeway and they got back with me and sent me a 1 Volume/1 Tone diagram. I wish I was more experienced but I just don't know enough to translate that into 1 Volume/2 Tone scheme.

 

[stratamania]

The shopping list for the attached SD diagram.

3 * push pulls CTS correct.
Switch correct.
Caps you might want 2 * .022 uf as that is more conventional for humbuckers.
.047uF Cap - optional normally used for single coils.
Control knobs should work if they have included adapters for spline style pots.

Not sure what the other pots are for but not needed for that diagram.

If this diagram gives you what you want then use that.

If you write to freeway, tell them what switch you are considering, could be the 3B3and they will send you a diagram if they have one.  I bet they do.  Communicate via their website.  Best.

I actually did write to Freeway and they got back with me and sent me a 1 Volume/1 Tone diagram. I wish I was more experienced but I just don't know enough to translate that into 1 Volume/2 Tone scheme.

I have said this before and will do so again. Freeway switches are flexible and versatile but they are constrained to what they actually can do. In other words some things you are not able to do with them. I do not know which diagram they have sent so it may be that it can not be adapted.  Can you confirm which switch it is and provide a link to the diagram and I can let you know if it can or not.

 

[Sadie-f]

The 3b3 can be wired for 3 out of phase options. If you want 2 tone pots, connect BH, NH, on the Freeway to the bridge and neck tone pots, and leave off the  volume-tone connection, instead go B direct to jack tip.

I'm not sure about which side of the pots to connect the cap to, in the 5b5 diagram, freeway connects the switch to pot center tap and caps to cw, ccw sides. But you can use a jumper to make temporary connection and be sure pot direction is what you want.

 

[stratamania]

The 3b3 can be wired for 3 out of phase options. If you want 2 tone pots, connect BH, NH, on the Freeway to the bridge and neck tone pots, and leave off the  volume-tone connection, instead go B direct to jack tip.

I'm not sure about which side of the pots to connect the cap to, in the 5b5 diagram, freeway connects the switch to pot center tap and caps to cw, ccw sides. But you can use a jumper to make temporary connection and be sure pot direction is what you want.

If it is the 3B3 that would work.

Tone pots NH and BH would connect to the same lug for each respective tone pot similar to that shown on the Freeway diagram that the volume pot connects to. Though of course in this case there would be no hot connection between the volume and tone pots.

Each tone pots  capacitor can be connected to the centre lug and the other end of the cap to ground. Such as the back of the tone pot as long as it itself is grounded. The Freeway diagram shows this connected to ground via the volume pot but where it is connected is not so important as long as it is a common ground.

 

[Sadie-f]

If it is the 3B3 that would work.

Tone pots NH and BH would connect to the same lug for each respective tone pot similar to that shown on the Freeway diagram that the volume pot connects to. Though of course in this case there would be no hot connection between the volume and tone pots.

Each tone pots  capacitor can be connected to the centre lug and the other end of the cap to ground. Such as the back of the tone pot as long as it itself is grounded. The Freeway diagram shows this connected to ground via the volume pot but where it is connected is not so important as long as it is a common ground.

I agree, however the 5b5-02 diagram for 3 pots shows it as I described, sorry I don't have the diagram handy. Anyway, it makes sense, BH and NH respectively refer to the Hot side of each pickup respectively and this is the p/u input to the switch, so pulling the connection from there gives independent control. the 5b5 diagram I saw looks to me like it would be reversing CW/CCW operation, but I've been known to miss details in wiring before.

I'm definitely interested in out-of-phase wiring for my next build and the simplicity of the 3b3-01 switch has strong appeal.

 

[stratamania]

@Sadie-F we don't know really at the moment which switch is in the Freeway diagram Ozopart has. I assume it might be the 3B3-01.

There are various ways to wire tone pots and caps as you know but the one I mentioned is probably one of the more usual ways to do it and it is better to keep things simple to avoid information overload.

 

[Ozopart]

Sadie-F and Stratamania:
I am attaching the scheme that Freeway sent me. You both have definitely seen this also. I believe it has been attached to other posts in other threads. So it is thr 3B3-01 switch. This is the one stratamania suggested, and I believe the switch that would be most appropriate for my build (HH Tele with Strat controls an rear rout).
I am also attaching a .pdf document where I attempt to write out the wiring scheme in text rather than as an image. I am missing some information where I put (?) and I am sure there are parts that are just wrong. But hopefully it will serve as a starting point. If I do go with this approach, using the 3B3-01 switch, do I need push/pull pots, blender pots, or something else? Not sure. Anyway, I hope this helps. If both of you think I would be better off with a standard 3 way switch and push/pull pots like the original SD diagram I attached to my OP, I am fine with that. I really do want to learn though so I am open to a more complex approach, as long as I can understand the steps.
Thanks!

 

[stratamania]

You would wire it as I described above. adapted slightly below.

Freeway diagram..

1. Remove  the blue wire from the volume pot to the tone pot.
2. From the Freeway switch NH connect a second wire to the same lug of the tone pot that the blue wire was removed from.
3. From the Freeway switch BH connect a second wire to a similar lug of a 2nd tone pot as described in 2.

Each tone pots  capacitor can be connected to the centre lug and the other end of the cap to ground. Such as the back of the tone pot as long as it itself is grounded. The Freeway diagram shows this connected to ground via the volume pot but where it is connected is not so important as long as it is a common ground.

I would say you need 3 * 500K pots, caps as discussed before but you do not need push pulls now. Optionally 1 * 500k push pull pot could be used in order to coil split both humbuckers if you want to do that. Or you could split them individually with 2 * 500k push pull pots for each tone pot.

Personally I think in this case an adaptation of the Freeway leads to less complexity in use.

Try and sketch it out.

 

[stratamania]

Bonus post.


NH = Neck Hot
NG = Neck Ground
OP = Output
BH = Bridge Hot
GD =  Ground

A = A

B = B

A and B are points from internal parts of the switch circuit that can be used in different ways as jumpers. In this case internally there is what is probably called circuit A and B.

Freeway has not published a key of what these things mean. I have been able to glean the meaning of many of them from looking at how they are used in various published diagrams. Some of them are more obvious than others.

 

[Ozopart]

I updated the .pdf document to include the changes from your earlier post. I lined out the parts that I removed, and highlighted all the changes. I changed pot posts to pot lugs, sorry I didn't know the correct terminology.

Stratamania, where you say the following, I have some questions:
"I would say you need 3 * 500K pots, caps as discussed before but you do not need push pulls now. Optionally 1 * 500k push pull pot could be used in order to coil split both humbuckers if you want to do that. Or you could split them individually with 2 * 500k push pull pots for each tone pot.

Personally I think in this case an adaptation of the Freeway leads to less complexity in use."

If I add one or two push/pull tone pots, (1) I assume this adds more wiring between the pots and the switch?, and (2) Does this change any of the existing wiring connections?, (3) Given what you know about my learning curve, would you recommend skipping the push/pull and keeping it simple? In that case I would assume that if my scheme, with your updates, is now correct, I wouldn't need to make any changes or additions.
As to your last sentence, can you explain it a bit more? Are you saying if I use push/pull pots that the use of the switch while playing would be less complex? Sorry for not understanding.

 

[Ozopart]

I am reading up on Potentiometers so I can understand the parts of the wiring harness better. Hopefully by doing this I will be able to understand why to use certain parts, the pros and cons, and the impact. One question I have is regarding what seems to be a very much debated question, what is "best" an audio pot for volume, and linear pots for tone, or all linear pots? I understand what each does but am not sure what to do. Seems linear pots are best for tone, but audio pots have pros and cons. Does anyone here use linear pots for volume?

 

[stratamania]

I updated the .pdf document to include the changes from your earlier post. I lined out the parts that I removed, and highlighted all the changes. I changed pot posts to pot lugs, sorry I didn't know the correct terminology.

Stratamania, where you say the following, I have some questions:
"I would say you need 3 * 500K pots, caps as discussed before but you do not need push pulls now. Optionally 1 * 500k push pull pot could be used in order to coil split both humbuckers if you want to do that. Or you could split them individually with 2 * 500k push pull pots for each tone pot.

Personally I think in this case an adaptation of the Freeway leads to less complexity in use."

If I add one or two push/pull tone pots, (1) I assume this adds more wiring between the pots and the switch?, and (2) Does this change any of the existing wiring connections?, (3) Given what you know about my learning curve, would you recommend skipping the push/pull and keeping it simple? In that case I would assume that if my scheme, with your updates, is now correct, I wouldn't need to make any changes or additions.
As to your last sentence, can you explain it a bit more? Are you saying if I use push/pull pots that the use of the switch while playing would be less complex? Sorry for not understanding.

With a Freeway you would have a switch with 6 positions in two sets of 3. One set is just like a standard 3 way which is simple, the other set gives you your other options if and when you want to use them. Much more straightforward in use than 3 push pulls.

1) If you add any options to any wiring scheme it will add more connections and possibly more wires.
2) In this case no it does not change the existing scheme it just adds options for coil split for example.
3) I am not going to say what you should do. That is for you to decide though you may find a simpler scheme more useful and straightforward.

Per audio versus linear pots. There is no best there are just preferences which are subjective. A pair of good audio pots such as CTS is a good place to start and probably finish if you don't want to jump down a rabbit hole. If you find in use you might like a more even increase of volume you could experiment with linear.