Please check my wiring diagram

[Mnemoflame]

So, this diagram is intended to produce master tone, master volume, all 7 pickup combinations, and series/single coil/parallel bat switches; color-coding is for DiMarzio pickups and is intended to use the opposite pole on the middle pickup from the neck and bridge.

Can someone check this over and make sure I didn't miss anything?  The diagram DiMarzio send seems to indicate a ground running from the unoccupied lug of the volume pot to the body of volume pot but it was unclear and I wanted to make sure it was supposed to be that way.

Where are the grounds supposed to go to and what kind of wire should I be using?  I have Warmoth's wiring kit (some white, red, black, and braided coax; not a whole lot of each).  How is the bridge grounded and what role does it play?

I noted with some irritation that the cap might be on the wrong lug; is that the case?



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[Jusatele]

I am not going to even touch that one

 

[Cagey]

Wiring diagrams mean nothing. I need a schematic.

 

[line6man]

Wiring diagrams mean nothing. I need a schematic.

WTF? Why can't you understand both? The only unfamiliar part being diagrammed here is the 5 way switch. The rest pretty much looks identical in schematic form as diagram form.
And why would you expect someone who does not understand the wiring fully to produce a schematic diagram that he likely would not understand? :icon_scratch:

Anyways, you have the tone pot backwards. Swap terminals one and three.

 

[drewfx]

Yes, the unused lug of the volume needs to go to ground.

And the bridge ground keeps things from picking up hum when you aren't touching the strings.

You also need to be careful about whether you want the push/pull to add the bridge PU in the up or down position.

 

[Cagey]

WTF? Why can't you understand both? The only unfamiliar part being diagrammed here is the 5 way switch. The rest pretty much looks identical in schematic form as diagram form.
And why would you expect someone who does not understand the wiring fully to produce a schematic diagram that he likely would not understand? :icon_scratch:

What makes you think I don't understand both? They're both necessary, but they're for different things. Schematics tell you how things work, wiring diagrams tell you how they're put together. If someone wants to know if something will work, you need a schematic, or be willing to make a lot of assumptions. When it comes to electrical/electronics work, I don't like to make assumptions.

 

[tfarny]

You're just being a crotchety old fart. You can use a diagram to explain how to get something to work, and that's all this guy wants. You are not being helpful.

to the OP: What other people said. Also, why do you want such a hellishly complicated system? Do you plan to actually play songs on it or is it just a testbed for different combos?

 

[Cagey]

You're just being a crotchety old fart. You can use a diagram to explain how to get something to work, and that's all this guy wants. You are not being helpful.

Yeah, I'm one of the least helpful guys here.

Could be because I'm unwilling to lead someone down the rosy path to ruin because of an incorrect interpretation of how a black box with a bunch of wires going to it is going to behave. If you want to make assumptions, go ahead. That's your choice. But, I don't do it.

 

[line6man]

You're just being a crotchety old fart. You can use a diagram to explain how to get something to work, and that's all this guy wants. You are not being helpful.

Yeah, I'm one of the least helpful guys here.

Could be because I'm unwilling to lead someone down the rosy path to ruin because of an incorrect interpretation of how a black box with a bunch of wires going to it is going to behave. If you want to make assumptions, go ahead. That's your choice. But, I don't do it.

You're not helping anyone do anything. If you have cause to believe there is a problem with the scheme, whether technically or functionally or practically, speak up, instead of being purposefully vague and grumpy for no apparent reason.
(Personally, I think this setup is overkill, and you would end up with a lot of crap that you don't use, but that's just me.)

What the OP needs is a wiring diagram, to determine whether or not the exact way that he is going to solder his parts together is going to do what he wants. A schematic diagram would not be useful because; a) it does not tell him whether or not his specific component set will be wired to follow the circuit in question, and b) it is likely that he cannot read a true schematic diagram. I am making an assumption there, but it is common knowledge that in most cases, people who ask for others to look over their wiring schemes do not have a lot of knowledge or experience with electronics/electricals, otherwise they would not have to seek the help of others.

 

[Cagey]

You're not helping anyone do anything.

I don't know how old you are, but one of the things that took me a long time to learn is that it's generally poor practice to speak in absolutes.

If you have cause to believe there is a problem with the scheme, whether technically or functionally or practically, speak up, instead of being purposefully vague and grumpy for no apparent reason.
(Personally, I think this setup is overkill, and you would end up with a lot of crap that you don't use, but that's just me.)

I can't tell if there's a problem with the scheme, because I can't tell how it works. For instance, there are some non-descript boxes with wires going to them. I imagine they're switches, but I don't know they are. If I assume they're switches, then what kind of switches are they? On one, there's 6 terminals arranged in two rows of three. Is that a DPDT, DPTT, TPST, TPTT or some other weird Harold configuration? Could even be a slide switch. Then, the pickups aren't identified, so you don't know whose color codes are in play. There are only a couple dozen to choose from. Any of these items would be drawn the same way on a wiring diagram, so you need a schematic.

What the OP needs is a wiring diagram, to determine whether or not the exact way that he is going to solder his parts together is going to do what he wants. A schematic diagram would not be useful because; a) it does not tell him whether or not his specific component set will be wired to follow the circuit in question, and b) it is likely that he cannot read a true schematic diagram. I am making an assumption there, but it is common knowledge that in most cases, people who ask for others to look over their wiring schemes do not have a lot of knowledge or experience with electronics/electricals, otherwise they would not have to seek the help of others.

I understand all that. But what he asked for is confirmation that the diagram he has is correct. I can't tell, without making a lot of assumptions. I need a schematic, and I need to know what parts he's using. Otherwise, I'm liable to give him bad information, which I'm unwilling to do.

I usually don't contribute to these kinds of threads for that very reason. I don't know why I bothered this time, since you're right - I didn't contribute anything. I'll know better in the future.

 

[reluctant-builder]

I, for one, find this argument kind of informative; I can't make sense of the wiring diagram simply because I don't have the mechanical nor electrical acumen to interpret it ... but I never would have understood just how capable I am of misinterpreting it without Cagey bringing to light what was missing, information-wise. I assumed those six terminal things were some kind of slide-switch, like on a Jazzmaster, or maybe a push-pull pot, but I don't really know. It's a bit mind boggling that there are four of them.

In the deeper depths of my dearth of understanding, I still don't get how one terminal receives or sends off one wire in addition to a ground-wire. What does the lined arrow at the end of some of these ground wires mean? That it's soldered to something? Or it's off by itself? I know I need to learn this stuff, so if I can glean it from here, that's worthwhile for me.

The five-way switch makes sense to me, how its represented and I assume the six terminal thing near the tone pot means it is push-pull. But, coming from a foggy-at-best understanding of guitar wiring, a debate about which information is useful and/or necessary is kind of illuminating. The only caveat being that it's probably best to do it in the most congenial manner.

Edit: Oh, I get it, those things that look like switches are the pickups. That obviously threw me a little. Even with their positions spelled out ... ugh.

 

[Cagey]

So, you see my problem. And I'm a degreed electrical engineer with decades of experience. Not only that, I was very good at it. They don't give 6 figure salaries to dingbats, except in the gummint <grin>

In the deeper depths of my dearth of understanding, I still don't get how one terminal receives or sends off one wire in addition to a ground-wire. What does the lined arrow at the end of some of these ground wires mean? That it's soldered to something? Or it's off by itself? I know I need to learn this stuff, so if I can glean it from here, that's worthwhile for me.

If you see a switch with one wire going to it and a ground, then what's happening is you're opening and closing the connection of that one wire to ground. You'll often see that on coil cut switches. Tie a humbucker's center tap to ground, and only half the pickup works. Viola! Now it's a single coil!

The arrow or three-lined trident-looking termination at the end of a wire means it's to be tied to ground. Grounds can be just about anywhere, so they don't often draw them explicitly. Just put the symbol there, and you know where to go. Usually, you can just pick targets of opportunity, especially in guitars where grounds are all over the place.

 

[bagman67]

They don't give 6 figure salaries to dingbats, except in the gummint

Clearly you've never worked in a US law firm.

 

[Mnemoflame]

Cagey pointed out a weakness in my attempt.  The switches labelled Neck, Middle, and Bridge are 3-way DPDT switches coming from humbucking DiMarzio pickups.  The switch attached to the Tone control is a push-pull DPDT for adding the bridge.

As a correction, the Cap should be attached to the bottom lug of the tone, not the top one; otherwise, business as described.

Where should the ground wind up to insure safety?

 

[reluctant-builder]

They don't give 6 figure salaries to dingbats, except in the gummint

Clearly you've never worked in a US law firm.

Clearly he hasn't been in New York City recently...  :icon_biggrin:

 

[line6man]

Cagey pointed out a weakness in my attempt.  The switches labelled Neck, Middle, and Bridge are 3-way DPDT switches coming from humbucking DiMarzio pickups.  The switch attached to the Tone control is a push-pull DPDT for adding the bridge.

As a correction, the Cap should be attached to the bottom lug of the tone, not the top one; otherwise, business as described.

Where should the ground wind up to insure safety?

It doesn't matter how you do the grounding scheme, just as long as there is a zero Ohm continuity between all points.

 

[Cagey]

They don't give 6 figure salaries to dingbats, except in the gummint

Clearly you've never worked in a US law firm.

Hehe! No, I haven't. I considered it as a profession at one time, but it seemed there wouldn't be enough big, complicated toys involved. Didn't occur to me that I'd be able to buy my own toys, but they wouldn't have been the same at all.

 

[Mnemoflame]

Cagey pointed out a weakness in my attempt.  The switches labelled Neck, Middle, and Bridge are 3-way DPDT switches coming from humbucking DiMarzio pickups.  The switch attached to the Tone control is a push-pull DPDT for adding the bridge.

As a correction, the Cap should be attached to the bottom lug of the tone, not the top one; otherwise, business as described.

Where should the ground wind up to insure safety?

It doesn't matter how you do the grounding scheme, just as long as there is a zero Ohm continuity between all points.

Let me rephrase:  I'm a dingbat noob who has no idea how to do this and I'm going through it trial-by-fire style, so I need some indication of how people typically ground their guitars and what safety concerns might arise (I've about electric shock hazard from mics plugged into different polarity than the amp).

 

[Mnemoflame]

Ok, how about this:  this is the diagram mine is copied from; help me interpret it?  The point of the exercise was so I could see the connections better and familiarize myself with the process before trying it for real. 

I have the same two issues with the diagram that I have with my own:

-Where does the ground go?  I saw a website that said it's supposed to wind up at the output jack but that's not really clear in any diagram I've seen (where does the ground coming off the jack go, for instance).

-Is the top lug of the volume knob soldered to its own body or am I misreading?

 

[line6man]

Ok, how about this:  this is the diagram mine is copied from; help me interpret it?  The point of the exercise was so I could see the connections better and familiarize myself with the process before trying it for real. 

I have the same two issues with the diagram that I have with my own:

-Where does the ground go?  I saw a website that said it's supposed to wind up at the output jack but that's not really clear in any diagram I've seen (where does the ground coming off the jack go, for instance).

-Is the top lug of the volume knob soldered to its own body or am I misreading?

It doesn't matter where the ground goes, as long as it's grounded properly. Most people run a wire across the back of each pot, and then to the jack's sleeve terminal. There are other ways, too.

Yes, the third terminal of the volume pot should be grounded, so it is traditionally soldered to the pot chassis, as that is the easiest and quickest path to ground.