Vintage Tele Build - Control Plate Issues

[ragamuffin]

Or you could just solder to the pot and be careful about it

 

[bagman67]

Well, yeah, but some of us may not be all that great at soldering and have perhaps ruined a pot or two in our day, and in any event find it easier and tidier to use a lugged washer. YMMV.

 

[Ozopart]

Exactly this.

Another way to pull this off is with these guys. You can just bend the tab up a little for clearance.



View attachment 66370

McMaster-Carr

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The StewMac parts are less expensive, and can be ordered individually, but I'll say this - McMaster Carr often deliver overnight without charging a premium if you're in reasonable proximity to one of their distro centers.

Sorry to be a bit dumb here but I don't understand how this works. I imagine the large hole goes between the pot and the control plate? But I don't understand the tag. Do you solder ground wires onto it like you would solder them onto the pot? If so, doesn't the tag move around in the control plate cavity?

 

[Ozopart]

One other question: Some people wire the capacitor from the middle tone pot lug to the right volume pot lug and then through the lug and grounded. Others ground the cap to the tone pot and don't wire to the volume pot and ground. I did the grounding on the tone pot. For that method some diagrams show the right volume pot lug bent to the back of the pot and grounded to the bottom of the pot. Is this necessary? I am wondering why it would be as with the standard telecaster wiring the right lug on the tone pot is left open, not grounded or bent back.

 

[bagman67]

Sorry to be a bit dumb here but I don't understand how this works. I imagine the large hole goes between the pot and the control plate? But I don't understand the tag. Do you solder ground wires onto it like you would solder them onto the pot? If so, doesn't the tag move around in the control plate cavity?

It's never a burden to address an earnest effort to understand.

After first making sure you have long enough ground wire to span the distance between your components once they are installed in the guitar's cavity, you solder your ground to the lug on the washer, not the pot. You run your slim ground wire through the small hole and give it a crimp to establish your initial connection, and supplement with solder to close the deal. Then, yes, the pot shaft goes through the large hole. When you install the pot, the grounding washer is sandwiched between the pot and the body, establishing the contact for the ground.

The tag is superfluous - it's just what the image from McMaster happened to contain. They market this washer as a way to identify stuff.

 

[Ozopart]

It's never a burden to address an earnest effort to understand.

After first making sure you have long enough ground wire to span the distance between your components once they are installed in the guitar's cavity, you solder your ground to the lug on the washer, not the pot. You run your slim ground wire through the small hole and give it a crimp to establish your initial connection, and supplement with solder to close the deal. Then, yes, the pot shaft goes through the large hole. When you install the pot, the grounding washer is sandwiched between the pot and the body, establishing the contact for the ground.

The tag is superfluous - it's just what the image from McMaster happened to contain. They market this washer as a way to identify stuff.

Thanks for being patient and understanding. I truly appreciate the help.

So, for example, for the volume pot you would normally ground the pickups and the bridge. Do you have one soldering lug and all three black ground wires go through the small hole where the tag is shown, or do you need one soldering lug per ground wire? I assume the former, but then I am wondering if the small hole is big enough for 3, or in my case as I have 3 neck wires, 4 ground wires.
Finally, when you say the grounding washer is sandwhiched between the pot and the body, you mean it is inside the cavity touching the body. I assume so, just confirming.

 

[Tretgeraet]

For that method some diagrams show the right volume pot lug bent to the back of the pot and grounded to the bottom of the pot. Is this necessary? I am wondering why it would be as with the standard telecaster wiring the right lug on the tone pot is left open, not grounded or bent back.

It is necessary for a volume pot to work, that one of the outer lugs, usully the right one, is connected to ground. How you do that is your decision.

On the tone pot the third lug isn't needed. I even once clipped it off on a friends bass because it kept getting in the way.

 

[Ozopart]

It is necessary for a volume pot to work, that one of the outer lugs, usully the right one, is connected to ground. How you do that is your decision.

On the tone pot the third lug isn't needed. I even once clipped it off on a friends bass because it kept getting in the way.

Interesting. So is that possibly why my original attempt failed. I didn't ground that third volume pot lug. I mentioned above that when I tested it the guitar made a sound for a split second then no more. Could the volume pot not being grounded cause that, or was it due to the volume pot being fried. Or did the lack of volume pot grounding cause the pot to fry?

 

[Spud]

Interesting. So is that possibly why my original attempt failed. I didn't ground that third volume pot lug. I mentioned above that when I tested it the guitar made a sound for a split second then no more. Could the volume pot not being grounded cause that, or was it due to the volume pot being fried. Or did the lack of volume pot grounding cause the pot to fry?

The pot didn't "fry" due to lack of ground.

 

[Ozopart]

The pot didn't "fry" due to lack of ground.

It is maddening if one doesn't understand the concepts well as there are so many different "standard 3 way wiring" telecaster wiring schemes. Some show running a ground wire from the back of the tone pot to the back of the volume pot, many don't. Fralin advises not to do that as they say it is over grounding.
On the grounding of the thrid volume pot lug to the back of the volume pot; does that cause improper volume behaviour, or no sound? I imagine the former, but .....

 

[Tretgeraet]

The pot didn't "fry" due to lack of ground.

What Spud said.

And a lack of ground on the volume pot would still give a signal, even with the volume on 0, so it would be impossible to mute the signal.

Had that problem not long ago, took a me while to figure out the connection to ground had come loose

 

[Ozopart]

What Spud said.

And a lack of ground on the volume pot would still give a signal, even with the volume on 0, so it would be impossible to mute the signal.

Had that problem not long ago, took a me while to figure out the connection to ground had come loose

Thanks. Likely the issue I had was the tip not being hot enough to support quick heat transfer, and as a result I think the volume pot left lug got fried.

 

[Tretgeraet]

Here's a picture from the shop were I got my telly wiring kit from, along with a 3-way diagram.



And this is how the result looked like (note: volume and tone are reversed):

 

[Ozopart]

Here's a picture from the shop were I got my telly wiring kit from, along with a 3-way diagram.
View attachment 66373
View attachment 66374

And this is how the result looked like (note: volume and tone are reversed):

View attachment 66375

I think I need to call Fralin and ask them as your wiring shows the ground from the tone pot to the volume pot, but Fralin's wiring diagram doesn't show that.

 

[Tretgeraet]

I think I need to call Fralin and ask them as your wiring shows the ground from the tone pot to the volume pot, but Fralin's wiring diagram doesn't show that.

It's not strictly necessary, more important is that all that is ground is securely connected to each other.

 

[Ozopart]

It's not strictly necessary, more important is that all that is ground is securely connected to each other.

I went ahead and sent them an email which they generally answer the next morning. Since it is their pickups it is worth asking their opinion.

 

[TBurst Std]

Just pull off all the nuts on your pots. Slip the lug over the shaft. Put one nut on and tighten. Soldering to that lug is the same as soldering to the back of the pot.

 

[JohnnyHardtail]

On the pics it doesn’t seem like you have overheated or burned a lot, even if it was the case. The chisel tip might help a little, but also consider turning the iron temp a bit higher such as 790F or 425C. It’s normal to use a higher temperature when soldering to a large piece of metal such as the back of a volume pot. If you can complete the solder joint in a reasonable time, you are less likely to overheat the components.

 

[stratamania]

One other question: Some people wire the capacitor from the middle tone pot lug to the right volume pot lug and then through the lug and grounded. Others ground the cap to the tone pot and don't wire to the volume pot and ground. I did the grounding on the tone pot. For that method some diagrams show the right volume pot lug bent to the back of the pot and grounded to the bottom of the pot. Is this necessary? I am wondering why it would be as with the standard telecaster wiring the right lug on the tone pot is left open, not grounded or bent back.

It is just a different way of achieving the same result electrically.

Per your photos, once you have the new tip, I think it is just a case of working diligently and taking your time.

 

[Ozopart]

It is just a different way of achieving the same result electrically.

Per your photos, once you have the new tip, I think it is just a case of working diligently and taking your time.

Here is where I am at now:

(1) I am waiting on the new chisel tips but trying something in the interim.
(2) I am reusing the 3 way switch, reusing the tone pot (a Mojotone 250K pot), reusing the Pure Tone output jack (with tubing over the wire ends now), and adding a new CTS 250K volume pot.
(3) At present I just need to do the ground of the 3rd volume pot lug to the back of the volume pot, screw the output jack into my electrostatic plate, and wire in the pickups (both hots to the 3 way switch), and the pickup grounds plus the bridge ground to the back of the volume pot.

If this works I will use it for a while and gather the needed parts for making an attempt at building the 4 way switch from scratch. I have some newer wire on order (the Gavett, Cloth Covered vintage style push back), and will need a couple of more pots. I have the 4 way switch and a new Pure Tone output jack on hand, and of course the control plate can be used for either the existing wiring or the new 4 way wiring.

I appreciate the help. I am learning. Yesterday I did some work on the existing wiring and was able to get much better heat transfer, and as a result cleaner soldering.

Here are a few images of where my control plate wiring is at present.