So I received the Vintage Noiseless pickups I ordered yesterday, so now I'm just waiting on the pick guard to get everything wired up. I have ran into a problem though. The wiring diagram that came with the pickups seems to be off in a couple of ways. For one thing, the pickups came with 3 pots, a cap, and what I think is a resistor, but the wiring diagram doesn't show the resistor being installed at all. Any idea where it goes? Secondly, the diagram labels all three pots as being 1 Meg, but in actuality the package came with 2 1 Meg pots, and 1 500k pot. So where does the 500k pot go? I'm thinking I should a 1Meg for volume, and a 1Meg for the neck tone, and the 500k for mid tone, does that sound right?
Wiring Fender Vintage Noiseless Pickups
- Thread starter chuck7
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jackthehack
Epic Member
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Where did you get this kit? Components don't sound right; most typically you'd use a 5-way switch, 3 250K pots and a .047/.050 cap for a typical Strat install...
DiMitriR33
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i installed a set for a friend after he tried to himself. yeah i thought it strange that he had a pair of 1 meg pots and a 500k. i didn't use or even see the diagram he used, just did it the usual way. now you got me wondering though. how did strats come stock if they have the noiseless?
i used the 500k for the volume, 250k is stock for most strats. being that the tones have the same function i'll bet that's where the pair of 1meg pots are intended. i used a .10 cap with 250k pots and it sounded awesome. even with that huge cap it never got muddy.
larger pots on the tone will allow more presence but will have the same result when rolled fully off. the taper will be different.
i didn't find a 500k volume pot too bright with these pickups but the tone setup may have prevented that. but if it is too bright that is why you have tone knobs. as for the resistor, some strat's have one on the switch, sometimes in series with a tiny cap. if i remember right it goes to the lug for the bridge pickup and to the tone side of the switch somewhere. it is probably to bleed off some noise as the tone cap does in the other positions and/or to prevent popping when switching between the bridge position on the switch. most schematics wont show it at all and it is really optional. i always bridge the lugs on the tone side of the switch between the middle and neck pups so the middle tone works on the bridge as well. that would eliminate the resistor all together
i used the 500k for the volume, 250k is stock for most strats. being that the tones have the same function i'll bet that's where the pair of 1meg pots are intended. i used a .10 cap with 250k pots and it sounded awesome. even with that huge cap it never got muddy.
larger pots on the tone will allow more presence but will have the same result when rolled fully off. the taper will be different.
i didn't find a 500k volume pot too bright with these pickups but the tone setup may have prevented that. but if it is too bright that is why you have tone knobs. as for the resistor, some strat's have one on the switch, sometimes in series with a tiny cap. if i remember right it goes to the lug for the bridge pickup and to the tone side of the switch somewhere. it is probably to bleed off some noise as the tone cap does in the other positions and/or to prevent popping when switching between the bridge position on the switch. most schematics wont show it at all and it is really optional. i always bridge the lugs on the tone side of the switch between the middle and neck pups so the middle tone works on the bridge as well. that would eliminate the resistor all together
I did find a link that pointed me to the American Deluxe Stratocaster which uses these pickups, and has a "more correct" version of the wireing. it shows the resistor in parallel with a small cap connected from the "in" lug to the center lug on the volume pot. The only problem, it still shows all three pots being 1Meg.
DiMitriR33, thanks for the info. It makes sense that the 500k would be the volume I suppose. I'll give that a whirl and see where I end up!
DiMitriR33, thanks for the info. It makes sense that the 500k would be the volume I suppose. I'll give that a whirl and see where I end up!
