A Primer on pots and caps, please..!

[poodlesrule]

I want to rewire a Strat clone and have read a few bits about pots and caps.
There seem to be quite a bit of varying advice out there, hard to sort out!

Could our local experts here post a primer on caps and pots for these typical setups -nothing exotic, mostly stock setups, with better components:

- SSS Strat
- HSS Strat
- LP
- 335 type, humbucker and/or P90

The question may not be formulated correctly... adjust as needed!

[deeaa]

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/

Seymour site has pretty much everything covered. The schematics include pot values and all. Like this for P-90:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/images/support/schematics/p90.jpg

AFAIK there's no other trick to it than using the right value parts (250K,500K,25K) for the pickups in question, and good quality components. As for myself, I leave the tones and the caps out completely these days for a more powerful sound. And logarithmic i.e. audio taper pots, not linear.

[DeanEVO_Dude]

Well, where to start...

Strat wiring, with component values, can be found on the Fender web site, under the support area. It includes classic/vintage/modern Strats, Teles, Mustangs, Jagstangs, etc. In a nutshell, 50's strats were wired with 250K pots and .1mf tone caps and a 3-way switch and no tone connection to the bridge pickup, 60's strats wired with 250k pots and .02-.05mf tone cap with a 5-way switch and also no tone control on the bridge pickup, 70's and later are done with 250k, .02mf, and a 5-way with the botom tone control (sometimes) wired to the bridge pickup (as well as the middle). Now, this wiring is not set in stone, there are exceptions, but for the most part, these are standart (SSS) Strats. The primary changes for Fat-Strats (HSS) is the volume pot is replaced with a 500k and the bridge pickup has a ground connection to coil-spit the pickup for getting that in-between, quack, sound in position "2" (bridge-middle).
As I said before, there are exception to this, but you can look at all the wirings for (I suspect) every guitar (strat, tele, jag, mustang, etc.) and every year, that fender makes.

Les Pauls are kinda tricky, but simpler at the same time... I believe that some vintage Les Pauls and ES335s are equiped with 300k pots, and some have two different values on the tone caps (a darker one for the neck pickup?) around .022mf on the bridge and a .047mf on the neck. These are not set in stone, but common values are 500k pots and .047mf tone caps. Some put in 300k tone pots or 300k volume pots with the others being 500k... Plus, there are two basic wiring schemes, one puts the grounded side of the volume pot (when the volume is at zero) to the switch, that makes both pickups not provide any sound to the output when in the middle position. This is the "50's style" wiring. The "Improved style" of wiring puts the ground on the pickup, just turning off the pickup itself, this allows you to mix the output volumes of the two pickup when the switch is in the middle position (full on bridge with a touch of neck to add fullness or full on neck with a bit of bridge pickup bite). Now, I add, agian, these are not set in stone...

Anyway, as for the volume pot values, the lower the value, the darker the sound from the pickup. Humbuckers are a little less bright, so to brighten them up, 500k pots are used. Single coil pickups are much brighter than humbuckers, so to cut a little of the edge off, 250k pots are used. If you have a "super-strat" (HSS or HSH) you can use a 300k pot for the volume control for a compromise. For the most part, and for most guitarists, these are subtle differences.

As for the tone caps... The larger the cap, the more trebble that is taken out of the sound. Fender originally used a .1mf tone cap, but most people feel that this takes away too much of the highs, the common part is a .022mf cap. A .047mf cap can be used if that does not roll off enough highs, and a .01mf can be used if a .022mf rolls off too much trebble. As for the bridge pickup tone control, it only takes one wire to add the tone control to it, a jumper on the switch is all it takes (some of the fender wiring diagrams show this). I have put .01mf caps in a few of the strats that I have owned in the past, and I like it, takes a bit of the edge off, without dulling up the sound. I also (usually) add the tone control connection to the bridge pickup (on SSS) on my strats.

I hope that I have not made this too complex, I know that I have not made this as complex as I could have. Any details that might be helpfull will be added by some of the other members here, or feel free to ask for any clarification on anything that I have written. None of this takes in any specific pickup types (other than single-coil and humbuckers in general), e.g. vintage vs. hotter output, passive vs. active, etc. It is all about what tone you are looking to get out of your guitar, and as some of the people on here will tell you, taking the guitar apart and rewiring/replacing parts is one of the most satisfying aspect of playing guitar. It can add a unique tone to your playing and sound your "custom" guitar.

Botom line... Try some stuff if you have a little skill with a soldering iron (or know someone who does that can help), lots of people on The Fret to help if you get in a jam. Keep playin' and keep rockin'!

[Tig]

Premier Guitar has an excellent 4 part series that covers Strat cap's better than most everything else I've read.
"Tone Capacitors for Stratocasters"
Part 1 (http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2010/Apr/Tone_Capacitors_for_Stratocasters_Part_1.aspx)
Part 2 (https://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2010/May/Tone_Capacitors_for_Stratocasters_Part_2.aspx)
Part 3 (http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2010/Jun/Tone_Capacitors_for_Stratocaster_Part_3.aspx)
Part 4 (https://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2010/Jul/Tone_Capacitors_for_Stratocasters_Part_4.aspx)

[duhvoodooman]

Here's a few to check out, Pie:

http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/wiring_resources_guitar_wiring_diagrams.wiring_faq s/

http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/potsecrets/potscret.htm

http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/Electronics.html

http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/menu.php

http://www.ratcliffe.co.za/articles/hotrodstrat3.shtml