Proposed Strat 'blend' wiring scheme - will it work?

CasperCaster

Hi all, I want to re-wire a Strat using the existing components, but with a form of blend wiring. My idea was to re-purpose one of the tone controls as a second volume control for the blend function, and hang this second volume control off the second wafer of the switch (right hand side of the attached picture), to which the appropriate pickups would be wired by jumpers from the left hand side of the switch. The outputs of both sides of the switch would then feed the regular volume control, with a master tone control wired in parallel. The reason for all this is that I would prefer the volume of whichever pickup is being blended in to be controlled like a regular volume i.e. off at zero and fully on at 10. I would also like to avoid buying a no-load/blend type pot which seems to be a requirement of the various diagrams I've seen elsewhere on the web. So, will it work?

https://i.imgur.com/m2ndZDm.jpg

ICBM

Edit… no it won't work. Turning the blend down to zero in either the 2 or 4 positions will mute the output.

Sorry!

mart

ICBM said:

Edit… no it won't work. Turning the blend down to zero in either the 2 or 4 positions will mute the output.

Sorry!

Wouldn't it mute the output in all positions if the blend control was at zero, since it'd be shorting the feed into the other volume control?

Would it work if you used a genuine 2-gang blend pot for the blend control, instead of reusing a standard volume pot?

ICBM

mart said:

Wouldn't it mute the output in all positions if the blend control was at zero, since it'd be shorting the feed into the other volume control?

I was suggesting to do it with the blend pot wired 'backwards' like a Jazz bass so turning the blend down wouldn't mute the full output, but it then would in the 2 and 4 positions since the neck or bridge pickup would be connected to ground.

mart said:

Would it work if you used a genuine 2-gang blend pot for the blend control, instead of reusing a standard volume pot?

No. It would still ground either the neck or bridge pickup at one end, so then either the 2 or 4 position won't work.

Megii

Just to say for what it's worth - I know it isn't exactly what you're trying to achieve, but I have both my strats wired with the more common blend wiring:

http://www.mojotone.com/support/Schematics-for-Pickups-and-Guitars/wiring-diagram-strat-blender

 and it does work very nicely indeed, and is pretty simple to do too. I've used this circuit with both a standard 250K log/audio pot for the blend, and a 250K no load type. In theory the "no load" is the better option, but in practice I doubt it's possible to tell the difference, they both work great.

ICBM

The only problem with that for the original question is that 'blend' is with the pot at 1. To get it to work properly with the blend with the pot at 10, you will need a reverse log taper pot.

mart

ICBM said:

mart said:

Would it work if you used a genuine 2-gang blend pot for the blend control, instead of reusing a standard volume pot?

No. It would still ground either the neck or bridge pickup at one end, so then either the 2 or 4 position won't work.

I was thinking of using the blend control with one input coming from one side of the 5-way, and the other from the other, then feed the middle onto the master volume. The blend control wouldn't be grounded, so you would circumvent the shorting issue. 

ICBM

mart said:

I was thinking of using the blend control with one input coming from one side of the 5-way, and the other from the other, then feed the middle onto the master volume. The blend control wouldn't be grounded, so you would circumvent the shorting issue. 

Yes, but for it to work properly with 'blend' at 10, you then need a reverse-taper pot. To get it to work right with a standard log pot, it needs to be used as a 'volume' control, or done so 'blend' is at 1 not 10 as in the mojotone diagram.

koneguitarist

If you wire it like a tele with a 3 way switch and master vol and tone, you get the tele both pickups sound. Then use spare tone for volume for middle pickup. Works really well. 

CasperCaster

Thanks to @ICBM @mart @Megii and @koneguitarist for all your insightful suggestions. I'll try one of the other wiring schemes for a proper blend control in due course, but for now at least @CountryDave has a shiny new SD TwangBanger bridge pickup, and the other pickups in his Classic Series Strat play nicely with it (reversed the magnets on the mid pickup and the wiring on the neck pickup to avoid phase issues/ introduce hum cancelling). I've had no internet since leaving the house this morning, but did get a quick look at your responses whilst at chez CountryDave, so the tones and volume have been left stock for now, and I'll address the blend control next time I go over to see him. And in my defence, I was drinking beer and watching Lethal Weapon 4 when I sketched out the diagram!