Charvel Model 4 rewire options..

bloodandtears

I have acquired a model 4 that's needs some tlc.. it no longer has the original bridge pickup and mid-range eq boost circuitry.. and I intend to have the body refin in shocking pink ;-)

I believe a stock model 4 is H-S-S route with has 3 microswitches which essentially act as on/off switches for its respective pickup. There are also 3 knobs, one vol, one tone and one that blends the mid-range eq boost.

I don't really want to fill any holes,so that it can be reverted to stock wiring if I wanted.

Given all this.. I'm thinking of keeping the switch functionality the same.. but utilising one of the knobs as a push/pull to coilt split a neck humbucker as well being a volume control for the neck, and leaving a global tone control and a vol control for the remaining two pickups...

Is it achievable?? Any thoughts?

ICBM

That will work - but it won't give the ideal volume control wiring because the two pots will have to be connected in the 'independent' scheme, like a Jazz Bass. It will work OK unless you accidentally turn all three pickups off, when it will hum quite a lot. (Obviously a Jazz Bass doesn't have the switches.)

paulnb57

Just a suggestion, why not keep your coil splitting idea but use the spare control as a bridge tone control and the other tone on neck and middle, I find it nice to be able to take a bit if treble off the bridge, separate to the rest......with a master volume...

bloodandtears

@ICBM ; I often have them all turned off, and would not hum... So that's a non starter...


Would the @paulnb57 idea cause hum?

ICBM

bloodandtears said:

Would the @paulnb57 idea cause hum?

No, because with only a single volume control you can wire it the 'right way round' and that will mute the output when turned down.

bloodandtears

so in essence an option would be ..
a master vol,
a tone for the two singles
and  a tone push/pull  coil tap??

ICBM

bloodandtears said:

so in essence an option would be ..
a master vol,
a tone for the two singles
and  a tone push/pull  coil tap??

Yes. Although it depends on the switches you have available - if they're single-pole, you can't separate the tones. If they're doubles, you can.

bloodandtears

What would you suggest?

bloodandtears

There are 3 solder points on each switch

ICBM

bloodandtears said:

There are 3 solder points on each switch

Damn… SPSTs. So you have to do either a master tone or some other switching/control combination.

I'll see if I can think of anything simple that works .

bloodandtears

@ICBM ; did you have any thought...

myself, I feel resigned to acquire a mid-boost pre-amp and wire it as a standard mod 4. which means I need to ensure the pickup replacements will suit;

or forget the coil tap option and treat it as a standard H-S-S config each with a respective on/off switch and go V/T/T strat control config

ICBM

bloodandtears said:

or forget the coil tap option and treat it as a standard H-S-S config each with a respective on/off switch and go V/T/T strat control config

That's by far the easiest, but it seems a bit limited…

I haven't been able to come up with anything else sensible that doesn't involve buying new parts though.

bloodandtears

I intend to put in some J100 single coils in place of the current J200 stacked singles that are there.... I assume a mid boost pre would cause hum with those ??

ICBM

bloodandtears said:

I intend to put in some J100 single coils in place of the current J200 stacked singles that are there.... I assume a mid boost pre would cause hum with those ??

Probably, although no more than using a distortion pedal with single coils will.

I also forgot to say that for a two-tone configuration you need one cap per tone control, you can't share it as with a standard Strat setup because there is no switching for the tone controls.

rsvmark

@bloodandtears sorry a bit late to this one but your first post describes the original controls on a model 4 correctly. I have one and I never really used the tone control as the active mid boost was much better at effecting the overall sound. Imho.

Suggestion- master vol and mid boost and for the third pot have a blend function between bridge and neck pups. At the centre they would both be on full tilt but roll it one way or the other to increase or decrease the mix of either pup in the blend. So you could have full bridge with 50% neck or full neck with just a touch of bridge? I believe some strats have this and it's called a grease bucket mod?

paulnb57

I can't imagine it would cost a lot to change the toggle switches to give better options?

ICBM

paulnb57 said:

I can't imagine it would cost a lot to change the toggle switches to give better options?

No, not really. I would probably do that in fact.

If you went for two DPDTs for the neck and middle pickups you could then have better tone control switching, and a DPDT centre-off (on-off-on) for the bridge would allow coil splitting without needing a push-pull pot.

bloodandtears

So DPDTs are available as 2 and 3 positions?

ICBM

Yes - there are actually three types.

Standard - 2-position - on/on
Centre-off - 3-position - on/off/on
Staggered-throw - 3-position - on/on/on

The last two (certainly the last one) should probably be called DP3Ts, but they aren't quite the same as a true triple-throw either.

If you're going to use any of these then the sky's the limit with switching options really... eg with three on/on/on you could have the first switch to give neck or middle or both, with one tone control; the middle switch to give that, or bridge, or all three, with a tone control on the bridge pickup; and the third to give series/split/parallel for the bridge pickup.

FX_Munkee

yes you can get them in (on/on) (on/off/on) or (on/on/on)
http://axetec.co.uk/guitar_parts_uk_051.htm
quite a bit cheaper on ebay as well but finding small quanties is tricky.
An RS account would be handy if you know anybody with one.

bloodandtears

I need to find them in black paddle style akin to the model 4