Wiring diagram Fender Performer with TBX

JCA2550

A bit of a long shot but ...

I picked up a slightly bodged Fender Performer Electric a while ago and would like to return it to stock wiring.  I couldn't find a diagram online, but does anyone on here have one they'd be prepared to share a gut shot or schematic of?

Funkfingers

Two questions:
1) SSS or HSS pickups?
2) Are you sure about the TBX? That series usually had the much-hyped Greasebucket tone circuit and a push-pull pot to engage the second set of five sounds.


The official parts list and schematic diagram are available from www.fmicassets.com

CasperCaster

I presume you aren't talking about the current US Performer range which replaced the American Specials, but rather the vaguely pointy/two pickup model from the mid eighties?

I've never worked on one of the original 80's performers, but I would guess that the TBX circuit is configured exactly the same as it was on similar era Japanese Contemporary Series instruments and 1986 onwards Am Std instruments. Although originally developed to go with the MDX  circuitry in the active Elites, Fender never changed/optimised the component values when they applied the circuit to passive models.

I'll have a look for a diagram, but it must be all over the Web given how many Am Std Strats and Tele's it was in. 

ICBM

If it's the original Performer it will be a TBX, it's much too old a design to have the Greasebucket circuit.

From this, it sounds like a standard Tele-type circuit but with a mini-switch to split the pickups...

https://blog.live4guitar.com/article/diary-of-a-repair-man-fender-performer

CasperCaster

Interesting.

Further investigation shows that at least some Japanese instruments implemented the TBX circuit slightly differently to US instruments, notably the Japanese ones have an additional 4.7M resistor in parallel with the 22nF cap. 

Japanese:
https://support.fender.com/en-us/knowledgebase/article/KA-01542

US Strat Plus:
https://support.fender.com/en-us/knowledgebase/article/KA-01641

JCA2550

ICBM said:

If it's the original Performer it will be a TBX, it's much too old a design to have the Greasebucket circuit.

From this, it sounds like a standard Tele-type circuit but with a mini-switch to split the pickups...

https://blog.live4guitar.com/article/diary-of-a-repair-man-fender-performer

Spot on I'd say.
These were MIJ 1984/5 slightly pointy 24 fret super Strats, that were designed in Fullerton, built in Japan with Fender/Schaller hardware (same as the Contempoary MIJ Teles and Strats), passive TBX dual-gang tone pot/circuit,  micro switch coil tap and 2 parallelogram shaped white plastic and resin encased humbuckers.
A bit of background, I have a Sunburst one I bought new from Roka's, Denmark Street, but a guitar tech friend and I replaced the bridge pickup with an OBL and an active Koch preamp, also replaced the Scaller locking bridge for an Ibanez FR style pro one. I'm refettling this as a project, much more competently this time as it's a great player and it deserves it. More to come on this in future.
Roll forward to a few years ago when I found a beaten up sparkly white one (on here I think) for a reasonable price. That's this one. It had clearly been "in the wars" and the electrics had also been hacked about but the previous owner had made attempts to return it to stock, not entirely successfully. 

JCA2550

CasperCaster said:

I presume you aren't talking about the current US Performer range which replaced the American Specials, but rather the vaguely pointy/two pickup model from the mid eighties?

I've never worked on one of the original 80's performers, but I would guess that the TBX circuit is configured exactly the same as it was on similar era Japanese Contemporary Series instruments and 1986 onwards Am Std instruments. Although originally developed to go with the MDX  circuitry in the active Elites, Fender never changed/optimised the component values when they applied the circuit to passive models.

I'll have a look for a diagram, but it must be all over the Web given how many Am Std Strats and Tele's it was in. 

Yep, the Elites,  Esprits, Katanas and Performers were all released in the mid 80s

JCA2550

Necro bump my own thread as I am restarting this project.

I'm particularly interested in wiring diagram or schematic for the original Performer custom designed pick ups as my dull brain can't fathom how to hook them up correctly?

Some background from wiki FYI

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Performer

Funkfingers

Apparently, the stock pickups use four conductor plus shield output cable. What colours are the plastic insulation?

Fender in-house humbuckers usually have the same black, white, red, green and bare wires as other American pickup makers but not necessarily in the same order.

If any of your conductor insulation is brown or yellow, the pickup may conform to Schaller convention.

CasperCaster said:

some Japanese instruments implemented the TBX circuit slightly differently to US instruments, notably the Japanese ones have an additional 4.7M resistor in parallel with the 22nF cap. 

Japanese:
https://support.fender.com/en-us/knowledgebase/article/KA-01542

Useful information. I shall have to try that. Thank you.

downbytheriver

The first thing to understand is what is actually switching - they are humbuckers but the middle position on the switch creates a different humbucker with one coil from each pickup. As I recall the TBX is relatively straightforward. (This is my memory of how things worked so I must have had a circuit diagram at some point, however nothing else refers to this) 

that sounds like it might be my old white one - I thought I’d got it right but the possibility remains otherwise! 

ICBM

downbytheriver said:

 As I recall the TBX is relatively straightforward. (This is my memory of how things worked so I must have had a circuit diagram at some point, however nothing else refers to this)

Any of the schematics for a USA Standard series guitar show the TBX. From an external wiring point of view it's the same as a normal tone control, it just has one connection to the rest of the circuit. There's an 82K resistor which is used to connect the two halves of the pot together with one lead, and the other end goes to ground (this is what causes the tone suck). The lower half then has a standard .022uF cap to ground.