HSS with Master Volume and Master tone..

KevS

OK I have been told that you use 500K Pots but load the single coils with resistors for the best results..

This set up usually uses a separate tone pot for those single coils,,
then a different one for the Humbucker..
A Standard 3 pot Strat set up..
Unfortunately the placement of the volume control brings back my tendinitis..
Hence my use of only 2 pots..

Is there a way to do this and get the full brightness of the Humbucker with just 2 pots..

If so where do the resistors go..  ?

CasperCaster

Depending on the humbucker you may not need 500K as Fender style instruments are inherently brighter than Gibson style. 

If you wish to proceed, then the last mod (item 7) on the link below shows how to wire parallel resistors to approximate 250K volume for singles with a 500K pot. Either 470K or 500K resistors are fine.

https://www.guitar-mod.com/strat.html


For tone I would follow the diagram except I would use Fenders dual gang 500K/250K pot. Effectively two pots on a single shaft, one pot section being 500K, the other 250K (there is just one shaft, it is not a dual concentric pot). Use suitable caps for each side, typically 22nF with 500K and 47nF with 250K.

https://www.gluedtomusic.com/products/2572/fender-cts-dual-500k-250k-split-shaft-pot-potentiometer/


The switching also requires a 4-pole  5 position superswitch rather than the traditional 5-way switch.

BillDL

Video No. 1.  The theory behind the use of resistors and formulas showing the results of different values.  The guitar he is showing this in is a H S H one.  NOTE: He makes a mistake a few times by referring to the connections on the blade switch as though it is an HSS configuration.  In the video the middle single coil in the middle pickup position is the green wire connected between the red wires from each of the humbuckers either side of it.  He connects one leg of the resistor to the switch tag where the single coil pickup is connected and the other to a convenient earth/ground tag on the switch itself. The switch used is an "import" blade switch.

The précis is that you use 500K pots instead of 250K.  You wire it so that if only the humbucker is connected it sees the 500K pots for what they are and works just as normal, but when a single coil is introduced into the circuit the resistor connected from that pickup's hot wire switch connection to ground fools the pickup into "seeing" a pot of approximately 250K depending on the value of the resistor used.

Video No. 2. Shows the tag assignment on a CRL switch and the equivalents on the "import" switch the presenter showed in Video No. 1.  His other video about blade switches shows some options for connecting to the tags.

Video No. 3.  This method  connects the other leg of the resistor to the backof the pot to make the ground connection.  It's still just connecting from the same switch tag as the single coil pickup to ground as it is in Video No. 1.

Video No. 4. This shows resistors being connected to a CRL switch from the single coil switch tags to the ground lug in the same way as in Video No. 1, but on the different kind of switch.

Video No. 5. This shows the wiring layout for a SSS guitar with master volume and tone and a CRL switch.  I've included this so that you can see how the wires go to the volume pot and tone pot.  It doesn't include the resistor addition because it's obviously just using 3 single coils and 250K volume and tone pots, but you should be able to translate what it shows to what the previous videos showed with the resistors and add those parts into the diagram.  Note that this is the basic wiring without any additional switching for coil splitting the humbucker or other fancier options like humbucker and neck together on their own.

If you want switching options on the pot(s) then most pickup manufacturers have wiring diagrams on their websites showing HSS wiring with master tone and volume and will usually have alternate diagrams showing a coil split option using a push-pull switch for either the volume or tone pot.  It is better to use the diagrams from the manufacturerof your installed pickups because they alluse different coloured wires from each other and it can be confusing.

Watch through these videos and jot down notes then ask if there are any parts you don't understand or know how to implement.

ICBM

If there’s only one master tone control you can easily do it with a standard 5-way switch. Use the second side of the switch to engage the resistor in both the single coil pickup positions.

BillDL

Exactly that ^

@KevS if you have one of the enclosed 5-way "import" switches with 8 solder lugs in one line you will most often find that the middle two lugs (4 and 5) have a hard bridge between them.  If you look at the link I gave above for "Video No. 2" you will see that each group of 4 lugs is the equivalent to the 4 lugs on each side of an open CRL switch.  With lugs 4 and 5 already bridged on an enclosed import type switch the "second side" is already engaged and you can use the lugs that match with the 5 positions of the lever.  If you are puzzled by which ones are connected and usable in the various positions of the lever you can use a simple and cheap multi-meter in continuity mode where it beeps, and just take notes as you go.

KevS

I have a 2x500k pot and an Oak Grigsby switch on my Vimtocaster,
It is made from left over parts basically...
It has a Suhr Suhr SSH+ Humbucker..It is 15 K..
Maybe way too powerful to match with 2 Fender Texas Specials...
Or is it as 8.5 for one coil would be a decent match for the Texas Specials....
Then the Humbucker a high gear type of thing..
I remember having a Yamaha Pacifica like that..

The actual guitar I am talking about with the deceased Pearly Gates has a Superswitch in it..
The Honeyburst Strat..I am tinking abut the Suhr SSH+ in there instead..
It is wired up so that you only get one Coil of the Humbucker in the Inbetween position..
So maybe get a 500K push pull pot meaning I could do the same thing....