›

Mixing pickups

What's Hot
SeziertischSeziertisch Frets: 1436
edited March 2022 in Making & Modding
So, I am getting some new pickups for my Jazzmaster - a TV Jones T90 in the bridge (which I have lying around and happens to fit perfectly under a regular JM cover) and a 50s Strat-style (A5 with heavy formvar) in the neck built in JM-size by Q Pickups. 

Both pickups have the same magnet orientation and wind, so no hum cancelling middle position, as I don’t really use the middle position on any guitar and the aim is to have two very different sounding positions. 

Now the guitar has a 4-way Tele style selector switch and single 500k volume and tone pots.

Should I consider putting a 500k resistor to ground in parallel with the neck Strat pickup to drop the overall resistance with the volume pot to 250k, or will the neck Strat pickup be fine with a 500k volume and tone pot?

Also, can I expect to encounter any issues with the 4-way switch with the parallel resistor trick on the neck when in position 4 (both pickups in series)? I know I can expect the middle position (both pickups in parallel) to be darker sounding than it normally would be.
0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom

Comments

  • SeziertischSeziertisch Frets: 1436
    @ICBM You are usually a good source of info for this kind of thing?

    Basically, would a Strat neck pickup work okay with a 500k volume and tone pot, or should I consider sticking a resistor in there to drop the resistance on that pickup to closer to the standard 250k?


    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • meltedbuzzboxmeltedbuzzbox Frets: 10343
    it will be a brighter sounding strat pickup with 500k. 
    I think you should try it first. If you knock the volume back to 8.5 it should sound more traditional and take that treble boost-esque tone off of it. 

    now I need a shower after reading about a JM with a 4 way switch and none JM pickups :astonished: 
    The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term “vibrato” to refer to what is really a tremolo effect.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 74475
    The easiest way to fix any issues is to put the 500K (470K) resistor purely in parallel with the neck pickup itself, that way it will work correctly when the pickup is on by itself or in parallel with the bridge, and do little to nothing when in series since the lower end won't be grounded.

    But as meltedbuzzbox said, I would try it first without. It's not necessarily a given that it will be too bright, it depends on the guitar - I find Jazzmasters darker-sounding than Strats anyway.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • SeziertischSeziertisch Frets: 1436
    ICBM said:
    The easiest way to fix any issues is to put the 500K (470K) resistor purely in parallel with the neck pickup itself, that way it will work correctly when the pickup is on by itself or in parallel with the bridge, and do little to nothing when in series since the lower end won't be grounded.

    But as meltedbuzzbox said, I would try it first without. It's not necessarily a given that it will be too bright, it depends on the guitar - I find Jazzmasters darker-sounding than Strats anyway.
    Sounds like a plan, looking forward to further non-vanilla offset adventures.


    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.