Nordy Big Single P'upgrade for Squier DJAV

tedsalt · #1 06-28-2011, 11:22 PM

Found a Squier Deluxe Jazz Active V in GC Used Gear in like new condition for cheap. Picked up some Nordy Big Single 5s, and pulled out the Seymour Duncans. Gutted the preamp, controls and cheap output jack. Routed the pickup cavities for the Big Singles, and painted with four coats of shielding paint. Shielded the control cavity with copper foil. Tacked together the pieces of copper foil with solder. Installed new CTS pots, an orange drop capacitor and a new switchcraft barrel output jack in a passive VVT configuration. Tied the pickup cavity shielding to the controls ground, along with the bridge ground. Wasn't sure about wiring the output jack, but figured I had a 50/50 chance of getting it right. Put everything back together, plugged it in, and

. This thing kills!!!

I still need to put my straplock buttons on, find some knobs that fit the CTS pots, and figure out what to do with the extra holes from the old electronics ...

tedsalt · #2 06-28-2011, 11:25 PM

before -

now -

Stealth · #3 06-29-2011, 01:27 AM

Very cool, hope to hear it growl sometime.

Are those two wires that are screwed into the cavities the shielding connections? And are those just two bolts of some sort in place of the fourth pot and the former slap-switch?

tedsalt · #4 06-29-2011, 01:37 AM

yeah, 3/8" long screws thru a lug into the shielding paint, lug crimped to a wire that runs to the control cavity and soldered to their respective volume pot ground (back of the pot). No noise whatsoever (so far). I haven't done anything with the holes yet. You can see the copper foil shielding from the outside.

Maybe some wood putty and one of those finish touch up crayons are in the future?

Need to find some knobs that fit the CTS pots too ...

Stealth · #5 06-29-2011, 01:49 AM

Ooooh, turn them into carrot switches and knobs.

Or you can use the switch for Series/Parallel switching if you think anything can be gained from it. It can be done so you retain individual volumes, but I've no idea if it'll be useful to you.

tedsalt · #6 06-29-2011, 01:51 AM

The Nordy folks don't recommend series for the Big Singles ...

BarkerBass · #7 06-29-2011, 02:46 AM

looking great, I always thought that the small jazz pickups looked out of place on the 5er but those nordies look the part, got any clips of them yet?

chunger · #8 06-29-2011, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tedsalt

The Nordy folks don't recommend series for the Big Singles ...

But if you've got the extra holes for a switch . . .

no harm done to the standard sound, but you add one more very different tonal option at your fingertips.

Blues Cat · #9 06-29-2011, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tedsalt

The Nordy folks don't recommend series for the Big Singles ...

I like the Big Singles in series.

90k · #10 06-30-2011, 12:43 PM

heres mine. I only used one coat of shielding paint and no copper. thats probable why there is some noise not much though. maybe I'll go in and add more.
Thanks for sharing

tedsalt · #11 06-30-2011, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 90k

heres mine. I only used one coat of shielding paint and no copper. thats probable why there is some noise not much though. maybe I'll go in and add more.
Thanks for sharing

Lookin' sweet 90k! How's the tone on your p5 with the Nordy's?

I gigged mine last night, running basically direct to the house (MB F500 direct out). Did notice there was a hum unless I had both pups at full volume. Then it was perfectly quiet. I don't notice it at home. At the gig, there may have been a ground potential difference between my MB F500 direct out and the house. I did not try changing the ground lift, maybe should have.

When I first shielded mine, I used the copper foil for all the cavities. And then I tried to put the pickups in, and smushed the copper foil. Thought about it a little bit, and decided to try the shielding paint for the pickup cavities. The paint seems to work better for this location. Ended up using four coats of the shielding paint (they recommend at least three). And from what I hear, there may be cheap versions available that don't work as good (not sure). I got mine from stewmac.

90k · #12 06-30-2011, 02:33 PM

I don't gig to often any more. So this is just a fun hobby for me at this point. Sure wish I couldn't afforded to this when I was young it would of meant more then.
I used the Stew mac paint as well. NO extra shielding. I get some buzz when i solo the pickups. I have a Varitone circuit and when I bypass the 5 pos. vaaritone and run straight thru the passive filter. The pups really start to sparkle. really nice musical highs on these pickups. One day I will go in and finish the sheilding job.

maurilio · #13 06-30-2011, 07:56 PM

Big singles are single coil!
No matter shielding and grounding you use, when not both balanced, there's gonna be some hum.... it comes from every where and especially on stages (lights, power amps, neon sign....)

M

tedsalt · #14 06-30-2011, 08:19 PM

And with the research I had done, I knew there was hum with the single coils unless they were both balanced. But I really dig the tone. I'll probably stick with these, and maybe pick up another SDJAV down the road and put some big splits in it.

But like I say, some places you don't get the hum at all. In places I do, I'll just balance the pickup volumes.

tedsalt · #15 07-03-2011, 06:16 PM

Ok, so I've been thinking about it some more, and after some more research, I think I'm going to add series/parallel (S1), a varitone, and a kill switch. I would use the following capacitors for the varitone - .0100, .0220, .0330, .0470, .1000, and .4700 (or .6800). I would use a push/pull (neck) vol pot for the S1. And a simple ON/ON switch for the kill. I haven't been able to figure out where to get the .47 cap yet. I think I'd rather use that than the .68 (which I have found).

Initially I'll do this using 250K (linear taper) volume pots, but I may build another harness using 500K (linear taper) volume pots just to see what the difference is. I think I would still use a 250K (audio taper) tone pot for either harness.

I wish I had a way to record samples, but I don't at this time.

tedsalt · #16 07-04-2011, 09:06 AM

Skipping the series/parallel option.

Going with vol/vol/tone/varitone/killswitch. This will fill all the holes

Ordered parts for a new harness using 250k linear taper volume pots and a 250k audio taper tone pot, 2 pole 6 position rotary switch, and an on on DPDT (kill) switch. Pots from allparts, rotary switch and kill switch from stewmac, and capacitors from solderslingers.com. Cap values ordered are .01uf, .022uf, .033uf, .047uf, .1uf, and .47uf.

I may try this down the road with 500k pots to see if it gives me a little more grind ...

tedsalt · #17 07-12-2011, 12:25 PM

Here's a modified diagram of what the controls are being changed to ...

I built a varitone last night and that will go in the hole where the fourth pot was. (Capacitor will be replaced by the varitone). Capacitance selections are .01 uf, .022 uf, .033 uf, .047 uf, .1 uf, and .47 uf. There will be no bypass.

Trying to get pics of the varitone and kill switch I built last night ...

tedsalt · #18 07-12-2011, 12:57 PM

using a two pole six position rotary switch and a half dozen capacitors from solderslingers.com ...

built a varitone last night. the two yellow wires headed one direction both go to ground, and the other goes to the tone pot's right lug (from the back; see diagram)

another view of the pole wire, which will go to the tone pot's right lug (from the back; see diagram)

two views of the kill switch

now to put it all together. I will have to dremel out some room in the control cavity fourth pot position for that fat varitone. wiring will be tight in there with the existing pot and switch hole spacing ...

selowitch · #19 07-12-2011, 01:02 PM

So what are those connectors attached to the grounding lugs? Where do I buy the lugs and the connectors? (Forgive the noob wiring questions.)

tedsalt · #20 07-12-2011, 01:21 PM

Volume pots are 250k CTS linear taper, a 250k audio taper tone pot (guitarpartsresource.com), 2 pole 6 position rotary switch (stewmac), .01uF, .022uF, .033uF, .047uF, .1uF and .47uF capacitors (solderslingers.com), and a DPDT (double pole, double throw) On/On mini toggle switch (stewmac).

So instead of placing a single capacitor on the tone pot, I will wire the varitone to it, and have a half dozen capacitor values to select from, for bright to thumpy. And I'll be able to cut all volume (hum) from the single coil Big Single 5s with the kill switch (between songs, etc).

On the varitone, I do have one end of the capacitor leads protected by heat shrink tube, so they don't short each other out. The other end goes to ground, so I'm not worried about protecting them.

Note the Squier Deluxe Jazz (in)Active V has four potentiometer holes and one switch hole. I had three filled with the vol/vol/tone. I'll fill the fourth with the varitone, and fill the switch hole with a kill switch.