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Does this wiring diagram look correct?

C

Cieran

Aug 24, 2009
96
1
UK
#1
I am doing an electronics upgrade (pickup/ pots) on my Gretsch G2202 - single humbucker, 1 x volume, 1 x tone. I have knocked up a composite picture using the TV Jones wiring diagrams to illustrate how it is currently wired.

Does this look ok - should I stick with it? This is my first attempt at anything like this so any advice is welcome!
 

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#2
The schematic looks good.

You have a .022uF cap in that diagram; you may wish to experiment with different cap values. Most Fender-ish basses have .047's in them; .022 is what you usually find in guitars with humbuckers, but it'll work for a bass too.

How are your soldering skills? If you're not confident with that end of it, I'd recommend practicing some before you start messing with your components.

Good luck, and have fun. :)
 
#3
Thanks pseudocat.

I have a couple of different values for the cap (0.22 & 0.47) and for the pots (500k & 1meg) - so I intend to experiment with the use of alligator clips. Never soldered before or messed around with electronics but I will make damn sure that I practice first on some inanimate objects!

Already had a look at the TB guides to soldering so fingers crossed it should all go smoothly.....
 
#8
Thanks for the diagram. I understand what you mean now.

What would be the advantage of wiring it this way - is it just a simpler way of doing it or would there be any difference in tone?

EDIT - it appears there would be no difference in tone according to moses. Thanks!
 
#10
I recently did some research about this issue, and what I found, overall, was that:

1) with the tone before the volume (as on a P-bass), as you roll the volume back, there will be a more noticeable attenuation of high end, and the tone control's effect will be somewhat affected by the position of the volume control (by a bit, not a lot).

2) with the volume before the tone, there's less high end attenuation when you roll the volume back, and the tone control is less affected by the volume control's position. Many guitarists use a "treble bleed" circuit, which is a capacitor coupled with a resistor, across the lugs of their volume controls, so that when they roll the volume down, they do not lose as many highs. Placing the volume before the tone in the circuit is reputed to have the same effect. Some Gibson Les Paul aficionados call this "50's wiring," as it's how Gibson wired their circuits in the 1950's. I don't know how universal that was, however.

I haven't A/B'ed the two systems to see for myself, though. This is what I've been able to glean from others' work. Take it with whatever grains of salt you deem necessary.
 
#11
Thank's for all the info - I have found it really helpful.

Have just spent the last couple of hours looking into treble-bleed circuits and I think this is probably what I need to include in my wiring as well. I understand fully where the cap & resistor go but I was curious as to what are the typical values to go for? The most common figures that I have come across are 0.001 and 150k (some people prefer with resistor, some without). Is this a good starting point?

Also I know that I can solder these parts onto the pot individually but seeing as I am a newbie to all this I am thinking about getting a pre-made treble bleed pot from TV Jones, such as the one in the following link:

Invalid Link Removed

Can someone confirm if this will do the job as I don't want to order it - only to discover it won't work....thanks
 
#12
Honestly, I wouldn't use a treble-bleed circuit. Rather, I'd suggest you wire it up without, and see how you like it. A little high end loss isn't such a bad thing on bass, whereas on guitar, it can be annoying.

And if you feel adventurous, you could try wiring it up with the volume first in the circuit, and then switch it to where you have the tone first, and see if it makes a difference, and which you like better. It only requires moving one wire to do so.

I've tried treble-bleed circuits on guitar, and I really don't like them, to be honest. They always, to my ears, change the way the volume and tone controls work, and don't ever seem right.

I've never tried one on bass.

If you do decide to go with it, the TV Jones component you listed above will work fine. It's a little spendy, but not extraordinarily so. When I tried them out years ago, I made my own for pennies, but then, I had the stuff laying about and it was no big deal. Since you're new to wiring and all, it might be better for you to buy a pre-made.

Good luck!
 
#13
Cieran said:
Never soldered before or messed around with electronics but I will make damn sure that I practice first on some inanimate objects!

Already had a look at the TB guides to soldering so fingers crossed it should all go smoothly.....
Click to expand...


You gotta think safety first.

Gotta be no little kids around that could possibly get burned by the iron. Stays hot for a long time. I couldn't stand myself if one of my grandkids grabbed that thing.

Gotta have a well-ventilated area. You don't want to be breathing those fumes.

You need a safe place to put down the iron when it's hot. They sell soldering accessories at Radio Shack. Need the right solder and the right-sized tip for the job.

If your eyesight isn't perfect, you may need a magnifier.

Don't even attempt to solder if you're in a hurry.

Lotsa practice, like you said, is good.
 
#14
Jack Clark said:
You gotta think safety first.

Gotta be no little kids around that could possibly get burned by the iron. Stays hot for a long time. I couldn't stand myself if one of my grandkids grabbed that thing.

Gotta have a well-ventilated area. You don't want to be breathing those fumes.

You need a safe place to put down the iron when it's hot. They sell soldering accessories at Radio Shack. Need the right solder and the right-sized tip for the job.

If your eyesight isn't perfect, you may need a magnifier.

Don't even attempt to solder if you're in a hurry.

Lotsa practice, like you said, is good.
Click to expand...

Great advice! I never think about stuff like this because I live alone and there's never any munchkins around to hurt themselves.

When I solder, I wear a pair of 2.0 magnification reading glasses, that are way oversized (they look like Jerry Garcia Glasses). That way, my eyes are protected form the occasional solder spatter, and I can actually see what I'm doing. :D
 
#15
Thanks once again people. More than helpful as always.

While on the subject of electronics I am curious to find out more about stacked/ concentric pots. Can anyone give me a simple breakdown as to what they do and in what situation would they be beneficial?

I am not thinking about putting any in the above schematic - I am just curious to learn more. So far I have had such a steep learning curve with strings, nuts, action, intonation, pickups, pots and wiring in the last 2 months, that I feel like I could set myself up as a luthier! Well maybe not quite ;)
 
#16
Cieran said:
While on the subject of electronics I am curious to find out more about stacked/ concentric pots. Can anyone give me a simple breakdown as to what they do and in what situation would they be beneficial?
Click to expand...

They are two independent potentiometers stacked up on the same shaft.
What's not to understand?

They are usually used when you don't have enough room to put in two regular sized potentiometers, or you just want to keep your control layout clean.

I used a concentric pot on my Jazz bass for the bass and treble controls because I didn't have room for 5 pots...

4036577078_6837515708.png
 
#17
Ahhhh ok I understand. Thank's for the info line6man.

I have one last question regarding pots if anyone would be so kind. I have seen mention of push/pull, push/push and DPDT switch pot's quite a bit and was wondering if someone could give me a simplified breakdown on these as well?

They all seem to be lumped together in the same bracket and from what I can tell they seem to allow the player the ability to alternate between 2 different pot values on the same control i.e. 250k or 500k. Is this correct of have I got the wrong end of the stick??
 
#18
Cieran said:
They all seem to be lumped together in the same bracket and from what I can tell they seem to allow the player the ability to alternate between 2 different pot values on the same control i.e. 250k or 500k. Is this correct of have I got the wrong end of the stick??
Click to expand...

Incorrect.

A Push/Pull or Push/Push pot is a regular potentiometer with the addition of a DPDT On/On switch, which switches when you pull up or push down on the pot's shaft.

The DPDT switch is entirely seperate from the pot's function, and can be used for anything that uses a DPDT On/On, such as a killswitch, series/parallel for the coils of a humbucker, humbucker to single coil switching, master series/parallel switching, selecting capacitor values, active/passive switching, bypassing a pot, etc...
 
#19
Thanks for the info yet again - i now understand the function of a DPDT pot and i get the general jist of it's various applications.

Seeing as I am a newbie to all this and my needs are fairly basic I think I will stick to the basic schematic i proposed and then as and when the time is right I can experiment with different configs.

Thanks to everyone that has helped me in this thread........
 
#20
Sorry to bring this thread up again after a couple of days but I need 1 last bit of help regarding my wiring diagram.

Could anyone show me which wire I need to move if I were to hook it up p bass style - as mentioned by pseudocat & line6man? I am currently wiring it all up with new pots etc.. and I am trying to compare my wiring diagram to the p bass diagram. Pseudocat say's that it only requires moving one wire to do so but I am getting mightily confused :hmm:

In the attached picture which wire needs to be moved - a, b or c?
 

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