wardog Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 ok, i am looking to upgrade pickups. one is a single coil and the other is a humbucker. i got a humbucker that has taping option. what pots do you guys recommend? current only 1 volume(500k) and 1 tone(?k, solder over letters) and a 3way switch( not sure if it is on/on/on?) please be detail. new to modding. IF i see it is way over my head i will take to local luthier, but really want to give it a try first. Just want to get the correct pots for pickups. want to mimic current control setup, but add push/pull to tap humbker. working with a 90's version coronet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonedeaf1281734100 Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Do you mean you currently have a humbucker in the guitar that has a coil split option, you want to put a humbucker in the guitar and give it a coil split option, or you just plan to put a 4 conductor humbucker in that would allow you to split the coils, but you really don't want to exercise that option? If you are just replacing pickups, you don't necessarily need to change pots if the current pots are good. If you are going to swap the pots, then you also need to decide what value capacitor to use for the tone control. If you want to put in a humbucker and provide for coil-splitting, and your guitar does not currently have that option, then you need to decide how to provide for the coil-splitting. One way would be to use a push-pull potentiometer that incorporated a DP/DT (double pole/double throw) switch in it. That would allow coil splitting without altering the appearance of your guitar. A humbucker with a coil-split switch activated is just a single coil pickup. Whether to use 500K or 250K pots is largely a matter of preference. I would go with 500K pots. Tone control cap could be .024, .033, or .047 mfd or thereabouts, but that too is a matter of preference. I would go with .024 or .033 mfd if you have a humbucker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonedeaf1281734100 Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Sorry, I didn't read your post carefully enough. The following link shows you how to wire a push-pull pot for humbucker coil splitting: http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/sw3.php. It would be nice if you could figure out which coil to tap so as to have the split humbucker and the single coil pickup be hum cancelling with your 3 way switch in the middle position, if possible. If you are replacing both pups and buying them from the same manufacturer, they can probably provide you with this information (it depends on the magnet polarity and the coil winding direction). Stewmac sells some nice 500 K push-pull pots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wardog Posted November 24, 2008 Author Share Posted November 24, 2008 guitar curretly has humbker and a single ciol. some where made to tap coil on humbker, this one was not. i want to add that option. i will look at capacitor for reading to see what is on the tone. i beleive the tone to be a 500k pot along with the volume. did not know what type of push/pull to use. thanks for the info tonedeaf. what else do you need to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 500K tone pot.. get some sprague orange drop caps for the tone controls.. on on on.. three way swith but check quality. I recommend WDE&B, or G or CM or GM.. those are all good switches. I think I have a black one but it has chrome nut and washer. You have to have four wires to run a push pull. that would be WD500PP those are part numbers at WDMusic.com where I get my parts, I'm a dealer with them. I've used both the switch and the push pull and they're good. You can find diagrams online that show exactly how to wire it up.. google wiring diagram single coil and humbucker. words to that effect. all you have to do is be able to read and work a soldering iron. be sure to turn all pots to off before heating any connections. guitar electonics dot com will probably show it. TWANG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonedeaf1281734100 Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 You won't go wrong using the 500 K push-pull pot. Be sure that the humbucker you buy has 4 separate conductors. You could replace either the volume pot, or the tone pot with the push-pull. Make sure that the guitar has enough depth at the position of the pot you wish to swap to acommodate the depth of the push-pull. Stewart MacDonald gives the specs for the depth of their push-pull on their web site. If you replace the volume pot, you can probably leave the existing tone pot and you won't have to worry about the tone cap. Just leave the existing tone pot and cap and it will probably be fine. Make sure you get an audio taper (not a linear taper) pot, especially if you are switching the volume pot. Make a diagram of your existing wiring before you unsolder anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wardog Posted November 24, 2008 Author Share Posted November 24, 2008 thanks again. i want to put push/pull on tone pot, so, Tonedeaf or Twang. is the audio pot still a good choice. and is it smart to change all pots/caps??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonedeaf1281734100 Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 For a tone pot you could use either an audio taper or a linear taper pot. Most guitars use audio taper pots for both volume and tone pots, but that is probably to simplify inventory as much as anything. I don't remember seeing linear taper push-pull pots, but they probably exist. You can damage components such as caps and pots by desoldering them. I would not try to reuse a tone capacitor since it will have been heated three times in the soldering-desoldering-resoldering procedure. Your negative leads for your pups are very likely soldered to the back of your volume pot. You can either desolder them, or leave a little bit of the existing pups negative leads connected to the back of the pots and hook onto those. Personally, if you have the "dime-size" mini pots I would replace both. If your three way switch is the "closed-box" type I would go ahead and replace it. Otherwise, if your existing volume pot and switch is working well, I would leave them. If you are planning to replace your tone pot with the push-pull, I would plan on replacing the tone capacitor. As TWANG said, Sprague Orange Drop capacitors are popular as are Mallorys. You should at least plan to use a metalized film capcaitor (either polypropylene or polyester) rather than ceramic disc caps. Radio Shack has metal film caps in .022 and .047 mfd values (not Spraques or Mallorys, though). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wardog Posted November 24, 2008 Author Share Posted November 24, 2008 you guys rock!!!!!!!!!!! 8-[ . i will work on electronics list. Still need to get iron and solder. plan to practice soldering first to get the hang of it. hope to get the upgrades done while on vt in december. I will show pics when done. And Tonedeaf and Twang, if you think of anything else to help a newbie , hitt me with a reply to the post as well as anyone esle with sugguestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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