Basic Tiger Style Wiring

[BJolley]

For anyone who is a wiring noob like me, this may be of interest. I asked Steve at Dimarzio for help with a wiring a non-buffered, non-OBEL Tiger-style guitar. This would have a 5-way blade, 1 vol, 2 tones, single in the neck and splitable humbuckers in the mid and bridge controlled by mini switches. Steve promptly provided the attached diagram.

http://us.mg4.mail.yahoo.com/ya/downloa ... hooMailNeo

[TI4-1009]

link doesn't work?

[tcsned]

link doesn't work?

Looks like a link to an email attachment on a yahoo emai account.

[1dallek1]

For anyone who is a wiring noob like me, this may be of interest. I asked Steve at Dimarzio for help with a wiring a non-buffered, non-OBEL Tiger-style guitar. This would have a 5-way blade, 1 vol, 2 tones, single in the neck and splitable humbuckers in the mid and bridge controlled by mini switches. Steve promptly provided the attached diagram.

http://us.mg4.mail.yahoo.com/ya/downloa ... hooMailNeo

It would be a fender strat with or without the buffer and obel, the pickups would be different and the single coil taps extra. But all it amounts to is a strat?
Thanks
ns

[BJolley]

Sorry for the bad link. Try this:

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-s ... 5257_n.jpg

And, yes, I guess it probably is like a Strat with added buckers and switches. Like I said, I'm a wiring novice so I'll take any professional help I can get. In any event, many thanks to Dimarzio for the help.

[1dallek1]

Sorry for the bad link. Try this:

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-s ... 5257_n.jpg

And, yes, I guess it probably is like a Strat with added buckers and switches. Like I said, I'm a wiring novice so I'll take any professional help I can get. In any event, many thanks to Dimarzio for the help.

There are different ways to do the same thing, I would use separate tone caps instead of bridging the tone pots like that, and if you have the desire you could replace the bridge/neck tone pot with one of the stacked pots, a 250/500 linear i guess. I am using bourns pots and I like the audio taper for everything.
Ok
ns

[BJolley]

There are different ways to do the same thing, I would use separate tone caps instead of bridging the tone pots like that, and if you have the desire you could replace the bridge/neck tone pot with one of the stacked pots, a 250/500 linear i guess. I am using bourns pots and I like the audio taper for everything.
Ok
ns

Thanks for the input. What is the benefit of separate caps vs. bridged pots?

As for the 250/500k, I'll just start with a single 500k pot for the bridge/neck and if unhappy with the sound may try a stacked pot. I've used an SDS-1 with 250k pot before and, frankly, thought it sounded a bit dark. I'd like to see how it sounds with the 500k.

[1dallek1]

There are different ways to do the same thing, I would use separate tone caps instead of bridging the tone pots like that, and if you have the desire you could replace the bridge/neck tone pot with one of the stacked pots, a 250/500 linear i guess. I am using bourns pots and I like the audio taper for everything.
Ok
ns

Thanks for the input. What is the benefit of separate caps vs. bridged pots?

As for the 250/500k, I'll just start with a single 500k pot for the bridge/neck and if unhappy with the sound may try a stacked pot. I've used an SDS-1 with 250k pot before and, frankly, thought it sounded a bit dark. I'd like to see how it sounds with the 500k.

With the tone pots bridged there is an interaction taking place i like to keep things discreet.

[cmc64]

I will soon be sending my main Strat off to Andrew at AO Guitars for his upgrades but in the meantime (while it's gone) I will only have my backup Strat to play. I am going to have a local luthier to some very basic mods to it - I have the wiring diagrams from Mike Wald's site - I want to keep things simple for what will be my backup guitar - keep its three single coils and add an OBEL and either a Blaster or a UGB. I am stuck on two things - for the TRS jacks will I need both the Switchcraft 12b and 14b jacks as shown in the Wolf schematics (but not specifically referred to in the Tiger schematics) and will I need the 1 meg pull down resistors to avoid a "popping noise" when the OBEL is switched in/out and the 5-way pickup switch is used - in the Wolf parts list thread it was mentioned that these resistors would not be needed with quality switches - would someone be able to tie down these two details down for me?


Thanks for the help as always!

[TI4-1009]

You will need a stereo (TRS) jack to send the signal out and back to the effects loop, and a "regular" (mono) jack to send the signal to your amp.

As for the resistors, according to the diagrams Wolf had them and Tiger didn't. The opinion on the other thread was that with good quality switches you wouldn't get popping without resistors. In my Tiger build I used Dimarzio mini-switches and a pretty cheap 5-way (only one that would fit in the depth of the cavity) and I have no popping issues. The resistors would be an easy add in the unlikely event that you had any popping after you were done.

[cmc64]

You will need a stereo (TRS) jack to send the signal out and back to the effects loop, and a "regular" (mono) jack to send the signal to your amp.

As for the resistors, according to the diagrams Wolf had them and Tiger didn't. The opinion on the other thread was that with good quality switches you wouldn't get popping without resistors. In my Tiger build I used Dimarzio mini-switches and a pretty cheap 5-way (only one that would fit in the depth of the cavity) and I have no popping issues. The resistors would be an easy add in the unlikely event that you had any popping after you were done.

Right-o! That is pretty much what I thought but confirmation is exactly what I was looking for and I thank you very much for that.

So what exactly is the difference between the Switchcraft 12b and 14b jacks as they are both TRS jacks? I can see that the 14b is a dual switching jack has both the tip and ring switched. Which one of the two is better suited for this application and can anyone recommend a quality mono jack? I am a dummy when it comes to electronics although I am slowly getting it together (and that comes primarily from the people on this site who have had the patience to help me along) - so a tremendous THANK YOU out to all of you good people.

[TI4-1009]

I wouldn't get hung up on 12b or 14b terminology, just use Switchcraft mono and stereo jacks. The only issue could be a regular or long thread, depending upon the thickness of wood you have to go through.

The jacks don't have "switches" in them, they just take either a mono (tip + shaft) or stereo (tip+ring+shaft) 1/4" plug.

[cmc64]

I wouldn't get hung up on 12b or 14b terminology, just use Switchcraft mono and stereo jacks. The only issue could be a regular or long thread, depending upon the thickness of wood you have to go through.

The jacks don't have "switches" in them, they just take either a mono (tip + shaft) or stereo (tip+ring+shaft) 1/4" plug.

Yea you're right - getting hung up on terminology will just slow you down - so last question - Waldo's Strat OBEL wiring diagram indicates the use of two stereo jacks - one for the OBEL in/out but also one for using the guitar without the OBEL but with the ability to turn the buffer on/off by plugging in/unplugging the guitar.

I guess two of these are what I am looking for (Item 4653 - Stereo)
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Components:_Jacks/Switchcraft_Output_Jack.html

[waldo041]

The 12b is a standard TRS jack, and when used with an OBEL switch and NO PLUG in it, it will NOT have a signal in the OBEL's off state. so with NO PLUG the OBEL switch will act like an on/off switch.


The 14b is a SWITCHING TRS jack. It has a contact on the Tip and the Ring that breaks or switches when a plug is inserted. When the tip and ring's switching contacts are wired together and the tip and ring are wired for the OBEL, having NO PLUG in the OBEL JACK still passes signal with the OBEL switch in the off position.


~waldo

[TI4-1009]

Doh. Brain fade.

The jack that sends the mono signal out to the amp has that extra lug for the battery-buffer connection. The plug makes the connection. That way when you pull the plug out it breaks the connection and saves your battery.

So on my Tiger with an OBEL switch I could use just two plain TRS jacks. The OBEL jack has the maual mini-switch connected, the "signal out to amp" TRS jack used the third lug to complete the battery-buffer circuit when the plug was engaged.