Starr Guitar Control Panel for Nash Tele

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

https://www.starrguitarsystems.com/products/wiring-harness-fender-nashville-telecaster-7-way-sound

Anybody familiar with this control panel 7 way mod for a 3 pickup Nashville Tele? It uses a push/pull switch on the tone control for those other 2 positions.

I have an Alvarez Nashville copy that I would like to add the Neck/Bridge combination.

Another thing of concern is that the Alvarez has 500K pots where all the real Fenders use 250K. The guitar sounds dark enough as is, wouldn't replacing them with 250K pots make it even darker?

I found a diagram for the Gilmour 7 way mod that uses a toggle switch, but my guitar has an import switch v. Fender type so I'm not quite sure how to wire it in.

Yeah, I know it's a Fender copy...shame on me and all that, but I don't want to re-pickup, re-switch upgrade and completely mod this guitar right now, really just want that neck/bridge position to see how it sounds before I get into any serious money with mods.

I was thinking about running this by Jerry Hayes as I know he is a big Tele man, but I read where he has stopped playing and hasn't posted here for several months so not knowing his current situation, didn't want to bother him with it.

Thx in advance.

Jim Fogle · From: North Carolina, Winston-Salem, USA

Jerry,

How dark the output sounds is a function of the interaction between the tone pot and capacitor. Together they create a low pass filter. Turning the pot changes the frequency where the pickup audio signal is split and lower frequencies are passed to the output jack and high frequencies are shunted to ground.

My guess is Starr Guitar changed the value of the capacitor to accommodate the pot resistance. I'm sure they would be happy to speak with you to address your concern.
_________________
Remembering Harold Fogle (1945-1999) Pedal Steel Player
Dell laptop Win 10, i3, 8GB, 480GB
2024 BiaB UltraPlus PAK
Cakewalk by Bandlab Computer DAW
Zoom MRS-8 8 Track Hardware DAW

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

I had a Nashville Tele. I bought a Stew-Mac 5 way "Super switch". 4 positions were like the stock Fender switch. The 5th (middle) position was the neck and bridge pickups together like a standard Tele, instead of just the middle pickup.
_________________
GFI Ultra Keyless S-10 with pad (Black of course) TB202 amp, Hilton VP, Steelers Choice sidekick seat, SIT Strings
Cakewalk by Bandlab and Studio One V4.6 pro DAWs, MOTU Ultralite MK5 recording interface unit

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Ok, I think I see now Jim. Best I can tell from the lettering on the tone cap 473J, it is a 47uf value where the Fender models use a 22uf capacitor in their Nashville Tele. Thanks for pointing that out to me. That may be something I will change in the future. For now, I just want to see how it all works with the bridge pup on the toggle switch.

Jack, I did read where the super switch can be used. I just didn't want to try and wire in a new switch for now.

I admit to being a little weak on knowledge on this subject but am learning. Mostly, just to leave things alone. 😉

With a little logic and some probing, I was able to locate the hot wire to the bridge pickup and install the toggle switch between it and the main tab on the vol pot. So now, with the switch in the on position, I can have the bridge pickup with the neck which was my intention, or combined with any switch postion for that matter.

I don't think I'm missing or losing anything here, but we'll see. I'll have to give 'er a good workout as circumstances allow.

My eyes are not good and my hand is not steady sometimes so I need to go back and clean up my sorry solder job and I'll be done, I hope.

Thanks for all the help.

Jim Fogle · From: North Carolina, Winston-Salem, USA

Jerry,

Both the yellow and blue capacitors in the website photos have a value of 22 micro-farad. Right click on a photo then select open in new tab. This opens a new browser window with the photo. Then you can use the browser controls to enlarge the photo large enough to read the print on the capacitor.
_________________
Remembering Harold Fogle (1945-1999) Pedal Steel Player
Dell laptop Win 10, i3, 8GB, 480GB
2024 BiaB UltraPlus PAK
Cakewalk by Bandlab Computer DAW
Zoom MRS-8 8 Track Hardware DAW

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Thanks Jim, yes I read that in the parts list. It's the same value cap as Fender uses. If I understand this correctly, as the number goes up the color gets darker rolling off more high frequency, so swapping this out may be something to investigate at a later time.This guitar has 500K pots though, so maybe the 47 is more compatible.

It's a little confusing as I think Fender and other guitars use the 47uf in their standard 2 pickup models with 250K pots.

I have another cheap T type to compare tones against, so I'll experiment some.

We'll see how it goes and whether future electronics mods are called for. Right now, I just want to get a feel for all the new combinations.

ajm · From: Los Angeles

Stop.
Time out.
Break time.

You guys are using seriously incorrect math when you are calling out capacitor values.
You are leaving out some zeroes and decimal places.

A 223 capacitor is in pf (picofarads) and not uF (microfarads), with the first two numbers being the value, and the third number being the number of zeroes after them.
A 223 marking is
22000 pf or
0.022000 uf.

Unless they want absolutely no usable signal to come through, there is no way that they are using values of 22uf or 47uf.

ajm · From: Los Angeles

Back to the original post.

Jerry wrote: "I have an Alvarez Nashville copy that I would like to add the Neck/Bridge combination."

I assume that the Tele in question uses a standard 5 way Strat switch.

There is a way to do this without changing any parts.
The only possible downside is that you have to give up one of either the:
- B + M, or
- N + M.

To do it all that you need to do is swap two pickup wires going to the stock 5 way switch.
Swap either the B and M, or the N and M.

Swapping the B and M will give you:
N
N+B
B
B+M
M

Swapping the N and M will give you:
M
M+N
N
N+B
B

Now, the tone controls will be different and work on different pickups.
Once you decide on which combination you want from the above, you need to look at the wires from the switch to the tone controls, and adjust them accordingly.
If you never use the tone controls, you don't need to do anything.

I installed a push pull pot switch on a couple of Strats years ago.
I found that I didn't use the all 3 pickups combo, but I did use the N+B a lot. Therefore, it's easier to just use the standard parts.
YMMV.

Also, I find that using a Push-Push is much easier to deal with than a Push-Pull. The Push-Push pot/switch is harder to find, but they are out there.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

As stated earlier, it's an import 5 way switch.

What I did was wire a toggle switch between the hot lead of the bridge pickup and the main vol pot tab. That seemed like the simplest thing to wire in without rewiring the pickup leads.

I believe this is what they refer to as the Gilmour mod.

Anytime it's switched on, the bridge pickup is in the circuit at any 5 way switch position. That's what it does and it all sounds fine and works ok far as I can tell.

I didn't give up anything and I have the bridge pickup available with any or all of the other 2.

Jim Fogle · From: North Carolina, Winston-Salem, USA

ajm, I appreciate your corrections. I haven't had the need to document a capacitor value in a long time so I'm not surprised I wrote an incorrect value.

Generally speaking I would expect a Strat to have different capacitor and/or pot values from a Telecaster at the very least because of the difference in number of pickups.
_________________
Remembering Harold Fogle (1945-1999) Pedal Steel Player
Dell laptop Win 10, i3, 8GB, 480GB
2024 BiaB UltraPlus PAK
Cakewalk by Bandlab Computer DAW
Zoom MRS-8 8 Track Hardware DAW

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Don't let it worry you Jim. I knew exactly what you meant and I thank you for your input. I didn't show the decimal points either nor did I add the word Ohms or the Ω symbol. I figured anybody responding here would know what we we were discussing.

Jim Fogle · From: North Carolina, Winston-Salem, USA

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

I've been able to achieve my goal with the toggle switch in the control panel, between the vol and tone controls, so this can be closed now far as I'm concerned....or leave it open, I don't care either way.

BTW, after getting used to the heft and timbre of this guitar, I really like it. The variety of tones I get with the Gilmour mod makes it very versatile.

I admit to being a hack guitar player, but it's been a part of me since I was a kid, way longer than the pedal steel.

I'm a big fan of the modern Tele technique, but my biggest interest is the low stuff from Duane Eddy and that era. Tremolo, echo and reverb...juicy, shimmering, clean and sparkly.

Other heroes Pete Anderson, Junior Brown, Brent Mason, and their ilk of that style.

All times are GMT - 8 Hours	Jump to: