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Post new topic Rewiring fender ??
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Author Topic:  Rewiring fender ??
Francisco Castillo

 

From:
Easter Island, Chile
Post  Posted 20 May 2019 7:06 pm    
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Hi all.
Sometime ago i bought a late S6 Fender. Very good condition as advertised in eBay, the "outside" indeed was ok but weak sounding no matter what i did.
I decided to rewire to it, and after some thinking i decided to experiment.

New pickups
1 volume
1 tone
1 switch (3 way) instead of the blend pot.

Will have the choice of selecting; neck pickup, both, or bridge. The mini switch goes where the blend pot goes, no bridge cover of course. I tried the mini switch and fits perfect, doesn't bother the picking hand and easy to reach/use.

Is this some kind of sin? I just want it in playable condition.
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Tom Snook

 

From:
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Post  Posted 21 May 2019 12:49 am    
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Yes Francisco,it's a Fender Sin Crying or Very sad
Don't do it again!
ALOHA
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Jeff Mead


From:
London, England
Post  Posted 21 May 2019 4:20 am    
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If you're happy with the way it sounds then that's fine, but the original blend witing was such a brilliant idea that you might be missing out if you have it wired as a simple 2 pickup switching system.

Firstly, the pickups are so close together, I wonder if there is enough tonal difference to make the different switch positions sound very different from each other?

In its original configuration, the 2 single could are wired as a single humbucker - one pickup is always on and you can blend in the second (reverse polarity) pickup so when it is fully blended in, you have a single humbucker.

This givs a lot more variation and control, in my opinion and I love the sound of my Stringmasters.

But, as you say, your guitar is a "player" so, whatever you do with it, you won't offend the Fender gods.
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Francisco Castillo

 

From:
Easter Island, Chile
Post  Posted 21 May 2019 8:06 am    
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Hi.
I understand what you're saying. I read to understand the old wiring, and had the same idea youre explaing to me. Thats why i thought the two pickups must be diffrently voiced to get different tone, not just rely on the distance from bridge (ex bridge vs neck pickup).

Just want to play that lovely Fender....


Last edited by Francisco Castillo on 21 May 2019 8:06 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Stephen Cowell


From:
Round Rock, Texas, USA
Post  Posted 21 May 2019 8:12 am    
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Thought about doing the same to mine ... the original circuit shorts the neck pickup, I like neck pickup sounds! I believe most folks run the blend full on anyway
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Francisco Castillo

 

From:
Easter Island, Chile
Post  Posted 21 May 2019 8:10 pm    
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hi Stephen

I've been thinking other options,
for example

use single sized humbuckers and with a pot you can choose humbucker/single coil.
you inmediately have 6 different tones
Neck, both, bridge
neck single, both single, bridge single

if you choose differently voiced neck n bridge pickups, the palette of colours is wide...
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Nic Neufeld


From:
Kansas City, Missouri
Post  Posted 22 May 2019 2:52 am    
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Speaking of Fender sins...I liked the "two coils on in series" tone of my Stringmaster so much more than the single coil tone of my Fender 400, that I've considered routing it for a second SM style pickup and wiring those up in series. (It's also a player, not a collectors item).

For the Stringmaster type setups I just think if it as one dual coil pickup, in effect. Hardly ever touch the blend pot...
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