50's wiring?

[Taller]

Preparing to dump some new pickups in my '07 245. Check out these 2 schematics:
http://www.prsguitars.com/csc/schema.../singlecut.pdf (http://www.prsguitars.com/csc/schematics/schem08/singlecut.pdf)

The second one, labeled 'Current' - is this what is commonly referred to as 50's wiring? What advantage or option does this give you over the way it was wired in the first schematic, 'Pre-2007'?

Further, compare the above 245 schematic to the Sunburst 245 schematic:
http://www.prsguitars.com/csc/schema...5_sunburst.pdf (http://www.prsguitars.com/csc/schematics/schem08/245_sunburst.pdf)

What's up with the 3.3 Meg resistor from the volume pot to ground?

Thanks -

[Bob V]

Yeah that's wierd - what Gibson guys would call "fifties" wiring is their "current" and what Gibbies would call "modern" they call "pre-2007."

if you read up on fifties wiring you'll see lots of opinions - mine is that the volume and tone controls are more interactive - you wind up playing with both of them - but the sound does not get dull as you roll off the volume. With humbuckers its not unusual to be playing with the volume knob on "5" to get a cleaner sound. Gibson now calls 50's wiring the "Memphis tone circuit" as if its something magic. Technically, the tone control follows the voltage divider (volume) circuit.

Sorry maybe something's fuzzy (make up your own jokes at my expense) but I don't see a 3.3Mohm resistor anywhere.

[cc9cii]

None of the 3 diagrams are "50's wiring" from what I can tell? But then perhaps that is due to my (mis)understanding.

[bluesjunior]

The first diagram is how I wired my ES335 iirc, it is called 50s wiring with independent volume controls. I didn't like the idea of wholly 50s wiring which meant that if one volume control was off it cut the open one as well.

[Taller]

Sorry maybe something's fuzzy (make up your own jokes at my expense) but I don't see a 3.3Mohm resistor anywhere.


Check out the second link in my post. Look at the volume pot legs - the hot leg has the 3.3M to ground.

[fox5150]

When I had my new Bareknuckle Mules put in my Les Paul I opted for fifties wiring. I found the controls to be much more interactive. However, I also found a rather drastic treble drop when rolling back the volume knob. This is a bit weird really as every article I had read beforehand states the preservation of treble as one of the advantages. I've since rewired it to the "modern" wiring and it's back the way it should be. Given such an abundance of reports to the contrary, I'm assuming my findings were in the minority.

I would recommend giving it a whirl and see what you think. Worst that happens is that you have to move the wiring round a bit afterwards. Only took about ten minutes to swap it back to modern wiring.

Simon

[jay42]

I attempted to implement it on one of my guitars and I've obviously got the wrong end of the stick. I've got it wired to kill all the signal if the tone is at 0. :jo Is there a good link for this?

[jamison162]

That "Current" wiring scheme is pretty much the exact same thing as the "50's Wiring" diagrams you will see. That is, the pickups do not "see" the tone circuit until after the volume taper, right before going to output. Instead of the tone circuit being connected directly to the pickup leads "pre" volume pot. This way, no frequencies are affected due to the volume pot alone - it gets the whole signal, then the tone control comes in and filters out highs based on cap/resistance - then to output.

Bob, the Memphis Tone Circuit does sound like nothing more than marketing hype. Buyers think it's something new an improved while the on-line community and DIY'rs have known about it all along. Just shows that folks at the big factories pay attention to what's hot on the forums.

[Taller]

That "Current" wiring scheme is pretty much the exact same thing as the "50's Wiring" diagrams you will see. That is, the pickups do not "see" the tone circuit until after the volume taper, right before going to output. Instead of the tone circuit being connected directly to the pickup leads "pre" volume pot. This way, no frequencies are affected due to the volume pot alone - it gets the whole signal, then the tone control comes in and filters out highs based on cap/resistance - then to output.



Nice explanation, thanks. Your description certainly makes it sound like it's supposed to be wired that way for optimum control of what's going on.
Hey, any clue what the 3.3M resistor is in that second link?
(I'm going to keep :horse 'til I find the answer to that mystery!)
:D

[Bob V]

Oh, now I see it. But, yeah, no clue on that one. Why would a volume control need a tie down resistor?

[Taller]

One last run to the top!