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Post subject: Lefty, vol/tone controls
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 10:24 am
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Do they work backwards? By this i mean, for full volume and the brighest tone i have the knob turned fully counter clockwise. This means the knobs are showing the lowest number (1). Is this just a case of the knobs been right handed ones? Are other knobs available with the numbers printed in the 'reverse' order?

Also, how does the delta tone work? With the neck conrol at its max (brighest) i dont hear much difference in the tone but i do when it's between 1-3.

The guitar by the way is an 08 American Standard Strat - Left hand

If someone could give me a brief lesson on which of the 5selections affect which knobs and pick ups i'd be most grateful.

Sorry for so many questions!!


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Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 11:33 am
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Shawn:

For some yet to be explained reason Fender has chosen to reverse the pots for left handed operation. The result of this engineering disaster is that everything works backwards ie: non-linear tone and volume. Bu the knobs rotate the correct direction!

IOW, nothing happens from 0-9 and everything happens between 9-10.

The solution is to reverse the wiring on the outsite lugs of the pots. Leave the center lug untouched. The end result from this mod is that the pots turn the other direction (reversed), but you will gain correct linearity.

I have rewired 2 Strats and all is good. I also have a Les Paul that came wired correctly (even the numbers on the knobs were reversed).

Near as I can tell is that the LP uses "reversed taper" pots, however they are 500K ohms which are available as opposed to 250K ohm pots that Fender uses which are not available to my knowledge.

Do a search on the various Strat forums and you will find a wealth of knowledge on this very subject.

Hope to have been some help!

Dan


Last edited by AcousticDano on Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:12 pm
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The 5 way switch selects the pickups. If the lever is all the way towards the bridge pickup, then only the bridge p/u is active. Next up will be bridge pickup and middle p/u, third place (middle position) is for just middle p/u, next is middle and neck p/u, and top is neck p/u only. The delta tone knob is for only the bridge p/u and middle. If you turn the tone knob all the way to 10, it is set for "delta" tone. The other tone knob is for middle and neck pickups.
Good luck.


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Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:45 pm
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just a tid bit for anyone getting curious now...
For the new american strat, Fender replaced the TBX tone circuit with the Delta Tone system which has a no-load tone control. The TBX tone controls had a notch at the ‘5’ position on the knob. The Delta Tone is the 2nd Tone knob and works on the bridge and middle pickups. It’s basically a potentiometer with a switch at the ‘10’ position on the knob. When the tone is set at 10 it clicks and the tone control is essentially removed from the circuit. This gives the pickup a wide open full treble sound. The vintage strats for instance do have a tone control for the bridge pickup and the Delta Tone system is meant to replicate that as well as allow you to roll some of the high-end off.
(I think it basically sends the signal direct when on 10 instead of running it through the tone knobs circuitry)

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Post subject: Re: Lefty, vol/tone controls
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 7:17 pm
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shaun75 wrote:
Do they work backwards?


The one lefty I had in my hads had controls that worked backwards.

How well they worked, I can't say, because as soon as I bought it and took it home, I rewired the controls to work properly (that is, in the direction that the numbers went, like a "normal" righty).

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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 6:06 am
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AcousticDano wrote:
Shawn:

The solution is to reverse the wiring on the outsite lugs of the pots. Leave the center lug untouched. The end result from this mod is that the pots turn the other direction (reversed), but you will gain correct linearity.

IOW, nothing happens from 0-9 and everything happens between 9-10.

Dan




Thanks all.

Dan, does the 'correct linearity' mean that things will hapen all the through the 'turn' instead of just between 9-10?
Is this rewire fairly simple? I havent done this before, although i do know how to solder.
Are any diagrams available of how it looks now AND how it should look?


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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:08 am
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Shaun:


Yes, the linearity will make tone & volume happen throughout the turn.

Just remove the strings. pop the pickguard off and you will see the pots. Just move the wires on the outer lugs. One has a cap on it soldered to the body of the pot, just unsolder the cap and wire and move it too.

Seems I remember a diagram somewhere on the web, but don't remember exactly where.

Google is your friend! There is much discussion on this mod, try a search on this and the other Strat sites as well.

Good luck, and let me know how it works for you!

Dan


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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:02 am
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Many wiring diagrams, including several different ones for left-handed guitars, to be found on this page, second column over:

http://www.fender.com/support/wiring_di ... _lists.php

Cheers - C


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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:55 am
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Cheers. Just had a trial run on my ancient strat copy. Broke the connection on the capacitator(the dark red thing) and connected it to the other lug and the knob worked the exact opposite way!! Thanks guys!

Just a few more questions though before i work on my new baby!

Only the bridge pot has the red capacitator on, but the lug it runs to has a strip going to the mid pot. I take it that i change the connection on the bridge pot, as i did above, and then just run the other strip to the lug on the mid pot that is currently empty? That should make the mid pot work the in correct direction.

Hope i have that right now! Is the volume hard to change, although i yhink i can live with that been the wrong way round cos its always on 10!

Sorry for so many questions but i just want to get it right first time.


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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 6:26 pm
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Yep, move the wire and the cap!


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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 7:01 am
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AcousticDano wrote:
Yep, move the wire and the cap!


The 'wire' been the strip connecting the two pots?

And 'move the cap' just means move the end of the cap to the other lug? Not actually move the cap to on top of the other pot. That's right?


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Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 10:44 am
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In other words change everything from one side of the pot to the other, so the wires/cap is moved to the other lug on the outside! When you have done this the lug you removed the connections from will be empty. Really don't know how to explain it better.

Maybe somepne else can chime in.


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