So I decided to convert my HSS American Fat Strat to an SSS. I bought the proper SSS Pickguard, a Bridge Position Texas Special Pickup (to match the others). Removed the Seymour Duncan Humbucker, and carefully moved the rest of the system fully wired to the new Pickguard. Here's where I get confused...

The 5-Way Switch in my Fat Strat does not match the SSS Drawing I'm looking at. What I did was run the Black wire from the Bridge Pickup to the Volume Pot, which matches the other two Single Coils. But I wasn't sure where to run White Wire from the Bridge Pickup, so I made a logical guess on where it goes. In the Bridge only position of the switch, my sound seems to be fine but when I switch to the Bridge-and-Middle Pickup Position I get a significant drop in volume.

Would anyone be willing to help a new guy out? I hope it's just a case of wiring the White Wire to the wrong Terminal. Here's the Strat I'm converting in it's stock configuration. http://support.fender.com/service_diagr ... A_SISD.pdf

Thanks for reading!
Mike

Save yourself some headaches and just replace the Super-Switch with a regular 5-way CRL switch

http://www.acmeguitarworks.com/Switch-C ... 61C10.aspx

and wire the guitar like this:

http://support.fender.com/service_diagr ... C_SISD.pdf

or however you want the tone controls set up.

_________________
Bill

Dumb question did you set the height of the pickup?

Thanks for the replies

I ended up figuring it out, though I'm not entirely sure what I did. Listening to the pickup in the Middle-Bridge & Bridge position I thought the pickup might be out of phase. The odd thing is, I now how the White Wire from the Bridge Pickup on the Volume Pot and the Black Wire going where the Black Wire used to go from the Bridge Humbucker.

I'll probably still end up changing the switch, but at least it works.

Howdy!

Should you wish to maintain your exisitng 5 Way Super Switch, wire the White wire from your new bridge pickup to the terminals that are marked for the perivous Humbuckers Black wires (marked on the close up of the Super Switch on the diagram in your first post)

Take the Black wire from your new bridge pup to the back of the volume pot.

Job Done!

If there are any issues following the above give a me a shout and I'll provide you with a clear diagram later this evening (as i'm currently away form my home pc).

Hope this helps

Andy

_________________
Pending Greatness

Hi Andy,
That's the wiring I originally had, but it was causing some sort of phase issue. When I would select the Middle/Bridge position on the selector, I'd have a significant drop in sound and a thin hollow tone. It wasn't until after I reversed the Bridge Pickup (White Wire on Vol Pot, Black Wire on Selector Switch) that I seemed to have normal functionality. Basically the exact inverse of what you described.

Are you sure the Black Wire goes to the Vol Pot? I also initially thought the Black Wire from the Bridge Pickup should go to the Vol Pot like the other 2 Single Coils. But in practice it gave me the bad results I described above.

Is it possible the Selector Switch is Wired in some sort of Reverse Phase intended for a Humbucker? I'm just guessing here as I have very little electrical knowledge.

Hang on a second...

I may be wrong on this so you might want to get confirmation of the following, but shouldn't a Texas Special Bridge pup have a Yellow Hot (+) wire?



If yours is white and your have phasing issues I reckon you might be trying to put another TS Middle pup in Bridge position. The Middle TS pickup is reverse wound, reverse polarity for hum-cancelling in positions 2 and 4, which could explain why you'd have to reverse your Hot and Ground wires.

Could be this be the answer?

Andy

_________________
Pending Greatness

For TS, the middle pup has the yellow wire.

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

The diagram for the American Fat Strat shows the Middle Pickup as having the Yellow Wire so that must be right.
http://support.fender.com/service_diagr ... A_SISD.pdf

Side note, I did buy this pickup off eBay. It was listed as a Bridge Position Texas Special, and came in the original packaging minus the Neck and Middle Pickup. Someone bought the set of 3 and only needed 2 from the pack. Any difference between the Neck and Bridge Pickup? Is it possible I received a Neck Pickup? It has the Custom Shop sticker on the back, and came in the Texas Special Package... so I have no reason to believe it's not at least a Texas Special.

The bridge pup in most sets is the hottest. By hottest, I mean that it's resistance measured with a meter will be higher than the others.

For TS, the neck pup should be about 6.2K ohms and the bridge should be higher, like 6.5K ohms to 7.1K ohms.

Edit:
The TS middle pup is also 6.5K ohms, but it has the yellow wire. Look for dots on the bottom of the pups, IIRC the bridge should have a red dot and the neck a blue dot, the middle has no dot.

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

You can see the colored dots in this picture, on the bottom of the poles beside the CS stickers.

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Thanks Shimmilou, I'll check this out when I get home

-edit-
Forget what I said, I just looked at the Auction and it does indeed have a Red Sticker on the bottom of it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/120843379018?ss ... 500wt_1156

Ah ha!

Well there you go! I hope you get it sorted.

Best of luck!

Andy

_________________
Pending Greatness

Looks like the pickup is fine, so probably not an issue with the seller.