Modern Strat Wiring

[StratsoundFan]

Hi there, I have a question regarding Modern strat wiring. Here are two wiring diagrams:



Both diagrams are ment for modern, left-handed stratocaster wiring. What I find confusing is how the pickups are connected to the 5 way switch. On the first diagram they are connected to the inner side of the swich, while on the second diagram, they are connected to the outer side. Can someone please explain this to me? I thought the pickups were supposed to be soldered to the same lugs, but maybe I'm wrong!?

 

[charlie chitlin]

I recently corrected a Strat that wasn't working correctly because the switch was turned around and it was all wired backwards.
Check a reputable site like Duncan for wiring diagrams.

 

[StratUp]

Either side of the switch can be used. They are basically duplicate. Typically one side of the switch is jumpered by a common lug and then some components are hung off one side, some off the other, for convenience.

See if this helps:

Everything you need to know about how a 5 way Strat switch works.

Here's an in-depth 3-part series on the 5 way Strat switch, pulling back the pickguard on one of the most common switches you’ll come across.

www.seymourduncan.com

 

[StratsoundFan]

So who should I listen to? @StratUp or @charlie chitlin?

 

[StratsoundFan]

@charlie chitlin There are no wiring diagrams for left-handed strats on Seymour Duncan website.

 

[Triple Jim]

So who should I listen to? @StratUp or @charlie chitlin?

Read the link that StratUp posted and you'll know. The principles are the same for right and left hand.

 

[StratUp]

@charlie chitlin There are no wiring diagrams for left-handed strats on Seymour Duncan website.

Yeah... it makes no difference really. It's just the direction / orientation of the terminals (A side vs B side) that you have to worry about getting right. Read the article I posted on how the switch works and you will understand why.

 

[Butcher_my_axe]

So who should I listen to? @StratUp or @charlie chitlin?

@StratUp

As mentioned before, if there's a jumper lug connecting to both the common lugs on each pole, it makes no difference whichever side the pickups/tone controls are connected to.

Here's a video (and while I'm at it, this channel has great reference materials).

 

[charlie chitlin]

Alright...all I can tell you is, I had a Strat on the bench where the 5-way had been replaced with a 3-way.
At least one of the positions (maybe 2, but it makes no difference) engaged 2 pickups.
All I did was flip the switch, wire it exactly the same way, and it worked like a Strat should.
I also made a righty guitar a lefty awhile ago.
IIRC, all I had to do was swap the outside wires on the outsides of the pots. The middle stayed.
On the volumes, one terminal needed to be disconnected from the body and the other connected.
This makes the pot work the other way.

 

[StratUp]

Alright...all I can tell you is, I had a Strat on the bench where the 5-way had been replaced with a 3-way.
At least one of the positions (maybe 2, but it makes no difference) engaged 2 pickups.
All I did was flip the switch, wire it exactly the same way, and it worked like a Strat should.
I also made a righty guitar a lefty awhile ago.
IIRC, all I had to do was swap the outside wires on the outsides of the pots. The middle stayed.
On the volumes, one terminal needed to be disconnected from the body and the other connected.
This makes the pot work the other way.

Going from righty to lefty, the switch should just flip over horizontally. It should not need any wiring changes. Unless I'm missing something.

The pots are a good point: the two ends need to be "flipped".

Ideally, you would either find left-handed pods (hard to find) or change to linear pots. because of the way an audio pot is tapered, flipping it to left-handed orientation will result in a strong volume increase from one to three and then a minimal increase the rest of the way up to 10.

If it was me I would just change to linear pots. I've had them as volume controls and they work great. Gibson uses linear pots on the number of guitars.

 

[StratUp]

OP: is this an original left-handed guitar with left-handed pots already installed?

What are your goals here? Are you trying to rewire a guitar or just change some pickups, or ? Let us know where you're trying to get to and we can get you there

 

[Torvald]

Left or right handed makes no difference. Connect the commons with the jumper and pick a side for pickups and the other side for the tones. The only reason for a left handed wiring diagram is so you don't get confused when looking at the pickguard upside down on your workbench. Stratup's link explains it perfectly.

 

[StratsoundFan]

@StratUp, I've ordered a set of pickups which i'm going to install. I've also been flirting with the idea of wiring a left-handed pickguard from scratch, something I've never done before. EDIT: I would also like to rewire the pots on my existing guitars so that I get a smooth and gradual taper. Most of my lefty guitars have right-handed, or regular pots, so to speak. I have six electric guitars, all leftys, and only two of them have reverse, left-handed pots: Yamaha Pacifica and ESP LTD st-1.

 

[StratUp]

@StratUp, I've ordered a set of pickups which i'm going to install. I've also been flirting with the idea of wiring a left-handed pickguard from scratch, something I've never done before. EDIT: I would also like to rewire the pots on my existing guitars so that I get a smooth and gradual taper. Most of my lefty guitars have right-handed, or regular pots, so to speak. I have six electric guitars, all leftys, and only two of them have reverse, left-handed pots: Yamaha Pacifica and ESP LTD st-1.

Well, as I said, I would just install linear pots. Or at least try a set and see what you think. I have a couple guitars with them and they work well. They are uniform in scale so they don't vary left to right.

The switch wiring doesn't change.

The pot terminals "flip", end for end. But that might need some interpretation depending on the diagram you use.

If you need a diagram... we'd need a little more info on what you want the controls to do. Do you want a standard strat i.e. master volume, shared tone on N & M, separate tone on B? By "Modern", are you saying that you want less treble roll off when you roll down the volume?

 

[PCollen]

Hi there, I have a question regarding Modern strat wiring. Here are two wiring diagrams:
View attachment 633003 View attachment 633004


Both diagrams are ment for modern, left-handed stratocaster wiring. What I find confusing is how the pickups are connected to the 5 way switch. On the first diagram they are connected to the inner side of the swich, while on the second diagram, they are connected to the outer side. Can someone please explain this to me? I thought the pickups were supposed to be soldered to the same lugs, but maybe I'm wrong!?

 

[StratsoundFan]

@StratUp, By modern I mean bridge pickup with it's separate tone control.

 

[StratsoundFan]

@PCollen, I can't open the document, but I can see it's a diagram for Am Std Strat LH. I've seen that diagram, and that is precisely what I hate on my guitars, my own Am Std Strat, included. It is something people don't realize when they look at lefty diagrams. The pots are wired in reverse on lefty guitars, so if I were to follow Fender's lefty diagrams, I would be wiring the pots the wrong way.

 

[PCollen]

Guess you'll have to wait for a lefty to chime in, maybe from the left-handed guitar players/builders forum.

 

[StratsoundFan]

So I would either have to use reverse logarithmic, or linear pots, but then I can't rely on lefty diagrams anymore.

 

[StratsoundFan]

@PCollen, I don't think you're following me.