SN eee rer crs ene ert a eae tena i aa tee cep-by-step explanations with over 350 photos, drawings and schematics.Contents Introduction : Section I: Picku ps np>r ape ‘TYPES OF PICKUPS. CONTACT PICKUPS 7 Types. Function Popular Models: Barcus Berry DiMarzio Frap Ovation . Use MAGNETIC PICKUPS B Design and Function Major Pickup and Guitar Accessory Manufacturers: Armstrong. Bartolini Birch Cook c GUITAR ELECTRONICS DiMarzio Dunean Fender Gibson GRD Grevsch Guild Lawrence Mighty Mite Overland Peavey Rowe Schecter Shadow Shergold Stars String Vision Velvet Hammer Electric Basses Section Il: Electric Guitar Circuits rarorommone> pne> » HARDWARE COMPONENTS DESIGN AND FUNCTION Grounds Color Codes Lead Wiring Pots Volume Pot Operation Tone Controls Knobs 48 |. Types of Switches Jacks Cords Cordless ‘Amps and Speakers SERVICING ELECTRIC GUITAR CIRCUITS Tools and Equipment Shielding Squeals and Feedback Repairing Circuits a 3 gne> HOT RODDING ELECTRIC GUITARS Choosing a Speciality Pickup Coil Rewinding Multi-lead Wiring ‘Advanced Wiring: By-Pass Phasing Series/Parallel Splitting Stereo Tapped Pickups Varitone Volume Extras Combination Circuits Installing Sound Modifiers LC Newworks | Electronic Volume and Tone Controls, For Lefties and Jimi Hendrix Fans nCONTENTS Section III: Schematics SCHEMATICS AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION 90 Barcus Berry Bartolini Dittarzio Fender Gibson Gretsch Lawrence Mighty Mite Oration Peavey Schecter ATO ro™mgne> GLOSSARY us INDEX na FooTNoTes 2s PHOTO CREDITS 17Introduction All musicians, gular repairmen, instrument retales a8 well as anyone else who wanes to inerease their knowhedge of gutar construction and fnetion wal benef from reading this 600k. Musicians: wil find that 3 better understanding of their instrumenc wil enable them co wield their gitar 2 skilful tool to create musial moods and {mation provoking sounds unique nly to themselves. Reparmen: wl find explanations ofthe design and function of many elecri guitar components 35 Well 35 2 comprehensive section af schematics showing the ‘uring of over 50 electric guitars and basses, Retailers: wil nd this book to be 3 valuable ad in understanding the operation of the equipment hey sell and therefore beter saUsy the needs of ther customers “This book divides guitar electronics ino sections so that each facet canbe clearly understood. There are ‘ver 350 photos and drawings to faite the Understanding ofeach ofthe subjects covered. The following ia deserpton ofthe sections covered Pickups: from vintage to state-oFhe-ar pickups for acoustics and electrics... hata pik How ie ‘works and how to select the one you need. al about the many types of aieo ana ceramic magnets - the wit and how of cil winding shielding, and mul lead witing fr more power and a multitude of tones. ‘Wiring! the how and why of guitar deus... an explanation ofall he components that make up volume and tone celts. the function ef pots, Capacitor, switches jacks, grounding plates, chokes new wiring creuts boing devised... and more ‘Schematics: pages and pages showing how to wire instruments and pickups made by Gibson, Fender Gretsch Schecter, DiMarzio, Ovation, Lawrence, HiFA, Duncan, and information covering stereo, phasing, slitting, series/parallel..and'many other ‘ring Configurations. This Book concludes witha glossary that i entensve as 3 chapter: and the index gives 3 fst feference for sobing problems such a hum, feedback, orne sound, {This book has been three yeas inthe writing and tas received the personal atention and assistance of the following india ‘Alembic - Susan Wilkersham ‘Armstrong Guitar ~ Dan Armstrong Barelin/ Hi-A ~ Wiliam & Pat Bacon Barcus Berry jack Hensie DiMarzio Larry DiMarzio Steve Kaulman Steve Blucher Duncan Pickups ~ Seymour Duncan Fender - Leo Fender Gregg Wilson Fred Tavares Mike Fleming Jim Murphy GUITAR ELECTRONICS. Ken Young Vince Basse Gibson - Gary Aumaugher Seth Lover Walter Fuller Dave Sutton Terry Green Guild of American Luthiers ~ Tim Olsen Lawrence - Bill Lawrence Mighty Mite ~ Neil Henderson Power Pots - Mark McKee Rickenbacker ~ F.C. Hall John Hall Rowe-DeArmond ~ Horace Rowe Seephen Tosh Schecter - David Schecter Herschel Blankenship Tom Anderson Tom Stinson Tem Keckler Shel Horlick Gene Rushall Sears - Ren Armstrong ‘This book is for everyone associated with electric guitars, People familiar with guitars are likely to approach this book casually and find i simple to follow. However, persons unfamiliar with guitars and uninformed about the innermost workings of them, may approach this book with trepidation. There is no need for any apprehension because electric guitars are basically very simple. They may come in many styles, colors, and sizes, but their hearts are nearly always the same, This book is writzen to give an understanding of what parts an electric guitar is composed of and how these parts operate and interrelate. This book is arranged in operational order. I starts with the origin of a guita’s sound (2 pickup), and follows that sound signal on its path through'3 guitar and then to an amplifier. Ater this, information dealing with hot-rodding and repair are explored, Many different models of guitars share the same ‘components, e.g, several Gibson electric guitars share the same pickups and controls. For this reason, individual instruments are not the focal point of this book; rather, the individual components, Le, pickups and controls are emphasized. Many persons may not know what kind of pickups their guitar has, and they may not want to spend the time reading every page of this book trying to find what section is relevant co their guitar. The following chart _groups common instruments into classifications. A person can then look in the table of contents and index for information that would be apropo. Single coil pickups generally have the inside wire of. the coil as the ground lead of a pickup because this wire lays against a bare bar magnet or cylindrical slugs. Humbuckers generally use one inside coil wire for the hot lead and the other inside col wire for theINTRODUCTION {ground lead. Humbuckers pose a problem because the {round and hot leads need to come from the same location of each coil eis ele that using the outside lead isnot the best choice BRAND NAME USAGE ‘There are several guitar companies that make ‘equipment that fits onto the instruments made by ‘other companies, In situations like this, names of one ‘company are mentioned in the promotional material of another. This has created an awkward situation of possible brand name infringement. Please take note that FENDER STRATOCASTER, STRAT, ‘TELECASTER, TELE, PRECISION BASS, P-BASS, JAZZ BASS, and J-BASS are some of the registered ‘trademarks of C.BS. Ine. LES PAUL, E5-335, and GIBSON are some of the registered wademarks of NORLIN Inc. DUAL SOUND, SUPER DISTORTION, PAF, and SDS-I are some of the registered trademarks of DIMARZIO Inc. SUPEROCK, and Z+ are registered trademarks or SCHECTER GUITAR RESEARCH, ‘There are many other company names that are registered trademarks, These names are used only when they are vial in clarifying a subject being described. It is hoped that this book will assist an Understanding as to which companies created which products Guitars with Humbucking Pickups B.C. RICH: SEAGULL, EAGLE, BICH FENDER: STARCASTER, TELECASTER CUSTOM, ‘AND PRECISION BASS (NEW) GIBSON: £8-3, E5-335, LS, LES PAUL STANDARD/CUSTOM/AND THE PAUL, SG STANDARD GRETSCH: COUNTRY GENTLEMEN, SUPER CHET. GUILD: STARFIRE Guitars with Single Coil Pickups FENDER: TELECASTER, JAZZ MASTER, STRATOCASTER, MUSIC MASTER, MUSTANG, PRECISION BASS (ORIGINAL), JAZZ BASS GIBSON: £5-125, MELODY MAKER. SG (ORIGINAL), LES PAUL (ORIGINAL)/SPECIAL, AND PRO RICKENBACKER: 360 GUITAR (ORIGINAL), 4001 BASSSection | I. Types of Pickups TYPES OF PICKUPS ‘The word “pickup” refers to a device that “picks up” the sound of a musical instrument and converts it ‘to an electrical signal. In this sense, pickup is a sel ‘explanatory term. A pickup is sometimes called a transducer Which is just a technical name for a device that can change one type of energy into another. Since this is what all pickups do, all pickups are transducers. ‘They convert string or guitar body vibrations into electrical energy. Not all pickups made are covered in this book. Some are emitted because their function is similar to.a pickup already described, It would take 2 great deal of Space to describe each and every pickup made: also, it is common for pickup companies to change product lines. Pickups used on musica instruments are of wo types: Contact devices or Electromagnetic devices. ‘These two types can be divided into several subcategories. For example, contact pickups can be: tact cup wth volume ad tone eatrle~ made by GUITAR ELECTRONICS condenser, dynamic, or piezo, Electromagnetic pickups can be: single coil, double coil, or tripe coll. A further subdivision of electromagnetic pickups involves impedance and the subcategories here would be: high- impedance, mid-impedance, and low-impedance. ‘Contact pickups use a vibration energy sensing