Wiring Seymour Duncan spb-3 quarter pounders!

[XPAULUSX]

Hi there,

i've just bought myself some new pbass pickups, and would like to install them into my bass!

however, my bass is a 50' MIM Precision.

Im unsure about how to wire my new pickups, do i try and wire them as the diagram suggests? (even though my bass has different capacitor values and locations? Or do i wire them how my stock pickups are wired?

If i do the latter will I lose any output from my Seymour Duncans?

I'm new to this, but would really like to teach myself how to do it!

Any help appreciated.

Links:

Seymour Duncan Wiring recommendation: [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/images/products/basslines/501030-100.pdf"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/images/produc.../501030-100.pdf[/url]
American Standard pbass wiring diagram: [url="http://support.fender.com/diagrams/basses/0192200_02A/SD0192200_02APg2.pdf"]http://support.fender.com/diagrams/basses/...2200_02APg2.pdf[/url]
Vintage 50's pbass wiring diagram: [url="http://support.fender.com/diagrams/basses/0190115C/SD0190115CPg2.pdf"]http://support.fender.com/diagrams/basses/...0190115CPg2.pdf[/url]

Edited August 17, 2010 by XPAULUSX

[Ou7shined]

They both work. The simplest thing to do would just be to de-solder you original pups and directly replace them with the new without changing any other wiring.
The cap only determines how much top end is bled off so you may like how your original 0.1uf sounds if you are unhappy with it simply swap it for the .05 or swap it and redo the whole loom as per SD. It's up to you really.

[XPAULUSX]

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='927676' date='Aug 17 2010, 03:54 PM']They both work. The simplest thing to do would just be to de-solder you original pups and directly replace them with the new without changing any other wiring.
The cap only determines how much top end is bled off so you may like how your original 0.1uf sounds if you are unhappy with it simply swap it for the .05 or swap it and redo the whole loom as per SD. It's up to you really.[/quote]


Hey thanks for the reply!

it was very helpful!

what differences in tone could i expect if i replaced the capacitor with a .05?

[Ou7shined]

If you increase the size of the capacitor, you effectively lower the frequency cut off point.

[Ou7shined]

Pinched off the web.....

How to choose the right tone capacitor for guitar and bass?

Most guitars and basses with passive pickups use between .01 and .1MFD (Microfarad) tone capacitors with .02 (or .022) and .05 (or .047) being the most common choices. The capacitor and tone pot are wired together to provide a variable low pass filter. This means when the filter is engaged (tone pot is turned) only the low frequencies pass to the output jack and the high frequencies are grounded out (cut) In this application, the capacitor value determines the "cutoff frequency" of the filter and the position of the tone pot determines how much the highs (everything above the cutoff frequency) will be reduced. So the rule is: Larger capacitors will have lower cutoff frequency and sound darker in the bass setting because a wider range of frequencies is being reduced. Smaller capacitors will have a higher cutoff frequency and sound brighter in the bass setting because only the ultra high frequencies are cut. For this reason, dark sounding guitars like Les Pauls with humbuckers typically use .02MFD (or .022MFD) capacitors to cut off less of the highs and guitars like Strats and Teles with single coils typically use .05MFD capacitors to allow more treble to be rolled off. Keep in mind that the capacitor value only affects the sound when the tone control is being used (pot in the bass setting) The tone capacitor value will have little to no effect on the sound when the tone pot is in the treble setting.

[XPAULUSX]

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='927712' date='Aug 17 2010, 04:25 PM']Pinched off the web.....

How to choose the right tone capacitor for guitar and bass?

Most guitars and basses with passive pickups use between .01 and .1MFD (Microfarad) tone capacitors with .02 (or .022) and .05 (or .047) being the most common choices. The capacitor and tone pot are wired together to provide a variable low pass filter. This means when the filter is engaged (tone pot is turned) only the low frequencies pass to the output jack and the high frequencies are grounded out (cut) In this application, the capacitor value determines the "cutoff frequency" of the filter and the position of the tone pot determines how much the highs (everything above the cutoff frequency) will be reduced. So the rule is: Larger capacitors will have lower cutoff frequency and sound darker in the bass setting because a wider range of frequencies is being reduced. Smaller capacitors will have a higher cutoff frequency and sound brighter in the bass setting because only the ultra high frequencies are cut. For this reason, dark sounding guitars like Les Pauls with humbuckers typically use .02MFD (or .022MFD) capacitors to cut off less of the highs and guitars like Strats and Teles with single coils typically use .05MFD capacitors to allow more treble to be rolled off. Keep in mind that the capacitor value only affects the sound when the tone control is being used (pot in the bass setting) The tone capacitor value will have little to no effect on the sound when the tone pot is in the treble setting.

[/quote]

I LOVE THIS FORUM thanks again

Just got the scratch plate and everything off my guitar, just from having a look at the stock pickups i see the black and white wires are going to different points than what they are in the SD diagram, surely if i wire the black wire on my SD to where the black wire is going currently, and the white wire to where the white wire is currently going, i'm in business =D