Question Rewiring position 3 to mid single coil only

[Carl M]

As soon as I have my brand new DOA Satch Track repaired or replaced, I will fit it in the neck position of my Silo Special, but then I won't have any single single coil sounds left, so I am considering rewiring position 3 to strat spec, i.e. mid single coil only. Has anyone here performed such a mod?

The neck single coil only sound is great, but I really need a neck humbucker and then the mid single coil alone could hopefully be a really good compromise when I am replacing the neck single coil with a Satch Track.

Are there any wiring diagrams (or instructions) available for such a mod?

 

[beej]

Currently, positions 3, 4, and 5 make use of the neck single coil.

It would be pretty easy to wire position 5 to be the Satch Track (with no Silent Circuit) and 3 to the be the middle only. But what would you want to do with position 4 (neck & middle)? Leave it as-is? Not sure how the ST would combine with a single coil, though I'm assuming it would probably sound fine.

 

[Carl M]

Currently, positions 3, 4, and 5 make use of the neck single coil.

It would be pretty easy to wire position 5 to be the Satch Track (with no Silent Circuit) and 3 to the be the middle only. But what would you want to do with position 4 (neck & middle)? Leave it as-is? Not sure how the ST would combine with a single coil, though I'm assuming it would probably sound fine.

Well it's all about priorities here. Bridge humbucker (1) is priority 1. The second most useful setting is neck single coil alone (5), but I will lose that now when I am replacing it with Satch Track humbucker, which now will become my second most important setting. By enabling mid single coil alone I will again have access to a full single coil alone, which will be my third proirity. Setting 2 will be unaffected and will still be split bridge humbucker + mid single coil, which is useful and the only thing I need to consider is if I should split the Satch Track in position 4 (Satch Track/neck + mid single coil. I haven't decided yet and it's not a setting I will use that much. It's probably the lowest priority for me.

Frankly I really like the way this guitar was built at the factory, but I need a neck humbucker to play what I want to play with this guitar, hence the rewiring and when losing that great neck single coil alone setting, I need to rewire it to access the mid single coil alone as a substitute for great sounding neck single coil.

I saw a thread where someone had rewired his Silo Special to get mid single coil alone and I believe there was a wiring diagram in that thread. But I can't find it. :-/

 

[beej]

It's pretty easy to do. I can do something up for you, once you decide if you want to split the Satch Track. It's only 7k, so I would suggest not splitting it in position 4. Might sound too anemic.

 

[Carl M]

It's pretty easy to do. I can do something up for you, once you decide if you want to split the Satch Track. It's only 7k, so I would suggest not splitting it in position 4. Might sound too anemic.

Great, thanks. Then I will do as you are suggesting and I won't split the Satch Track.

1. Bridge humbucker (stock wiring)
2. Split bridge humbucker in parallel with mid single coil (stock wiring)
3. Mid single coil
4. Mid single coil in parallel with full neck humbucker (sort of stock wiring)
5. Neck humbucker Satch Track (stock wiring but without the "silent circuit")

 

[beej]

Carl, what year is your guitar? I'll send you a PM.

 

[Carl M]

Carl, what year is your guitar? I'll send you a PM.

2009. I can PM you the serial number if it helps.

 

[beej]

Ah ... ok I did the wrong diagram for you ... I'll update it in my PM.

 

[Carl M]

Ah ... ok I did the wrong diagram for you ... I'll update it in my PM.

OK, great. Thanks. I have received the post 2011 diagram, but not the one for earlier versions (2009).

 

[Carl M]

Fantastic! Thank you som much for the support. Now I just need to wait to have my new DOA Satch Track replaced. I am really looking forward to hear how the middle single coil alone will sound. Hopefully it will sound as great as the neck singe coil, but with a little more bite and little less low-end like one would expect.

 

[beej]

Awesome. Lmk if you need any additional help.

Personally I use the middle single all the time. Different than the neck, but it has its own thing going on.

 

[Carl M]

I finally received the replacement Satch Track yesterday. I decided to initially just fit it without rewiring position 3 as discussed in this thread. Using it with the stock 250k volume pot isn't ideal. But when adjusted as low as possible it sounded pretty good. But I was surprise to hear that position 3 had become really useful. It sound a bit like a big fat tele sound similar to the rhythm guitar in Springsteen's Human Touch, so position 3 must probably stay. i need to use it a bit more to decide if I am going to use position 2 or 4 for the mid single coil alone. I guess it will be position 4, but we will see. I need to use it with the band before I decide.

 

[DrKev]

Carl, how humbuckery is the satch track on the low E, A, and D strings? Or is more like a warm single coil?

 

[Carl M]

Carl, how humbuckery is the satch track on the low E, A, and D strings? Or is more like a warm single coil?

Well, my only experience with the Satch Track is with the one I have had in my Silo Special this weekend and please note that I am using the stock 250k volume pot, since everything in the guitar except for the Satch Track is exactly like it was when it left the factory. (Well, I have EB 10-46 instead of EB 9-42)

So far, I have only used it with my '76 Marshall Super Lead with two Marshall 4x12s loaded with G12M 25w. (I will try it with my Fender amp later.)

To make it work I had to lower the Satch Track all the way down and I raised it just a little bit to avoid it to rattle against the pickup cavity floor. The Satch Track is definitely designed to be used with a 500k volume pot. With the 250k I am using, it needs to be set low, otherwise it will be too bassy and muddy.

To answer your question, I'd say it sounds pretty much like Joe S is describing it in the presentation video. But in my words I'd say it's very PAF:ish in a vintage way. It's fat and punchy, but there is that open clarity that you get with some good PAFs. I was looking for something single coil sized that would work well with the Silo Special's bridge Virtual PAF when switching between bridge and neck pickups during solos and the stock single coil didn't match the Virtual PAF at all in that respect, although it provided me with a great strat neck pickup sound, which I miss, but which I an live without. (I have Strats.)

So my initial impression is that the Satch Track is the right neck pickup for me in this guitar. The new new position 3 sound surprised and impressed me, so I will keep that and rewire position 4 to become mid single coil only, because the new position 4 sound is not something I need.

The only question is if I should change the volume pot to 500k. The bridge pickup sounds perfekt now and it will be brighter with a 500k volume pot. The Satch Track will however really benefit from the additional high frequency addition a 500k load would give. But first I need to try it in a band situation. However for now I am just happy about how great my Silo Special feel and sounds. I should have bought a Silo Special a long time ago if I had known...

 

[DrKev]

Thanks for the reply Carl!

It is possible to put 500kΩ pots in there and use parallel resistors on the selector switch to reduce the total load for the bridge pickup and the single coil. I just need to figure out where to put it without messing up the silent circuit.

 

[Carl M]

Thanks for the reply Carl!

It is possible to put a 500kΩ pots in there and use parallel resistors to reduce the total load for the bridge pickup and the single coil. I just need to figure out where to put it without messing up the silent circuit.

Yes, I was considering exactly the same. But I am not sure how the silent circuit will be affected if I connect a 470kΩ or 510kΩ resistor in parallel with the mid single coil.

Another thing is the tone control. I was considering a bypassable Fender tone control pot, but they are only available as 250kΩ and I am not sure if the tone control needs to match the resistance of the volume control or not.

 

[beej]

Thanks for the reply Carl!

It is possible to put 500kΩ pots in there and use parallel resistors on the selector switch to reduce the total load for the bridge pickup and the single coil. I just need to figure out where to put it without messing up the silent circuit.

Or ... you wire the tone pot so it's disconnected in position 5.

 

[Carl M]

Or ... you wire the tone pot so it's disconnected in position 5.

I would prefer to have the tone control available for all the 5 positions, but when the tone control is on 10 it's disconnected from signal path anyway, so I suppose it could work.

 

[DrKev]

...but when the tone control is on 10 it's disconnected from signal path anyway, so I suppose it could work.

No, there is still the full pot resistance to ground.

 

[Carl M]

No, there is still the full pot resistance to ground.

Actually not with this Fender "No load" pot, which has a mechanical bypass switch built in, which electrically disconnects the pot at "10".

Fender No Load Tone control