ASK-HBS: Strat Switches Wired Without Any Jumpers

Question

Hi,

I have all my Strat switches wired without any jumpers. I always only have master volume and master tone. I get all the sounds I’m supposed to, but I’m wondering if wiring it this way compromises the tone at all.

Thanks,

Eric

Answer

Hello Eric, thank you for the great question! I’m afraid I’m not sure what you mean by “all Strat switches without jumpers.” Most Strats usually only have the one 5-way switch.

By jumper wire, you might be referring to the ground wire that many people add to ground the switch’s chassis. It is usually a wire attached to the switch screw or soldered to the metal body on one end and soldered to the back of the volume pot at the other end. This wire can help reduce noise slightly as the metal components could pull in RF interference. It can also help reduce the noise you hear when you touch the switch without the plastic cover. It’s technically the right way to do it, but it will not affect your tone and has an extremely minimal effect on reducing noise. Most of the guitars you find “in the wild” will not have this wire, and it’s not in most diagrams.

By jumper wire, you might also be referring to the wire that connects the first side of the switch to the second. This wire makes it possible for Fender to have the two tone controls instead of the master control you mention in the question. Having a single tone instead of two will not limit your tone options much but slightly reduces the instrument’s flexibility, especially in a live situation. The upper tone control only works on the neck, while the lower control adjusts the tone of the middle pickup. This setup allows you to preset your tone for each, so it’s ready when you select it. With a master tone, you need to adjust to each setting quickly. It may also limit you slightly when creating tones that use a combination of both pickups since you can’t change the neck and middle individually, and the elimination of a tone on the bridge on a Fender circuit might help it be slightly brighter, so it’s more effective for rhythms, and your master tone will affect this pickup too.

If you mean something else by jumper wire, let me know, and I’ll help you figure it out.

Thanks for the great question and for reading Humbucker Soup!

Follow-Up Question

Hi, thanks for your reply.

No, I only mean one 5-way Oak Grizzly switch and using only a master volume and master tone.

Most wiring diagrams show a “jumper” wire from a lug on one side of the switch to a lug on the other side of the switch. However, I have found a few diagrams that make the wiring easier. Those diagrams show the three + pickup wires going to 3 lugs on one side of the switch and the last lugs wire going to the vol pot positive. All negative is going to the back of the pot. It’s just that this is much easier than having to put the jumper from one side of the switch to the other.

I’m just wondering if this method of wiring compromises the tone at all.

I do still get all 5 traditional tones.

Eric

Answer

Hello Eric, I’m sorry to hear you’re still having trouble, but we’re very close now. The five-way Oak Grizzly switch is actually two switches in one. The tabs that run down the left side are one switch, and the tabs that run down the right side are another. The jumper wire connects the second switch to the first, allowing more wiring options, and Fender uses these options to give you more control over your tone. Instead of sending your signal directly to the volume, the jumper wire sends it to the second side of the switch.

If you look again at a diagram that uses the jumper wire to the second side of the switch, you will see a second wire coming from the same tab that goes to the volume control. You can connect your master tone here the same as in the simpler design, and the guitar will work exactly the same way. Fender does not add the master tone because they like to leave the bridge pickup with no tone control to get a brighter tone in this position. Even when your tone control is fully open, it’s still warming your sound up slightly. So this eliminates that problem. Then as you move through the switching positions, you get a tone control specific to the neck pickup and specific to the middle pickup.

If you tend to leave your tone controls at full or only adjust them occasionally, like many guitar players I’ve met, you will probably notice very little difference between the two wiring systems. All three pickups will work correctly, you will get all five tones and you will be able to warm up the tone when you need to. You can even remove one of the tone controls or use it for something else and you will have one fewer components to replace as they wear out.

However, if you like to find new tones by playing with the controls, there are several differences between the two circuits.

1. The bridge pickup is slightly warmer with the simpler wiring. However, you can make it even warmer if you want to. You have no control over the bridge pickup’s tone with the Fender design.
2. With the more complex wiring, you can set your tone for the neck pickup, switch to the middle pickup to set that tone, and when you switch back, your neck pickup will remain unchanged. With the simpler design, you will need to adjust your tone for each switch setting, and if you were in a live performance situation, it could be more difficult.
3. Since you adjust the neck and middle pickup independently in the more complex wiring scheme, the switch position that combines the two will give you many more possibilities. You can have a neck pickup with a tone at 3/4 and a middle pickup with the town at 50%, or you can reverse them for unlimited unique tones. With a simpler wiring, both the neck and middle pickup will roll off the tone equally at all times.
4. In the position that combines the bridge and middle pickup, you can create warm tones that keep their clarity because the bridge pickup remains bright as you warm up the middle one. With the simpler design, both the middle and bridge pickup will roll off equal amounts of high-end as you twist the tone control.

Hopefully, this answers your question. Keep sending them, and thanks for reading Humbucker Soup.

Ed Malaker