This is a professionally built prewired stratocaster wiring harness upgrade for american or mexican fender stratocasters. The idea is to implement the blender pot, preserve the greasebucket tone circuit, but make the tone control have effect solely on the bridge. Fender american performer telecaster vintage white with. This wiring diagram comes courtesy of seymour duncan pickups and is used with permission. But anyway, this is the most usable tone control i have had up to now. This is very similar to the bass cut tone circuit except that this circuit can also work as a treble cut. The point of all this is that unless you have a no load tone pot the circuit is always in your tone even if your pots are wide open at 10. Simply by flipping the dpdt toggle switch, each of the capacitors can be placed into the signal path in series, producing a bass cut or in parallel, producing a treble cut. Fender stratocaster strat greasebucket tone mod wiring harness loom upgrade kit.
Previously, cutting both tone and volume made the pups sound lifeless. Fender custom shop 2016 limited edition namm custom built 50s journeyman relic telecaster, maple firemist silver metallic. The greasebucket tames the resonant peak you get when you turn down the tone knob by about half. Fender custom shop limited edition heavy relic mischief. This modification is called the greasebucket tone circuit and it was introduced by fender in 2005, installed in some of their highway one guitars and some of their custom shop stratocaster models.
Instead of the standard single capacitor tone control wiring, i wired in the second capacitor and resistor for the fender greasebucket. A greasebucket tone circuit is also a 250k potentiometer with. Greasebucket circuit removal mod for fender american. I installed it using hovland caps, a tantalum resistor on a 500k audio tone pot.
Fender american performer telecaster hum aubergine with. As you turn the tone control pot, you are increasing the resistance, sending more high frequency signal through the first cap, then it still has to go through the second cap and 4. Gearhead enterprises in your number one source for streetrod, truck and muscle car parts. The 2016 limited edition heavy relic mischief maker is much more than a battered stratocaster with a telecaster neckits modern wiring includes a blender neck pickup control that delivers a full and truly variable range of stratocaster and telecaster tones. Wiring diagram courtesy of seymour duncan in recent columns weve been exploring passive tone systemshow they work, what they do, and what they dont do. I have a tele with fenders greasebucket tone circuit i took this off a strat earlier this year and planned to do the same with it on this tele too, but the more i play it, the more i like it. Wiringproducts the place to buy automotive wiring supplies. However, it sometimes seems like bass is being added because the standard tone circuit removes so much from the midrange as you turn the tone knob farther down. This kit contains everything needed to wire a greasebucket tone circuit with a. Tele wiring battle royale vintage vs modern lollar.
The greasebucket was introduced in 2005, and its still found in todays fender american special jazz bass. For example, you can try different tone cap values and materials. Ive seen a lot of threads asking about this greasebucket tone circuit that comes in the fender american special basses and i have one, so i. This is my personal comparison of a normal guitar tone circuit with the fender greasebucket tone control. This circuit is designed to cut high frequencies without adding bass. Wiring harness for fender telecaster brown sugar blend. F caps laying around the workbench and i picked up the 4. In addition to a standard tone control, there are noload, gibson varitone, midshaper eg torres, and grease bucket and tbx from fender. Fender american performer telecaster vintage white with maple.
Com, the musicians diy electronics source for free. It takes a 10 or a 15 amp fuse because thats what the wires in that circuit can handle. This is a prewired tone pot already configured as a fender greasebucket circuit. Fender custom shop black roasted dualmag strat relic aged. Just follow the instructions to install the wiring. The bridge pickup has a great melodic sound with the tone control at half, clean or distorted. Fenders greasebucket tone circuit page 3 fender info. This kit is for a telecastersingle tone control 1 x 0. Dec 25, 2015 that said, this fender circuit with its integrated operation has its fans among lowenders. In that case, i recommend you check out bills 5way for tele wiring. Greasebucket tone circuit kit found squiertalk forum.
The fender greasebucket tone circuit premier guitar. Now were about to challenge some basic misconceptions many bassists have as a result of. Have a strat that i will be wiring from scratch so in a few weeks. Help with new super blend strat wiring mod telecaster guitar forum. Greasebucket circuit forms an rlc circuit, a resonant circuit comprising a resistor, an inductor, and a capacitor. Standard in all american professional series guitars, this simple mod can help your tone at all volumes. The standard tone circuit in the strat is called a variable lowpass filter aka a treblecut filter, which allows only the low frequencies to pass through while the high frequencies get sent to ground via the tone cap. The illustration below if the basic wiring for a tone control. We call this telecaster harness the brown sugar blend. A regular tone circuit in a strat is a 250k potentiometer with. My impression is that as you turn down the tone knob, the signal is, in effect, panned between the two caps of the greasebucket circuit.
Note that on these guitars the bridge tone control at max has a slight detente that seems to switch out the control completely. It is the stock tone control system on several popular recent and current models, such as highway ones, and american specials, and also some basses. Fender stratocaster strat greasebucket tone mod wiring. The delta tone simply removes the tone pot from the circuit when its past the detent, which means the tone pot isnt holding back any high freq. Fenders greasebucket tone circuit page 2 fender info.
Anyone got a greasebucket tone circuit ernie ball forums. This is a fairly cheap conversion, also, i am handy with wiring. I cnt get all technical but the grease bucket is supposed to subtract the higher tone frequencies more or less at the same rate that it subtracts lower freq. One of the switch positions reduces the neck pups bass by 10%. Wiring diagram for telecaster 3 way switch stratocaster guitar, fender. If you like that tone, its also there on a standard tone control but this makes it easier to set. Currently i do it by hand with pencil, paper and some templates but there has to be a faster way using a simple software package. Fender greasebucket circuit diy do it yourself harmony. Jan 11, 2007 greasebucket circuit forms an rlc circuit, a resonant circuit comprising a resistor, an inductor, and a capacitor. Buy pair highway 1 type greasebucket guitar tone upgrade capacitors kit for 2 pots. The standard tele controls havent changed much from its first conception. I could use a little advice from the wiring gurus out there. Greasebucket tone circuit comparison fender american special. To change the grease bucket to a delta tone, all you need is a delta tone tone pot.
How to wire your stratocaster, test pots, select capacitor and make tone control wiring decisions. One very important thing to remember in all your wiring, whether you use these schematics or purchase a kit, neatness counts. If you choose to use a toggle switch, then it will change the guitars appearance when you drill a hole for that switch. We stock thousands of electrical parts such as wire, switches, circuit breakers, cables, fuse blocks, and more. Is this just the diagram below, or is there a different schematic for it. If that is the case, you might want to install a dpdt switch, which will switch the greasebucket tone circuit off and if the tone control previously used a. We offer above industry standard service and repairs. Fender custom shop 2016 limited edition namm custom built 50. Tone circuit do you want a tone control on your guitar that doesnt work like a standard tone control. This teles yosemite singlecoil bridge pickup features flatstaggered pole pieces, yielding a vintage tonal balance and ampbrutalizing punch. Does the rebel wire harness come with a wiring diagram and instructions. Greasebucket tone circuit the truth fender stratocaster. The key thing is that at minimum, it stops just short of going totally mellow, but keeps a little bit of edge.
Electronics free delivery possible on eligible purchases. Premium harness for stratocaster with greasebucket tone. As previously mentioned, there have been many small changes to the circuit design, such as capacitor and potentiometer values, etc. The greasebucket tone circuit adds a new dimension to your tone, the effect is that when rolled down, the tone pot reduces the high frequencies, but does not add bass. Pair highway 1 type greasebucket guitar tone upgrade. Of course there are lots of tone circuit designs out there, but the greasebucket tone circuit in the american special series stratocaster. If you dont go getting ideas of your own it will be a piece of cake. This teles yosemite singlecoil pickups feature flatstaggered pole pieces, yielding a vintage tonal balance and ampbrutalizing punch. Greasebucket circuit or install fresh into your strat or tele to get that greasy tone. Fen greasebucket tone control in lp my les paul forum. With the regular 250k, as the tone is rolled off, there is an increase in bass frequency. I also have a treble bleed kit installed which really helps when i lower the volume. Circuitlab is an inbrowser schematic capture and circuit simulation software tool to help you rapidly design and analyze analog and digital electronics systems.
Mar 16, 2014 wiring a t bucket is not very difficult. The view is as you would see it from the bottom of the potentiometer, wired for a righthanded guitar. Mar 20, 2020 we would like to thank the thousands of users who participated actively in the fender. The fender custom shop limited edition namm 2016 custom built 50s journeyman relic telecaster has the perfect set of features for the vintage tele fan. So i opened up the guitar again and wired split tone controls with a.
Also called the broadcaster blend circuit, this wiring is the transition circuit between the singlepickup esquire and the telecaster with its wellknown dualpickup configuration. Two handwound custom shop twisted tele pickups grace the top, kicking out highoutput, smoking tone thats further shaped by modern wiring, including our slick, volumepreserving greasebucket tone circuit. The greasebucket is basically a tone circuit that removes treble without taking out so much in the mids. Buy pair highway 1 type greasebucket guitar tone upgrade capacitors kit. Looking at the circuit, it looks like all the greasebucket does is add the second small cap and resistor permanently in series with the tone control. After thinking about it some more, i think there is more going on with the greasebucket circuit. In spite of my l5jazzy comment i would not consider the circuit to sound mellow with these pickups at any settings. Fenders tbx tone control, which stands for treble bass expander. Fender custom shop limited 50s journeyman relic telecaster.
The greasebucket tone circuit adds a new dimension to your tone, the effect is that when rolled down, the tone pot reduces the high frequencies, but does not emphasize the bass. Combining handwound 50s vintagestyle pickups and heavyrelic finish with a lightweight chambered thinline body and modern wiring, complete with the popular greasebucket tone circuit, this is a guitar to round out any telecaster lovers collection. Have you noticed how your note definition can suffer when you roll your tone knob back. The 50s wiring seems to work well here, so the full monty version for me would be to rewire with 50s. I am going to put one on each of my guitars and give one of the kits to the tech who is doing the work for me as a tip. Buy greasebucket tone control capacitorresistor upgrade kit for 1. New premium wiring harness for stratocaster with greasebucket tone circuit, cts, orange drop, 5 way crl switch and treble bleed.
Tone circuit fun grease bucket mod wired guitarist. When people add something to a curcuit, then put a bigger fuse in because the circuit keeps blowing, all theyre doing is taking away the protection to that circuit. The tone control pot is reversed, so as you decrease the resistance, the treble cut decreases. Greasebucket tone circuit kit telecaster greasebucket. Its been speculated upon for years exactly what keith richards has under the hood of his main tele, macawber. We encourage you to register a free account and join in on the discussions. Okay so having said that have any of you tried, or got a fr guitar with the new greasebucket tone control on it. The oval blobs on the potentiometer casing are solder connections.
You can personalize the greasebucket circuit to match the pickup type youre using vs. Over the years, there have been many imitators, but this is the t bucket resource you have been looking to find. I have done this before for a 39 ford, now im doing it again for a t bucket and im getting additional requests to do more. Fender custom shop 50s custom thinline telecaster electric. The greasebucket tone control this is another fender variant, like most of the more colourfully named tone circuits. Ive got two different usa fender stratocasters one has the delta tone circuit, and the other features the greasebucket circuit. Finally getting around to installing the reilander pups i got from budwen stevie and decided to try out the greasebucket circuit and as i was looking for the parts. Guitarfreak guitar frequency response calculator guitarnutz 2. Fender custom shop 61 telecaster relic faded 3tone. Its supposed to roll off the highs without adding bass.
Fender custom shop 1963 journeyman relic telecaster custom. The same values are used for either guitar or bass. Leave the ends of the wires hanging, when the wiring is all in go back and connect the wires one by one. Check out our easy guide on modding a tone knob into a grease bucket mod. The 100nf cap in the gb circuit has a slight effect on the response as well. I have the circuit on both tone controls with them wired up as per american standard specs.
The tone control a basic tone control consists of a capacitor and a potentiometer the tone control itself. The greasebucket tone circuit adds a new dimension to your tone the effect is that when rolled down, the tone pot reduces the high frequencies, but does not ad. If you have an american special jazz bass, want the greasebucket circuit out and dont want to reverse the direction of the tone knob, the solution is using the above video as the example is to move the two white wires from lug 1 to lug 2, then wire the capacitor to lug 3 by wiring it up that way, the direction of the knob wont be reversed. This site was created in 2006, to provide enthusiasts with a place to discuss tbuckets. Telecaster wiring harness3 way grease bucket tone circuit whether youre planning a new build or simply replacing the cheap import production, a simple upgrade to the electronic controls maybe all you need. Telecaster wiring harness 3 way grease bucket tone reverb. Wiring products is an internet retailer and distributor of automotive electrical parts and supplies. Photo bucket sure did a job on blocking your pictures. Wiring diagrams telecaster custom, telecaster, guitar diy. Greasebucket tone control capacitorresistor upgrade kit.
The fender greasebucket tone circuit cigar box guitar music guitar playing guitar acoustic guitar guitar chord guitar parts diy guitar pedal guitar pedals guitar magazine many pro players swear by this tone circuit, and it indeed produces a different effect than the standard tone circuit. These forums were a lively place for discussion for many years. Fender forums view topic why do so many people hate the. On top of that, fenders greasebucket tone control keeps things from getting muddy.
There is also a standard tone control with an extra load resistor across the volume pot for circuits where the pickup needs more load. Half blender diagram question fender stratocaster guitar forum. Fender greasebucket tone circuit comparison youtube. There is the possibility that you might not want to use this tone control all of the time. Vintagetinged tone with higher output and modern wiring.
The greasebucket s bandpass filter is a combination of a highpass and a lowpass filter. So before you take that dive into new pickups, consider the upgrade first. A standard tone control rolls off some high frequencies depending on the capacitance of the tone cap, making the bass frequencies more prominent but also gives a muddy sound. Im thinking about removing the greasebucket tone circuit from my highway one p and replacing it with standard controls. What does a fender greasebucket tone circuit actually do.
By now, most agree that its not stock tele wiring, but a modified broadcaster circuit. Wiringproducts is the online place to buy automotive wiring and electrical supplies. Greasebucket tone circuit, rolls off highs without adding bass note that a passive circuit cannot add bass. Lowest price guaranteed for new, fender showcase dealer, fender custom shop, ibanez, prs, guild, marshall, orange and more. This is a premium drop in control setup featuring fenders greasebucket tone circuit, introduced in 2005 on several guitars in the highway one series, and several custom shop models. One of the problems with a standard tone control is that as you bring down the treble the cutoff.
The fender greasebucket tone circuit via premier guitar magazine. The doublebound twopiece body is constructed from handselected alder, chosen for its weight and grain pattern. The dualmag relic also features custom wiring with fenders greasebucket tone circuit, so you can smoothly roll. This type of bandpass filter only allows certain frequencies to pass through, while others are blocked. Dec 02, 2010 im making up an electrical wiring diagram for a specific custom vehicle. While the fender american performer telecaster is teeming with vintagetinged tone, its modern output and wiring give it a sound all its own. Prewired greasebucket tone pot usa parts wainwright reverb. Musical mischief abounds from a spirited custom shop creation that delivers all the sounds of a stratocaster and a telecaster. Solidbody electric guitar, limited edition, with ash body, aaa flame maple neck, 2 singlecoil pickups, and greasebucket tone circuit 2color sunburst.
I like the way it sounds, no mud at all and i think the mids are more there, the bass is. So far i have made a circuit based on a wiring diagram. Why do so many people hate the greasebucket tone discussion in. Jun 19, 2008 i literally reinvented it because what i came up with i later found is called the grease bucket circuit from fender.
100 418 558 831 875 401 1008 937 356 1069 342 1601 1544 8 280 824 1216 528 50 869 612 1482 18 1549 163 225 1095 1434 1080 382 1039 95