Hi Folks,
I'm new here and just want to share a recent discovery concerning the most commonly cited problem with "50's wiring" (or the Fezz Parka mod, or any of several other names...).
The main complaint I hear from people when they try the 50s wiring mod is that the volume drops almost totally as you turn down from 10 to 8. Below 8 it's just about off.
Two weeks ago I decided to get serious about figuring out why my Ibanez RG-570 with Air Norton in the neck, Blue Velvet (reverse wound, reverse polarity) in the middle, and Evo2 in the bridge never sounded anything like I had hoped from pickups of that quality. So I read a bunch of stuff on the internet and first I decide to get rid of the treble bleed that comes stock on that guitar. That was an improvement for sure. I guess the treble bleed just sounded 'fake' to me. But I still felt that somehow I should be able to get more of a variety of sounds from 3 so very different pickups and a 5 position switch. All the settings seemed to sound just too much the same.
Next I read about the Fezz Parka mod (aka 50s wiring) and decide to try that. Well the range of sounds that came out of that guitar now was stunning. It finally sounded like I always thought it should. Each pickup had a very distinct sound. The 2 and 4 positions were so Strat-like that it was eerie , and the middle was just heavenly. BUT, it had the same problem hundreds of other folks run into with the volume dropping off Way too fast. As it was, it was unusable, in spite of the incredible sounds that it was now able to make.
I was using the stock linear taper 500K volume pot which comes in the RG-570. I decided to try an audio taper pot. EVEN worse. Volume dropped from full to nothing going from 10 to 8... I spent hours searching the forums looking for a solution to this problem and found Nothing that actually worked.
In my past, I designed and built handwired tube amps for 6 years so this seemed like something I should be able to figure out on my own. Drawing out the schematic for the circuit and looking at exactly how it was working it occurred to me that the problem is that the 'taper' was working backwards from what you would want if you want the volume to roll off at a gradual, sensible rate. Bong, the light goes on.
REVERSE AUDIO TAPER POT.
I just now put in a 500K 'Reverse' Audio Taper pot and it works fantastic. Volume rolls off evenly from 10 all the way down to 1 or 2. And you still get all the great tonal improvements that the Fezz Parka mod does indeed deliver.
So if you've been struggling with this volume problem with the 50's wiring, just get a reverse audio taper pot, wire it up just like you would normally with an audio or linear taper pot and you will say Holy ****.
Hopefully this might help someone out there.
If it works for you please just call it the Leclaw mod (leclaw is my kitty...)
Saludos,
b.
