I’m pretty new to building cigarbox guitars. I got an MGB mini box bucker 2.0 pick up and I’m trying to solder it to an economy 250 K volume tone jack harness. I’m not sure what to connect or what. On the diagram you can see wires 1,2,3,4 and 5. Basically I need to know how to connect all those together. If this is easy for anybody and you can explain it that would be awesome. Thanks a lot.
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Totally awesome Jon. Looking forward to hearing good news when you get your new harness in place.
Taffy. As long as the cap is part of the tone circuit then it works. One wire to the hot side and one to the ground. Your sending part of the pickup's output to ground through it. That amount is dependent on the ton pot's setting. All the way up and nothing extra is going to ground. As you turn it down the cap acts like a divider. It blocks the lower tones from going to ground. But all your highs get sent to ground. It doesn't matter if the cap is between the volume and tone or on the tone pot's grounded lug. The pot sets how much energy will flow through it to ground.
Totally awesome Taffy! Thanks!
The middle variation looks like they were trying to get the tone before the volume. So it would have a wider effect. Thanks. I've learned something new. There has to be a reason why this isn't widely used. In my 40 plus years of modding I've never come across it. And don't sweat the technical stuff. Isn't really that necessary to learn.
In Taffy's illustration it should be noted that you can replace the cap between the pots with a wire for each of the options shown. The cap would be soldered between the lug that goes to ground and the back of the tone pot. Works exactly the same.
Hi Blue Rat, just checking. if both sides of the cap go to earth doesn't that make it not part of the system. Shouldn't one side go to the free lug? Just thinking.
Taff
Pretty cool to see you guys who are experts learning something from each other. I love the diagrams especially the ones that are hand drawn. At this point it’s all a little beyond me because I don’t really understand all the ins and outs of the wiring. Hopefully I’ll understand it more as time goes by and I do more building I did re-contact MGB and I’m getting a better harness sent- Not the economy one. It seems like their customer service is good. Since I’m just at the beginning of this whole voyage I’m still learning which suppliers are better than which other ones and I’m tryingTo also learn how to do this for a reasonable price. Thanks again for all the input I’m sure will cross paths on CBN sometime Again
Sorry should have added this to the above post.
Modern tone pot wiring has the tone happening before the volume.
Vintage or 1950's wiring the tone is happening after the volume.
You can actually hear the difference.
Hi Blue Rat, here the three ways I was aware of. Don't ask me to explain the why's and wherefore, it gets a bit technical for me. I use more glue than solder haha!
Taff
Taff, I only know of two ways to wire a tone pot. Both cap wiring for modern and 1950's examples work the same way. Wether your using a cap from the volume pot or a wire. The difference between modern and vintage is where the order of the tone pot in the circuit. One being before the volume and the other after. Be interested in seeing the third way.
Jon, totally agree with everyone about where you should get your next wiring harness from. I've never had problems with anything I've bought from CB Gitty.
Hi Jon, also keep in mind that there are three ways that a tone pot can be wired into the system. So if you get a prewired harness and it looks different to blue rats diagram, it could just be different and not wrong.
Taff
Economy harnesses come in many factory instruments.,most people don't notice unless they fail.,., CB Gitty says they test all harnesses before they ship., and use better components than the parts in your econo harness.., I would tell MGB to test a replacement before they ship it to you, it only takes them a few minutes to test it., If you know someone with a multimeter, who knows how to use it, you could test the components of the econo harness to see which part is bad.,., I have come across more bad pots than caps in my day, but you could still have a bad cap.., Ebay seller Weeklyhouse sells cheap harnesses made from quality parts for a fair price.,., so the choice is yours how you go.,.,Cause the Blue Rat makes a lot of good points.,.,let us know if you need any info.., old codger's advice column.,., lol
OK After looking at what's on their wed site. And taking a good look at your picture. The honest first thing I would recommend is unsoldering it and tossing it. The only thing wired correctly is the output jack. Now if you want to use what you already have you really need to unsolder and rewire the harness. Below is the correct wiring for this set up.
Don't sweat the soldering. If you've never done it before there's plenty of really good help on Youtube. Get some practice in on a few scraps and your on your way. You'll be modding your guitars in no time!
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