Guitar components , wiring and circuit diagrams

[Malcolm T]

I have been looking at guitar constructions and in particular component wiring and coil winding and it seems to me that these people who construct electric guitars have no concept of a circuit diagram or what circuit component symbols are, let alone electronics since all of the diagrams i have seen or the majority are little more than simple sketches, am i right to assume this is true ?.

[George Cooper]

You are lucky to have seen sketches.

Guitars have very simple wiring as there is not a lot to them. On solid electric guitars usually a volume control, tone control which uses a capacitor and a switch if it has more than one pick up, usually the switch selects between one, two or three pickup coils, sometimes an option to run two coils together.

The actual design of the coils is a bit of a secret as that's how they create there different unique sounds.

More recent guitars have an active part as well, ie a preamp to boost the signal and help reduce the hum picked up by the lead.

Mostly acoustic guitars with pickups in them usually have a preamp along with a tuner built in, some like my Martin have a notch filter as well to try and cut out feedback.

Fishman make a lot of those types and they are often copied, but I confess I have never seen a circuit for one of those.

Active circuits are of course battery operated and I have only ever seen replacement boards for those, but they are prone in my experience to dry joints, I expect due to the constant vibrations from the guitar body itself.

So, to answer your question, yes, not a lot of good information out there.

[Diabolical Artificer]

Guitar builders are usually woodworkers first & foremost and guitarists are aural cosmonauts looking for The Sound not electronic tech's, therefore they might be confused by a soldering iron and are liable to stick it in their ear.

The few wiring pictographs I've seen are aimed at guitarists and as such use drawings of components not symbols. The ones attached do have a ground symbol though.

Andy.

[fetteler]

The vast majority of guitar circuits (for the instruments themselves - not amps or effects pedals) are in fact wiring diagrams rather than circuit diagrams or schematics; this is totally appropriate for the target audience. The physical layout of the circuit is important and this, I would say, is not represented on a schematic so the wiring layout is the best way to make sure that all the info needed is neatly presented.

Steve.

[Malcolm T]

Yes I see virtually no circuit diagrams, I'm going to have a crack at decoding the wiring diagrams, should be fun.
Luthiers are IMO not electronics people.
People do wind their own PU coils or it's a one man band doing it in small batches.

[stevehertz]

Being in the 'electric guitar business' I can clarify. Most luthiers have a very good understanding of pickups and wiring systems. The former being a very esoteric, in depth subject. But in general there are pickup specialist manufacturers of which there are many, and guitar makers liaise with them to achieve the sound they want out of a guitar. But please don't run away with the idea that luthiers are fools when it comes to pickups and wiring, they're not. There does seem to be a vein of this belief running through the thread. Us 'electronics' types don't have a monopoly on circuitry be it complex or a simple passive volume and tone circuit. There are many perfectly drawn, perfectly accurate pickup systems layout diagrams on the internet, they're not all fag packet sketches as has been inferred. But saying that, if the circuit is simple or even not so simple, a clear layout sketch is easier for people to use when wiring a guitar than a formal schematic; fit for purpose, just the job, there being no real need for a schematic.

[Silicon]

A Wiring Diagram is very useful if you want to wire up the components in front of you.

However a good Schematic can show me almost instantly how the circuit works.
It is good for comparison and analysis.

[initialsbb]

Malcolm - thank you for posting the very helpful link to the guitar switch supplier - I can't thank you there as the thread was closed.

[sparkymike]

I have two very good books on guitar wiring, by Schatten (Canada)
Volume I and 2.
I bought them through guitar luthiers supply co. Stewart Mc.Donald in the USA.
mike.

[sparkymike]

Looked on the web and both books are now combined into one.

[sparkymike]

Link. Page also shows a typical diagram as in the book.

https://schatten-pickups.myshopify.c...iring-diagrams