Chromacaster PDF
Contents
1. and middle 3 middle 4 middle and bridge 5 bridge Basically the Chromacaster re routes the hot and ground leads of the BRIDGE pickup to various places in the guitar s circuitry Each of the switch s six clicks connects the pickup s leads to a specific point in the guitar s wiring to get the desired combination of pickups phasing and series parallel wiring These clicks I call them NOTCHES are named for how they route the bridge pickup into the circuit The NOTCHES NOTCH ONE tone knob on 10 is NORMAL With the Chromacaster turned completely clockwise it routes the Bridge pup s hot to the 5 way switch where it would be stock and its ground to the guitar s ground Plain ol Strat tones The ONLY difference is that now you have a master tone control NOTCH TWO tone knob on 9 is BRIDGE on with NECK PICKUP It is the first click as you turn the knob COUNTER CLOCKWISE This re routes the bridge pup s hot lead to the neck s end of the 5 way so that when you play the neck pup you get the bridge pup too As you work the your Strat s 5 way pup selector switch from neck to bridge here s what you will hear at each 5 way throw 1 Neck and Bridge pups 2 Neck Middle and Bridge pups 3 Middle 4 Middle and Bridge 5 Bridge Those first two tones are the tones EVERY Strat player sez they wish they had NOTCH THREE tone knob on 8 is BRIDGE SERIES with NECK PICKUP At the next cl2. prewired colored leads like this mid amp neck pickup grounds guitar string ground WA jack ground jack hot bridge pup hot The wire colors on the stock stuff might not be the same as the drawing but the CHROMACASTER LEAD COLORS ARE CORRECT drawing for IMPORT 5 way pup selector STOCK bridge pup hot mid pup hot mid pup hot neck pup het neck pup hot to volume pot T to volume pot Chromie leads to mid tone control to neck tone control Here are a few more Strat 5 ways The 5 way from Stewart Macdonald and others Note that the common lugs are at the opposite end of the switch from the stock Fender 5 way STOCK mid tone neck tone bridge pup hot 2a mid pup hot neck pup hot output to volume Chromacaster JUMPER te master tone output to volume mid pup hot neck pup hot Chromie leads The Mega S switch s lugs are in a completely different configuration STOCK output to volume 5 a bridge pup hot neck pup hot mid pup hot neck tone mid tone Chromacaster output to volume neck pup hot tert master tone Chromacaster leads If NONE of these 5 ways matches yours e mail me at eb deaf eddie net and we ll figure out a scheme amp drawing to git r done How it works To reference the rest of these instructions we ll say that the pickup selections on the 5 way are numbered like this 1 neck 2 neck
3. The Chromacaster User s Manual amp Guide What it is The Chromacaster is a six position ROTARY switch that expands the potential pickup combinations available in your Stratocaster or other S type guitar It installs where one of your old tone controls was The Chromacaster does NOT replace your 5 way pickup selector switch your 5 way still works just like it always did The Chromacaster works in conjunction WITH the 5 way to give you new combinations You lose a tone control but gain a lot of tones The traditional Strat 5 way selector gives you only five of the seven parallel combinations possible and no series or out of phase connections With the Chromacaster you can get all seven parallel combinations PLUS two series settings with variations PLUS two out of phase settings with variations for a total of SIXTEEN different pickup combinations That s a lot of tones BEST OF ALL NO NEW HOLES Just put your old tone knob back on the Chromacaster switch and your Strat looks completely stock INSTALLATION Take off your pickguard To wire your lower tone as a master tone like a Telecaster see drawing 1 Move the lower tone control s lead from the center lug of the tone control side of the five way over to the common first lug on the pickups side of the 5 way see drawings 2 Remove the lead to the center tone control from the 5 way 3 Remove the grounds from the center tone pot and clip any jumpers between the c
4. enter and lower tone pots Remove the center pot from the pickguard 4 Remove the capacitor from the center tone pot and wire it to your new MASTER TONE pot with one leg on the center lug and one leg grounded to the back of the pot 5 Run an insulated ground wire from the back of the volume pot to the back of your new master tone pot with enough slack to go around the Chromacaster Mount the Chromacaster switch in the place of the center tone pot You will notice that the switch is NOT perfectly round more egg shaped align it so that it s widest parts point to the other two controls If your control cavity is shielded be sure that the lugs on the switch DO NOT touch short out on the shielding Your stock Strat probably looks like this pickup grounds guitar string ground AAA output jack ground output jack hot Remove the center pot and wire the lower tone pot like this for a MASTER TONE CONTROL guitar string ground ANA output jack ground output jack hot pickup grounds Wiring the bridge pickup to the Chromacaster Switch Unsolder the bridge pup leads from where they are currently in your guitar and solder them to the center lugs on the Chromacaster Switch Be sure you get the positive hot side usually white it is the lead soldered to the five way pickup selector on lug 1 the lug with the string through it and the negative ground usually soldered to the bac
5. ick counter clockwise when you select throw 5 Bridge pickup or 4 Bridge and Middle on the 5 way instead of just the Bridge pup you will get the Bridge and Neck pup in series As you throw the 5 way back from the Bridge position you will get 5 Bridge and Neck in SERIES 4 The Bridge and Neck in series PLUS the Middle parallel 3 Middle 2 Middle and Neck 1 Neck Notice that ONLY the 5 way throws 5 and 4 are affected in this Chromacaster setting The others are unaffected meaning they are stock sounding NOTE Pickups wired in series make the current flow through first one coil and then the other effectively doubling the resistance impedance of the circuit In a very real way the Neck and Bridge coils become rather like a single big humbucker This is usually characterized as a fatter sound than that produced by a single coil pickup though on your Strat still plenty bright It s a good way to add some ooomph that Bridge pickup s lead tone NOTCH FOUR tone control at 7 is BRIDGE SERIES with MIDDLE PICKUP amp ON with NECK At the next click counter clockwise when you select throw 5 Bridge pickup on the 5 way instead of just the Bridge pup you will get the Bridge and Middle pup in series Again the Middle and Bridge coils become rather like a single big humbucker but this setting still has a little Strat Quack rather than being so Gibson y to my ears As you throw the 5 way back from the Bridge posit
6. ion you will get 5 Bridge and Middle in SERIES 4 Middle ONLY 3 Middle again 2 Middle and Neck 1 lt Bridge and Middle in series gt parallel to Neck Notice that ONLY the 5 way throws 5 and 1 are affected in this Chromacaster setting NOTCH FIVE tone knob at 6 is BRIDGE SERIES with NECK PICKUP OUT OF PHASE Here the Bridge pup is again wired in series with the Neck pup but out of phase When the 5 way is at throw 5 Bridge pup only you will hear the Bridge and Neck in series but out of phase This tone is actually a very Gibson y out of phase not as thin as you d expect think of the 70 s Throw 4 is that PLUS the Middle pup parallel which fattens it back up a bit Throws 3 2 and 1 are unaffected stock tones NOTCH SIX tone knob at 5 is BRIDGE OUT OF PHASE ON with NECK Here the bridge pup is wired out of phase with the other pickups and on with the neck pup When the 5 way is at throw 5 Bridge pup only and throw 3 mid pup only the sound is stock and unaffected BUT At the other three throws on the 5 way you get the Bridge pup out of phase and parallel with the other pickup s When one pickup is out of phase with another a lot of frequencies are cancelled out the positive voltage one pickup creates is negated by the negative voltage the other creates Usually lots of the fundamental is cancelled out and the only tones that escape to be heard are the tones that are harm
7. k of the volume pot on lug 2 see drawing Now your bridge pup goes through the Chromacaster Switch NOTE Sometimes there is not enough wire on the leads to make it to the Chromie so just add on a little tail to the lead to get there Be sure you insulate the solder joint on this tail to prevent contact with the pots or any other grounded surface in the control cavity black electrical tape or heat shrink tubing will do the trick What about THREE wire pickups Some guitars and many after market pickups are wired with THREE conductors The coil s lead the coil s lead and the shield ground lead In these cases remember that the shield ground STAYS on the guitar s ground and you will be lifting the coil s lead which is often twisted with the shield ground lead to move it over to the rotary switch How to tell which is the coil s and which is the ground lead IF you don t have any paperwork color code indicating which is which a simple test is to use your multimeter With the two leads conductors unsoldered from ground typically the back of the volume pot and separated set your multimeter in the 20k ohm range With one probe on the lead that you know is the coil s lead it s the one on the pup selector switch one of the other two leads will show you a 5k 10k reading when touched with the other probe That s the resistance number for your pup and that s the coil s lead It is the lead you will move ove
8. onically different between the two pickups so you usually get very thin and nasally tones That is true here as well but I think you will find that with the Bridge out of phase and the 5 way at throw 1 and 2 there are a couple of interesting and usable tones I ll admit that the tone at throw 4 on the 5 way which gives you the Bridge and Middle out of phase is one that only a mother could love but my thrash playing nephew sez they re all great for punk Hey e mail me with any questions comments or suggestions EB deaf eddie net Chromacaster TONE CHART Bee NOTCH NAME Noma nh On with ka Series Middle ek Out of phase across Neck eal on with Neck out phase on with Neck Eb ae eee oe neck n BN n BMN n _ B N 2 middle neck_ _ mmn B M N EMN mm mm mn __ B M N _ __ B M N_ Cm f n n a rn ee 4 bridge middle __b m_ bm B N M_ m _ B N M_ B M_ 6 bridge b b i BN BM BN b The Chromacaster changes the way the bridge pickup is wired into the circuit The NAMES of the NOTCHES describe HOW the bridge pickup is wired KEY wired parallel wired in series wired out of phase lower case letters stock strat tones UPPER CASE BOLD new Chromacaster tones
9. r to the rotary switch the other one is soldered back to ground The same idea works if you have a four conductor pickup in your bridge spot like a Hot Rails or single coil sized humbucker the hot and negative leads go to the Chromie the series pair stay soldered together and the bare wire stays soldered to ground on the back of the volume pot The Chromacaster s pre wired leads The WHITE lead from the Chromacaster Switch goes to the bridge pup s spot on the 5 way where you just removed its positive hot lead The RED lead is soldered to the 5 way switch It goes on the bridge lug the third lug on the tone side of the 5 way the side that was used to connect the tone pots see drawing Run a jumper from this lug to the first lug of the tone side of the selector switch the lug where the neck s tone pot was connected The BLACK lead is added to the neck pup s lug on the 5 way It s the wire that will route the negative lead of the bridge pup back through the neck pup for series settings The GREEN lead is added to the middle pup s lug on the 5 way It s the wire that will route the negative lead of the bridge pup back through the middle pup for series settings The BARE wire is soldered to any ground NOTE Do not remove the jumper that goes between the common lugs of your 5 way Put your pickguard back on and you re ready to rip Move the bridge pup leads to the CHROMACASTER and hook up its
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