DATE
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© Tone Shapers, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
ASSY PN
Tone Shapers, Inc.
4913 US Highway 1
Vero Beach, FL 32967
(772) 217-8662
George Ellison
N/A
1 of 5
N/A
11/15/10
ToneShaper 2
for Telecaster®
Switch - SW5C
WELCOME!
Your decision to purchase a ToneShaper was a good one! Your
new toy should give you lots of tone tweaking enjoyment, and
will prove to be a valuable tool in getting the tone you’re looking
for from your guitar. Please read over these instructions to
become acquainted with your new unit, and keep them handy
for future reference.
INSTALLATION
We’ve included everything you’ll need. The first step is to
remove the control plate from your guitar, and then remove the
old switch and pots from your control plate. You’ll also remove
the existing jack. Disconnect the pickup leads and any ground
wires from the old electronics and strip 1/4” of insulation from
the ends of the wires to prepare them for connection to the
ToneShaper.
The ToneShaper is designed to fit perfectly on a Fender control
plate, but other brands of plates may require modification if their
hole spacing varies from Fender’s.
Put the included internal-tooth lockwashers (star washers) over
the ToneShaper’s two pot shafts, then insert the two pot shafts
into the control plate’s holes. If you find that the holes are too
small, then they’re probably sized for metric pots and need to be
enlarged to 3/8”. The flat washers go on the outside of the plate.
The switch will be connected next. The ToneShaper’s function
set is determined by the switch that’s plugged into it, but all
switches will connect to the board in the same way. It’s easiest
to let the switch actuator (the lever, or blade) poke through the
slot in the control plate while you plug the plastic connector onto
the circuit board. Even though we’ve attached a standoff to help
support the circuit board, keep in mind that the portion where
the switch attaches is very thin, so while it’s fairly strong, you
can break it if you’re not careful. It’s best to support the
underside of the board with a finger while you slide the connec-
tor on.
With the actuator poking through the slot in the plate, line up the
connector (the black thing attached to the switch in the following
illustration) with the pins on the circuit board and push them
down as far as they’ll go. The illustration shows a 4-way switch,
but all switches will attach in the same way.
Finally, attach the switch to the plate with the two 6-32 screws
provided. Again, if your guitar is imported then the screw holes
in your plate may be sized for metric screws, and may need to
be enlarged slightly to accommodate the SAE screws.
The pickup leads and the grounds that you prepared earlier will
now be connected to the terminal block on the board as shown
below. Simply depress the plunger as shown, insert the stripped
section of the wire, and release the plunger. To ensure a solid
connection, verify that the spring contact down inside the
terminal block is in direct contact with the wire, not the wire’s
insulation.
If your pickups have cloth wire (sometimes called “push back”
wire), the cloth insulation will fit perfectly into the slots on the
terminal block. The key is to strip the wire, rather than push
back the insulation. If you push back the insulation it will bunch
up, increasing its diameter and preventing it from fitting down
into the slot.
CONNECTIONS
This ToneShaper configuration is designed for Teles with three
coils, so this can mean either a single-coil plus a humbucker, or
three single coils (Nashville Teles). The connections will vary
depending on your pickup configuration.
The circuit board is labelled just in front of the terminal block,
and we’ll refer to these labels. Please note that the color codes
we've listed apply to Seymour Duncan's standard product line. If
you're using some other pickup line(s), then you'll need to
research their color codes in order to connect your pickups
properly. In some cases you may find that our instructions
deviate from Duncan's, because we're considering things like
hum-canceling combinations that wouldn't normally be encoun-
tered. If our instructions deviate from Duncan's, then use ours,
not Duncan's.
Also, be advised that our instructions are taking into account
Duncan's specific wind direction and magnet orientation. Other
manufacturer's pickups may not follow the same conventions,
so you'll need to determine how your pickups are oriented if you
want to get best results.
This is a much deeper topic than most guitar players realize,
and it has nothing to do with the ToneShaper, it has to do with
guitar wiring in general. We've seen many instances of people
hooking up pickups in incompatible ways, where at best they
don't get hum-cancelling when they should, and at worst have
pickups that are out-of-phase, or have grounding issues or other
problems, like covers that are connected to hot, etc.
Want to avoid the hassle? Then buy pickups from us. We have
pickups from several manufacturers at fair prices, and we order
(and in some cases special-order) pickups to work specifically
with each other, in sets, that complement our ToneShaper
products. This is one way to ensure that you're getting the most
out of your ToneShaper. Give us a call if you’d like more info.
Tele Humbucker Neck
GND
Misc ground (string ground, shielding, etc.)
GND
Humbucker drain wire
JACK GND
Jack ground (black)
JACK OUT
Jack hot (white)
BRIDGE-
Bridge pickup ground (black)
Bridge pickup hot (yellow)
HB GND
Neck pickup ground (white)
HB S/L
Neck pickup series link (black/green)
NECK-
Not used
NECK+
Neck pickup hot (red)
Tele Strat Neck** (middle position) + Tele Neck
GND
Misc ground (string ground, shielding, etc.)
GND
Neck pickup cover
JACK GND
Jack ground (black)
JACK OUT
Jack hot (white)
BRIDGE-
Bridge pickup ground (black)
Bridge pickup hot (yellow)
HB GND
Neck pickup ground (black)
HB S/L
Mid ground (black) + neck hot (white)
NECK-
Not used
NECK+
Middle pickup hot (white)
**
A Duncan Strat neck will hum-cancel when combined with a
Duncan Tele neck, while a RWRP Strat middle won’t.
Assuming you’re using a covered neck humbucker with
4-conductor leads
, it will have a bare “drain” wire. This will be
connected to one of the ground points (GND). Take care that the
wire doesn’t inadvertently touch anything that it shouldn’t, by
covering it with heat-shrink tubing or tape.
The term “series link”
refers to the two wires that are used to
join the coils of a humbucker together in series. You’ll only have
this if your humbucker uses 3-conductor or 4-conductor wire. If
your humbucker uses single-conductor braided wire, where you
see a metal braid around the outside of the wire, then you won’t
be able to use it with the ToneShaper with a 4-way or 5-way
switch, though you may use it with a 3-way switch, in which
case you would connect it like a normal Tele neck pickup.
In order to use a humbucker with either a 4-way or 5-way
switch, you’ll need a 3-conductor or 4-conductor humbucker.
Most manufacturers use 4-conductor wire, so it’s much more
likely that your pickup will be 4-conductor than 3-conductor.
Unfortunately, there’s no universal color-coding standard applied
to pickups, so you’ll have to determine the correct color-coding
for the pickup you’re going to use.
If you’re using a single-coil neck pickup with a cover
, the
cover may need to be isolated and connected to ground
independently of the pickup’s wires. There’s a good possibility
that the manufacturer has connected the cover to the pickup’s
ground wire with a short jumper as shown in the following
illustration, assuming this wire would always be connected to
ground, but when the neck and middle pickups are connected in
series this isn’t necessarily the case.
In our second connection example, we’ve connected the Tele
neck pickup’s ground wire to the HB GND slot, so there would
be no need to isolate the cover. But in some other cases the
neck pickup’s ground wire would be connected to the HB S/L
slot instead, in which case you would
have
to isolate the cover.
To do this, you would disconnect the cover from the pickup’s
ground wire by severing the jumper, and add a separate length
of wire to the cover, then connect it to GND as shown above.
Refer to the illustration below.
Confused?
As we stated previously, this whole pickup thing is a
deeper topic than many people realize. There’s no way that this
instruction manual can cover every scenario, or act as a primer
on all the subtle nuances of pickup connection.
In the end, you may have to do a little homework to determine
the best way to connect your pickups, especially if you’re
combining pickups from different manufacturers. The other
option is to buy a set of pickups from us, where we’ve done the
work for you.
The final connections will be the grounds.
If you’re using a
vintage-style bridge pickup with a metal plate on the bottom, it’s
most likely that this plate provides the string ground, and so no
further grounding of the bridge will be required. However, if you
don’t have a bridge pickup with this type of construction, then
you’ll probably have a wire coming into the control cavity from
the bridge, and this will be connected to one of the ground
points marked GND. If you have a wire that is screwed to the
cavity shielding (certain Fender models - see illustration below),
then this will also be connected to any of these ground points.
Now you should be ready to physically install the control plate
on the guitar. Feed the jack into the cavity so that it reaches
down to the ferrule and secure it with the nut and washers
provided (lock washer inside, flat washer outside). Then gently
press the control plate down to the body and screw it into place.
Good work! Now go enjoy yourself a nice sarsaparilla.
HOW THE THING WORKS
Okay, let’s put this baby through its paces.
The ToneShaper has been designed to be really simple to use.
Once installed, you can make changes to its configuration by
simply removing the control plate and flipping it over, then
manipulating some mini switches. The mini switches that are
used are large enough for many people to move with their
fingernails, but we’ve also included a dandy pointed stick that
you fingernail-challenged folks can use instead.
As you might expect, the mini switches have an OFF side and
an ON side:
This is pretty straightforward, but in the interest of making things
really clear and easy-to-discern in the rest of this manual, we’re
going to use color coding to illustrate when switches are on, off,
or optional, as follows:
CYAN (BLUE)
= ON
MAGENTA (PINK)
= OPTIONAL
YELLOW
= SELECT ANY
BLACK
=
OFF
THE CONTROLS
Here’s a picture of the ToneShaper:
There are three switches (SW1 - SW3), a volume kit (A), and a
bank of tone capacitors (B), which has a .015µF, .022µF,
.033µF, and .047µF capacitor (µF means “microfarad”).
SW1 and SW2 are used to set up the ToneShaper for use with
the various pickup selector switches (3-way, 4-way, or 5-way).
SW3 turns the caps in bank B on and off (see how they’re
beside each other?), and assigns them to the tone control. You
can turn on any one, but you can also turn on more than one.
When you add capacitors together in parallel (as we’re doing
here), their values add. So if you turn on, say, the .022µF cap
and the .033µF cap, you’ll have the equivalent of a .055µF cap.
And turning on the .015µF, .022µF, and .033µF caps will give
you the equivalent of a .07µF cap. There are in fact 15 possible
values that can be achieved by turning on one or more of the
four caps, ranging from .015µF to .117µF.
THE VOLUME KIT
The volume kit is a resistor/capacitor that can be engaged to
address the problem of treble roll-off that accompanies rolling
back your guitar’s volume control. Perhaps you’re aware of this.
When you roll the volume control down, there is a discernible
tonal change that comes along for the ride. This is the case with
all vintage Teles, and it’s something that many people have
never noticed, while it drives other people crazy. The volume kit
may be switched on or off at almost any time, it’s use is optional.
If you check it out then you’ll find that the treble roll-off that
exists without it really is there, even though you may never have
noticed. To engage the volume kit, you’ll turn on SW1-1 as
shown above.
THE BILLY MOD
Some people don’t like the idea of a volume kit, saying that it
brings it’s own baggage to the party. There’s another way to
address the treble roll-off issue that involves having the tone pot
receive its signal from the volume pot’s output, rather than from
the switch. Of course, this makes the tone and volume controls
interactive, so this method has its own trade-off. Still, there are
many people who swear by this method, so we’ve incorporated
it into the ToneShaper.
By the way, we call this the “billy mod”, after Billy Wagner, the
killin’ (and illin‘) Tele player who first brought it to our attention.
OUR OPINION
We’ve put the volume kit under the microscope and find that it’s
an effective solution to what some consider to be a problem,
with no discernible negative consequence. Let’s qualify that: no
negative consequence that we can discern, though you may
hear things that we don’t.
In the end, it’s all just opinion. Tone is always about opinion,
there is no wrong or right. The thinking with the ToneShaper is
that we’ll provide all of the options so you can try them all and
make up your own mind. So please, experiment! People often
agonize over these things, reading opinions on forum sites in an
attempt to sniff out the prevailing wisdom. Our approach is to
make it easy for you to try different things to see what works for
you.
Tone is like art: your opinion is valid. Listen, learn, have fun,
draw your own conclusions.
LET’S GO!
Okay, enough, let’s get on with the party!
5-Way Switch - Tele Bridge - Humbucker Neck
No Billy Mod
See those blue switches? They’re on, and the black switches
are off. The magenta switch is the volume kit, and you can turn
it on if you choose to. And the yellow switches are the caps for
the tone control - turn on one or more of them.
By the way, switches 5 & 6 on SW3 are the switches that turn on
the 500k/250k volume pot functionality. By default, we ship the
5-way ToneShapers with a 500k volume pot, which accommo-
dates the humbucker. If SW3 switches 5 & 6 are left off, then all
five positions at left will “see” a 500k volume pot. However,
turning on SW3 switches 5 & 6 as shown will have the effect of
reducing the load in positions 1-4. So positions 1-4 will see a
250k volume pot, while position 5 will see a 500k volume pot.
This will more closely approximate the values that these pickups
were originally voiced with.
Now you have the idea. The ToneShaper is very simple to use,
and once you get used to the color codes you’ll be able to
quickly and easily make any changes you need to.
ACTIVE PICKUPS
The illustrations at right will show you the active pickups in each
of the switch positions. Active pickups are shown in orange.
Series pairs are shown in red.
DEPRESS
RELEASE
1/4”
STRIP
INSERT
SW4B
5-Way Switch - Three Single-Coils (Nashville Tele)
With Billy Mod
ACTIVE PICKUPS
The illustrations at right will show you the active pickups in each
of the switch positions. Active pickups are shown in orange.
Series pairs are shown in red.
