Doing Things Wrong

Freakenbacker Back Together

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The new A500 pots came today USPS a day early - so never say bad things about them. I pulled up the diagram above, heated up the soldering iron, and Presto-Change-o !!! Then I tried to put the pickguard back, and it didn't fit, because, of course. The old mini pots barely cleared the body wall, and the new full-sized ones didn't. So I had to delve back into woodwork and make clearance for them. I had to razor and dremel away about a quarter of an inch, without messing up the 'finish'.

So it's all back together now and cleaned up, and believe it or not, I can wait until tomorrow to try it out. I did do some testing by tapping on the pickups with a piece of metal, and everything works as ordered, with a much better sweep on the volumes. No more B-pots for me !!!

That diagram is drawn from a classic Danelectro and shows Danelectro values for the pots and caps. I used more like Fender values. It's not that critical. I'm not sure if Danelectro used linear or audio taper pots, they're not usually marked. I would guess that they are linear, or "B", probably the same parts you'd find in a 1960s TV or radio.


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The simplest kind of switch is ON-OFF. This has two terminals, and simply interrupts the electrical path. Such a switch is referred to an SPST, or "single-pole single-throw", because it switches one circuit or "pole" in one way, or "throw". More complex switches are simply combinations of this basic element.

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