Hi everyone!
The pickup selector switch on my S-500 tribute (made in Indo) has been giving me a lot of problems lately. It crackles and pop when changing pickups, will sometimes cut sound altogether or have low output, which is temporarily resolved by wiggling or switching to different pickup. Disappointing that this is happening on a guitar at this price point. (I know it's not the G&L USA model, but it's still a $1000 CAD for this guitar. Decent switches aren't that expensive)
Can I replace the stock switch with a standard Fender 5-way switch? Or will I need more terminal points to accommodate the push/pull pot for connecting the bridge and neck pup? Ideally I'd like to avoid switches with PCB boards and stick to the old-faithful designs.
I'm also interested in upgrading the pots as well. I like the PTB tone system, but I find only the first 25% of each knob is useful. It seems like the taper of the pots isn't good. The difference in sound between a fully cranked tone control and one rolled back the tiniest bit is greater than the difference between the tone control at 3/4 of the way up and fully rolled down. If there was a way to get the change in sound of the first 25% across the entire range of the pot that would be ideal. I hope this makes sense.
Any recommendations are welcome and appreciated! Thanks
S-500 - upgrading pickup switch and pots
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Tooslowhand
- Posts: 418
- Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 8:59 am
Re: S-500 - upgrading pickup switch and pots
You can find a wiring diagram in the Gallery section of this forum that will show you what the 5 way switch wiring is like. My recollection is that it is a standard 5 Way, but I'm not certain. G&L web store should have a replacement. You should be able to use a U.S. switch, but you will have to verify if the screw hole spacing matches, otherwise you will have issues installing it in the pickguard.
The pots are audio taper which is why they roll off in the manner you found. Most players tend to prefer this as you then only have to rotate the knob a small amount with your finger when playing live. If you prefer, you can replace them with linear taper pots with the same resistance. You should be able to find these on Stewmac's web site. If you use Imperial sized pots, such as CTS you might have to open the hole in the pickguard a bit with a file. Personally, I prefer the CTS pots with brass shafts, but the metric sized Alpha pots are good as well.
The pots are audio taper which is why they roll off in the manner you found. Most players tend to prefer this as you then only have to rotate the knob a small amount with your finger when playing live. If you prefer, you can replace them with linear taper pots with the same resistance. You should be able to find these on Stewmac's web site. If you use Imperial sized pots, such as CTS you might have to open the hole in the pickguard a bit with a file. Personally, I prefer the CTS pots with brass shafts, but the metric sized Alpha pots are good as well.