Independent vs interacting volume - please help.

[slidincharlie (Carlo P)]

Hi all,
I have a '65 Danelectro guitar (actually a Silvertone-branded 1457 model): two lipstick p.u., 2 volume, 2 tone).
It has "independent" volume controls, that is with both p.u. engaged I have to turn off BOTH volume knobs if I want to shut the guitar off. This means that, if I want to lower the volume I have to turn BOTH volume knobs, which is very annoying to me, since I use mainly the central position (=both pickups) and I switch from rhythm to lead volume adjusting the pickups volume. No pedals of any sort.
The problem is that these guitars are wired differently from most other guitars: the pickups are in series and the selector is different from a standard 3-way guitar selector.
I attach here the guitar wiring diagram and also the reissue Dano wiring diagram.
Please help me to modify the circuit in order to get non-independent volume controls. Also a one-master two-tone or even a one-master one-tone setup would be fine.
TIA,
Carlo

[jrfrond]

If you reverse the two hot leads on each volume pot, you will have non-independent controls.

[slidincharlie (Carlo P)]

If you reverse the two hot leads on each volume pot, you will have non-independent controls.

John,
do you mean moving the hot lead to the center lug and the switch lead to the side lug?
I've already done it, but things went even worse: not only the volume controls remain independent, they also acquire an 'on-off' behaviour: they become effective only in the 1-2 range setting, without any action between 3 and 10. Same for the tone controls.

[David Schwab]

Oh, I just saw you said the pickups are in series... that's the problem. I'd switch it back to stock and leave it. Otherwise you need to wire them in parallel like the Duncan drawing.

It you want, unwire one of the volume controls and leave the other as master.

[slidincharlie (Carlo P)]

Oh, I just saw you said the pickups are in series... that's the problem. I'd switch it back to stock and leave it. Otherwise you need to wire them in parallel like the Duncan drawing.
If you want, unwire one of the volume controls and leave the other as master.

Actually I wonder if parallel wiring would affect the guitar tone... what do you think? Would it affect only the B+N pickup combination?
Leaving one single master volume would be the best option. I have to find out how to do that.
Thanks.

[Mike Sulzer]

It will not sound the same in parallel. Since you play primarily with both pickups, I think you would not like to change that sound. The pickup-cable resonance will shift up in frequency if you put them in parallel, and you would have less output at the low and middle frequencies. (It would affect only the combination, of course.)

Actually I wonder if parallel wiring would affect the guitar tone... what do you think? Would it affect only the B+N pickup combination?
Leaving one single master volume would be the best option. I have to find out how to do that.
Thanks.

[Mike Sulzer]

Have you considered this simple mod? The file below shows a circuit very similar to yours, and then a mod that makes one of the vols a master and leaves everything else the same. I have not tried this, but it looks like it should work.

SeriesPUPs2VMV.png

[slidincharlie (Carlo P)]

Thank you Mike and everybody.
Now I am leaving for a few days due to my job.
I'll work on the guitar in the next weekend.

[jrfrond]

Series, huh? I was having trouble seeing that in the hand-drawn schematic.

It COULD be done though, with a DP3T switch (the one with 12 terminals), to control the series connection.