Wiring for Danelectro Pickups

[Deacon]

Here's a question for you pickup experts. I've got a Danelectro U2 and I'd like to replace the concentric volume-tone pots with one volume and one tone, ala a Tele. I checked out a lot of schematics at StewMac, Seymour Duncun, and a couple of books and felt pretty confidant until I looked inside the guitar. The pickups have a three wire configuration instead of two, per each pickup.

 

What's that third wire, and what do I with it? I'm essentially going from two volume, two tone controls, to just one vol, one tone. I've seen others mention making this conversion before, and I'd love to hear any stories.

 

Thanks

[Blue Strat]

Hi Deacon! Welcome to the forums.

 

The Danelectro U2's are wired so that when the switch is in the middle position, the two pickups are in series instead of parallel, is in most other production guitars. The third wire you mention is probably a ground wire, which connects to the body of the lipstick tube pickup, acting as a shield. If you have access to an ohm meter, check for continuity with the third wire and the pickup's mounting plate. The other two wires should have somewhere in the neighborhood of 4k ohms resistance between them.

 

I hope this helps!

[Deacon]

Hi Bluestrat. I checked the third wire with a meter and you're right. Interesting wiring setup. This may also explain why I get a drastically different volume level in middle position from the two single positions.

 

Thanks

[Blue Strat]

Glad I could help! I've got one of the reissue 59DC's. They're nice guitars, but the controls are kinda strange and unfamiliar. The two best control layouts are either the Tele's master volume & tone layout or the Les Pauls independent volume & tone controls.