Removing a Rhythm Circuit - As easy as it seems?

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StevenO
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Removing a Rhythm Circuit - As easy as it seems?

Post by StevenO » Sat Aug 22, 2009 1:11 pm

WELL IS IT?!

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Re: Removing a Rhythm Circuit - As easy as it seems?

Post by Maukio » Sat Aug 22, 2009 2:08 pm

Yes, all you need to do is...

1. Unsolder the neck pickup lead from the rhythm circuit switch.
2. Unsolder the wire going from the rhythm switch to the 3-way master switch at the 3-way switch.
3. Take your loose neck pickup lead (from Step 1) & solder it onto the now open spot on 3-way switch from Step 2.
4. Unsolder the wire going from the rhythm switch to the output jack at the output jack.
5. Unsolder the wire going from the master volume pot to the rhythm switch at the rhythm switch.
6. Take the loose lead that you just unsoldered in step 5 and solder it to the open spot on the output jack from Step 5.

That's not so hard, is it? :derp:

You could leave all the rest of the stuff in there if you wanted. Just make sure it's taped and not loose where it could start tapping stuff or getting into things.

Edit: Seymour Duncan just happened to make a lovely diagram for this. Red X's indicate where you unsolder and the dashed green lines are where the wires are redirected to.

Image

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Re: Removing a Rhythm Circuit - As easy as it seems?

Post by -2N3904- » Sat Aug 22, 2009 3:19 pm

There's an easier way of doing it than the above poster said, its simple and doesn't involve using or removing any wire.

The rhythm switch has six lugs like this:

Top of switch
1 4
2 5
3 6
bottom of switch

Just de-solder wires connected to 2+3 from the switch and solder them together and tape them off, then de-solder wires connected to 5+6 and solder them together and tape them off. Done, rhythm circuit deactivated!

:)

You might want to mark the wires so you know which lugs they go to should you ever want to reactivate it as if its not wired in the precise order it wont work.


OR there's an even easier way, just de-solder the wire from lug 2 and solder it to lug 3, then de-solder the wire from lug 5 and solder it to lug 6, it does the same thing.
The first way allows you to completely remove the rhythm circuit (physically), the second way you need to leave it in place but its still completely deactivated.

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Re: Removing a Rhythm Circuit - As easy as it seems?

Post by Maukio » Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:36 pm

Ah yes, I suppose that would be an easier way to test it out. :P

The reason I like my method is b/c it removes excess wire from the signal path, though it's not as easy to do/undo.

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Re: Removing a Rhythm Circuit - As easy as it seems?

Post by StevenO » Sat Aug 22, 2009 6:27 pm

I was thinking about just removing it completely. Now I understand that it's debatable, but my tech told me that he likes to remove the rhythm circuits from his Jazzmasters as it enhances the sound to his liking, offering more high end and whatnot.

My rhythm circuit's switch is a little bit faulty, I believe, so I'd like to just remove it completely. I'm going to do that tonight, firstly by taking a picture of the "stock" wiring job as a reference.

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Re: Removing a Rhythm Circuit - As easy as it seems?

Post by StevenO » Sat Aug 22, 2009 10:02 pm

Well I tried to remove the rhythm circuit and I'm at a loss. I can get the neck pickup to work, but not the bridge pickup. Why is this? I don't really know where I went wrong... :(

Edit: Okay, so the the bridge pickup lead was disconnected, which I think is why my guitar was often cutting in and out (maybe!) a bit. So I connected that, now it works in all positions. However, there is now a loud hum when I roll the volume knob down a bit.

Man... I am NOT good with electronics.

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Re: Removing a Rhythm Circuit - As easy as it seems?

Post by -2N3904- » Sun Aug 23, 2009 1:32 am

Other than giving you dot2dot instructions like I did I don't know what to tell you... Just re-read what I posted and make sure you done it exactly how I described. if you did, then there's another problem cause the two methods I mentioned work 100% and I've done them myself numerous times.. (you can see that they work just by following the audio path in a jazzmaster/jaguar diagram)

Just re check it all.

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Re: Removing a Rhythm Circuit - As easy as it seems?

Post by StevenO » Sun Aug 23, 2009 6:17 am

I removed the circuit entirely, though. I didn't want any of it in there.

Maybe I'll just leave it as is, not use the volume knob, and then later on I'll just put it all back in and try again some other time. But first, yes, I'll recheck it all.

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Re: Removing a Rhythm Circuit - As easy as it seems?

Post by -2N3904- » Sun Aug 23, 2009 2:54 pm

Working?

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Re: Removing a Rhythm Circuit - As easy as it seems?

Post by StevenO » Sun Aug 23, 2009 6:26 pm

It works now. I think I had everything wired up properly. It's strange, though. This morning there was a loud hum whenever I turned down the volume knob, but then later at practice everything was fine and dandy like sour candy.

Oh well. It was a success!

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Re: Removing a Rhythm Circuit - As easy as it seems?

Post by OffYourFace » Sun Aug 23, 2009 8:42 pm

StevenO wrote:I was thinking about just removing it completely. Now I understand that it's debatable, but my tech told me that he likes to remove the rhythm circuits from his Jazzmasters as it enhances the sound to his liking, offering more high end and whatnot.
For me, the Jazzmaster is already bright enough :D

It's good that way with humbuckers + 1 meg pots, IMO. On two of the JMs we have here, I did not install the rhythm ckt. and I used 500k pots in the lead ckt. That gets me in the JM-meets-P90 area... but it's still much brighter than a P90 guitar (compared to my friend's Malden Liquid).

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Re: Removing a Rhythm Circuit - As easy as it seems?

Post by paspallum63 » Sun Oct 12, 2014 8:53 pm

Hi
Hey I know this is a 6 year old thread
But that pic is just what I want - The Seymour Duncan diagram on how to remove the mud circuit - problem is.... no pic anymore
Anyone got a link?
Paspallum

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Re: Removing a Rhythm Circuit - As easy as it seems?

Post by Maukio » Tue Oct 14, 2014 5:43 am

Image

This isn't the original image, but it's the exact same idea.

This is the simplest way to remove the rhythm circuit and maintain everything. In other words, it's completely reversible because you're not cutting anything short.

You have the option of leaving the rhythm circuit in the guitar, just be sure to tape up any loose ends, or you can remove it whole.

Also please note that because you're not cutting anything short, there will be excess wire that will probably need to be wrapped into a loose circle and taped.

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Re: Removing a Rhythm Circuit - As easy as it seems?

Post by Wes » Sun Jul 05, 2015 7:01 am

Yes, old thread, but still eminently valuable to those grabbing a search engine for help in the wildnerness.
Thank you Maukio for the concise instructions as well as resupplying the circuit diagram.
(and all without 10 pages of morhping into debate over pot values & treble-bleed mods)
Well done gentlemen & thanks!

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Re: Removing a Rhythm Circuit - As easy as it seems?

Post by cyclopean » Sun Jul 05, 2015 3:55 pm

Anyone have a diagram for turning the rhythm circuit into both pickups in series instead? And where can I get 1k roller pots?

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