Monday, March 21, 2011

Terminator's Guitar Wiring


Do you remember Terminator movies? Do you remember Terminator's character? He's a cool, reticent, strong and effective killing machine.


What kind of guitar this dude play? I'm sure it's not a jazz box or an ukulele.

Before I will write something more about the guitar, I need to tell you about the Terminator's rules:
1. The best guns are simple, effective, loud and powerful.
2. Kung-Fu and Karate sucks. It's better to just throw an enemy against a wall. A simple, strong punch also works well.
3. To solve a problem with a bad guy, you need to eliminate him (kill).
...He's just a simple, no-compromise dude.

So, how the Terminator's way of life affects his guitar preferences?

ad. 1. The guitar must be based on one, high-output humbucking pickup. High-power is the base.
ad. 2. Having many pots sucks. One knob - volume - is enough. He don't need any tone pots – the guitar signal must be distinct and rough.
ad. 3. There must be a kill-switch – because it's a KILL- switch, and he can do the machine gun effect with this thing.

This is the guitar wiring diagram:


(I used the Seymour Duncan's wire-color-code: black=hot, green=ground)

As you can see, it's not a very complicated circuit. If you want to modify your axe in this way, go ahead. It will not ruin your guitar's tone. It will give you more simplicity in controlling the electronics and cool, powerful sound.

In comparison to common 2-pot (Telecaster, Ibanez RG)), 3-pot (Stratocaster) or 4-pot (Les Paul) guitar wirngs, it will make the tone more distinct and crisp. It can be a great mod for metal guitarists.

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