The FAT-O-Caster User's Manual & Guide The M&M ... - Deaf Eddie

page 3Connect the bridge and neck pickups' leads as shown:neck hot on A 1 & 2; bridge hot on B 4 & 5, BOTH grounds on D common.Jumper D 1 & 5 together, and on to ground on the back of the tone pot.The mid pup gets connected later…The FAT-O's pre-wired leads: connect the FAT-O's BLUE lead to lugs C 2, 3, & 4.

page 5From the RED and BLACK twisted pair, the BLACK goes on lug B 5 with the bridge's hot,RED goes to B 3.Finally, connect the mid pup's leads as shown, with the mid hot to the FAT-O lug with the string tied throughit, and the mid ground to ground on the back of the volume pot.This completes the installation.

page 6How it works:FAT-O-Caster rotary switches re-route the leads of the pickups to different places in the guitar's circuitry toget the desired combination of pickups, phase, and series/parallel wiring. The M & M will rotate throughthree different stops. These stops, which I call "NOTCHES," are named for how they route the pickups intothe circuit. For the most part, this scheme works like the Original FAT-O kit, but with the Superswitch the"series with mid" notch is a bit different than on the original model.The NOTCHES:Notch 1 (“tone knob” on “10”) is just "Normal" Strat tones.As you throw the 5-way in this setting, you get (from 1 to 5):1 = neck2 = neck and middle3 = middle4 = bridge and middle5 = bridgeNotch 2 (“tone knob” on “9”) is the "NECK on with BRIDGE" setting –the neck pup is ALSO routed to the bridge end of the 5-way switch.This notch gives you the two missing "magnificent seven" parallel combos.As you throw the 5-way in this setting, you get (from 1 to 5):1 = neck2 = neck and middle3 = middle4 = bridge, middle, and neck5 = bridge and neckThere now, isn't that what you've always said you wanted your Strat to be able to do?Notch 3 (“tone knob” on “8”) is the “SERIES with MID" setting.With this notch, the two parallel combos (5-way #2 and #4) are replaced by series combos.Throw #3 has both "outside" pups in series with the midAs you throw the 5-way in this setting, you get (from 1 to 5):1 = neck2 = neck and middle in series3 = neck and bridge parallel, in series with mid4 = bridge and middle in series5 = bridgePickups wired in series make the current flow through first one coil and then the other, effectively doublingthe resistance/impedance of the circuit. This is usually characterized as a "fatter" or "thicker" sound than thatproduced by pickups played parallel, and is sometimes louder as well. In a very real way, the two pups inthese two series combos work like a single "wide" humbucker - and if your mid pup is RW/RP, it IS ahumbucking combo.Questions? E-mail me at eb@deaf-eddie.net

FAT-O-Caster M&M model TONE CHARTNOTCH NAME(across)Normal(10)Neck with Bridge(9)Series with Mid(8)(1) neck n n n(2) middle+neck m+n m+n N*M(3) middle m m (N+B)*M(4) bridge+middle b+m B+N+M B*M(5) bridge b B+N bThe FAT-O-Caster changes the way the pickups are wired into the circuit.The NAMES of the NOTCHES describe HOW the pickups are wired...KEY:+ = wired parallel* = wired in serieslower case letters = "stock" strat tonesUPPER CASE BOLD = new FAT-O-Caster tones