Description
Hoagland Custom located in sunny Fernandina Beach, Florida, has specialized in custom guitar wiring and pickup making for almost 30 years…
& we love what we do!
This “Jerry Donahue” Tele mod is a great wiring harness for a 2 single coil Tele! It also includes a treble bleed modification to help release some of those delicious highs at lower pot volumes.
Donahue was born in New York, the son of big band saxophonist Sam Donahue and actress Patricia Donahue and grew up in Los Angeles. Encouraged by his parents, Donahue took classical guitar lessons as a child, but it was Gerry McGee (who later joined The Ventures) who made the biggest impression on him, when the 14-year-old Donahue witnessed him playing a behind-the-nut bend at a performance at the Sea Witch, emulating Earl Scruggs’ banjo technique. Donahue then took lessons from McGee. Regarding regular bends on the fretboard, Donahue cites Amos Garrett as a major influence. Other influences in his formative years were Chet Atkins, Duane Eddy, The Shadows, and The Ventures; later influences were Clarence White, Danny Gatton, Albert Lee, Tommy Emmanuel, and Robben Ford.
There is a very good article about Donahue & his guitar wiring on Premiere Guitar Magazine. Here is the link: https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/30245-decoding-jerry-donahues-5-way-telecaster-wiring-Fender-JD-Telecaster-Peavey-Omniac-JD-Seymour-Duncan-Trev-Wilkinson-Fret-King-JDD
HARDWARE: (chrome dress nuts & washers are included)
- chrome control plate & mounting screws – optional
- chrome control plate w/slanted switch & mounting screws – optional
- nickel control plate & mounting screws – optional
- black control plate & mounting screws – optional
- gold control plate & mounting screws – optional
- “Pure Tone” premium quality output jack – optional
MAIN TONE CAPACITORS: (there is one, main tone cap but several other small capacitors. This is only the main tone cap)
- Sprague “Orange Drop” poly capacitor, .022mfd value, standard
- MojoTone Dijon Coupling capacitor, .022mfd value, $3 upgrade
- Mallory “Mustard” capacitor, .022mfd value, $4 upgrade
- Centralab “White” mylar-in-oil capacitor, .022mfd value, $13 upgrade
- Vitamin T “Silver Barrel” paper-in-oil capacitor, .022mfd value, $14 upgrade
- Vitamin Q “Black Candy” paper-in-oil capacitor, .022mfd value, $16 upgrade
SWITCHING POSITIONS (as described in Jerry Donahue’s own colorful words):
- P1 – The solo bridge pickup with the gutsy lead sound of the very best ’50s Telecasters.
- P2 – Combines both pickups with a capacitor and resistor to create a controlled degree of reversed phase. This offers a Stratocaster’s popular “in-between quack tone.”
- P3 – The neck and bridge pickups in a custom parallel wiring. This produces an enhanced, contemporary version of a Telecaster’s traditional middle-position tone.
- P4 – The neck pickup with a special capacitor engaged. This yields a tone ordinarily associated with an archtop jazz guitar. Add overdrive to capture that classic late-’60s “woman tone.”
- P5 – The rich and sparkling neck position of a traditional Stratocaster, resulting in that unmistakable vintage single-coil sound that echoes the soaring, majestic blues tones of the ’60s and ’70s.
SWITCHING POSITIONS (in tech talk):
- P1 – Bridge pickup only (standard Telecaster wiring)
- P2 – Neck & bridge pickup w/engaged cap & resistor (in-between “quack” tone)
- P3 – Neck & bridge pickups, in-parallel
- P4 – Neck w/special cap engaged (classic late ’60’s “woman tone”)
- P5 – Neck pickup only (like standard Telecaster wiring)
STANDARD INCLUDES:
- 1 CTS or Bourns Pro Series volume control, 250k value, short-shaft, audio taper
- 1 CTS or Bourns Pro Series tone control, 250k value, short-shaft, linear taper
- treble bleed mod (150k resistor & a .001mfd cap) to allow the highs to pass to your signal at lower volumes
- Sprague “Orange Drop” poly tone capacitor, a .022mfd value
- .0022mfd, .0033mfd, & .01mfd ceramic disk caps
- 2 – 6.2k metal film resistors
- 5-way lever style, twin pole “Super” switch
- Switchcraft mono output jack
- Gavitt vintage style, cloth covered wire
- tech support phone & email
One note: “SUPER” switches are fairly wide and, coupled with a capacitor & a resistor, may require that you rout your electronics cavity slightly for them to fit.
While all of our wiring solutions are built to be installed rather easily, we always recommend that you have a guitar professional at your local guitar shop install it for you.
