Is This The Ultimate Telecaster Wiring Mod?

Hey all – we’re back with an exciting and super useful Telecaster mod – the Fralin Blend-Tone Pot!

Conceptualized by our very own Derek Harwell, we designed a Telecaster push pull modification that is truly the most versatile one we’ve come across. With one Push Pull Pot, you can achieve a traditional Tone Control and a Blender Control – all in one convenient Pot!

What You Need:

To achieve the Blend-Tone mod, you first need a Fralin Push Pull Blender Pot.

Hear The Blend-Tone Mod Here:

In the Down position, the Blend-Tone pot is a simple Tone pot – just like you’d have on a normal Telecaster setup.

In the Up Position, the Tone pot is deactivated (imagine your tone on 10 – it’s brightest setting). Once deactivated, you now have a Blender Pot, which allows you to gradually blend the Neck and Bridge pickups.

Blend-Tone Wiring Diagram

Here’s how to wire it up with a Traditional Telecaster setup:

Explanation Of The Wiring

Overview

We envisioned the Blend-Tone control on a standard Telecaster tone pot. It uses our Push Pull Blender Pot to give you two modes: tone control (down) or pickup blender (up). Internally, the pot is split into a “Tone Section” (green wire and capacitor) and a “Blender Section” (red and blue wires). The green wire and cap behave exactly like a normal Tele tone circuit, while the red and blue wires tap into the switch lugs for neck and bridge pickups.

How It Works

When the push-pull is in the down (normal) position, the pot’s commons connect the green wire to the cap, so turning the knob rolls off treble just like any Telecaster tone pot. The blender pot wires disconnect so you get the familiar tone sweep from full treble to a darker sound.

Pulling the knob up reroutes those commons to the red and blue wires instead. By removing the tone cap out of the circuit, the pot becomes a blender pot. One “end” of the blender sees the bridge pickup and the other sees the neck. Turning the knob now cross-fades between neck and bridge, giving you infinite pickup blend!

Other Uses for the Blend-Tone

Can you use the Blend-Tone mod in other guitars? Sure! This modification will work anywhere where you want one pot to achieve both a Blender Pot and a Tone Pot. Study the diagram above – the pot’s wiring is self-contained – simply connect the Blender Wires to the switch.

If this looks a bit too daunting for you to wire up, no probem! We offer it as an upgrade to our Telecaster Control Plates here: