Rats Nest.

[hamerhead]

Opened up the new-to-me T-51 yesterday and found this:

Oof. Not Hamer's best work. At first I thought I'd just rewire it to my liking but I'm not yet in love with the guitar and really don't want another project. It's a fucking mess. Since Dave's only mentioned a possible pickup change and not the wiring nightmare, what would you do? Send it back? Ask for $$ for repairs?

Shit.

 

[Dave Scepter]

Geez, you gonna send it back for that?.. what are you a girl?.. Does it work?

[hamerhead]

49 minutes ago, Dave Scepter said:

....Does it work?

Kind of.... 

The 3 pickups work fine but it's hard to know if the Fishman is doing anything. I'm not getting any acoustic-type noises that I can tell. And normally I don't care what's under there - as long as it's fully functional. This thing looks like 12-year-old me got loose with a soldering iron.

Maybe I was expecting too much.

[Steve Haynie]

1 hour ago, hamerhead said:

Opened up the new-to-me T-51 yesterday and found this:

Not Hamer's best work.

They made it on a Friday. 😉

[Steve Haynie]

If you got a good deal, let it go and pay for someone to straighten out the mess.  If not, see what you can negotiate.

[Dave Scepter]

I mean, if it doesn't work correctly and you're dissatisfied with it, then yeah, you should notify them with some sort of resolution but just being "messy" is not grounds for a return... give it some thought over a cup of coffee...

Good luck in whatever you decide, I'll be waiting for an update 🤣

[hamerhead]

Just pulled the jack - it's a TRS, so that should explain the acoustic side. It gets more interesting all the time....

[velorush]

Nothing in the HFC schematic database. 

Is it a good enough Tele to warrant keeping it without the Fishman bridge? I'd keep it and futz with the Fishman part as I had time.

Until you get a TRS connector (and splitter to put it to two amps) will you ever know if the Fishman is operating properly?

[Jimbilly]

behold the '07 deluxe strat with S-1 switch, thankfully I only had to replace the 2nd tone pot

Edited July 17, 2025 by Jimbilly

[soli'd]

t51.pdf

edited to add, this schematic doesn't account for the piezo or a TRS output, but was listed here: https://www.hamerfanclub.com/hamer-guitar-wiring-schematics/

Edited July 17, 2025 by soli'd

[hamerhead]

3 hours ago, soli'd said:

t51.pdf 555.79 kB · 2 downloads

edited to add, this schematic doesn't account for the piezo or a TRS output, but was listed here: https://www.hamerfanclub.com/hamer-guitar-wiring-schematics/

Thanks! But yeah, this is a bit different. 

Since it isn't 'factory', I'm not sure which way to go with it. It needs to be cleaned up for sure. And a tone control would be nice. Anybody see a schematic with the Fishman? 

[beezerboy]

doesn't the Fish need a pre-amp?

[topekatj]

I’m guessing the odd loose dangly bit above the right pot is the Powerchip.

https://www.fishmanjp.com/support/install_guides/powerbridge_install_guide.pdf

It’ll be tough to find a lighter T-51. If you’d be inclined to keep it (assuming a $150-200 refund) suggest sending a photo to Dave’s and inquiring. After that, cut bait, new bridge, new control plate, replace middle pickup, wire it up like a Strat. Yep, sounds like a project ! 

Let me be the first to say TREEFIDDY !

 

 

[Disturber]

Does it sound good/great? If the wiring does not impact negatively on the tone then leave it be and don't open it up again, ever. I would not bother. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[mrjamiam]

Looks like Modern Vintage to me.  You got your cloth insulation, you got your PVC insulation...

You sold me a T-51.  Now you bought this.  You must really want it.  Dig in!

[hamerhead]

I tried a TRS cable and the Fishman works fine! But because of that shitty soldering job, I now lost the bridge pickup.  A mess, I tell ya.

Fender has a version that looks really clean:

They use a 5-way, volume/tone stack and a separate volume to roll the Fishman in at will. To me, it makes a lot more sense than the clust***uck I have now. 

I'll probably replace the control plate with something similar. It will be more reliable.

[Dave Scepter]

Have you tried going through with an iron and reheating all the soldering joints?

[hamerhead]

Not yet, Dave. I could, but some of the wires are melted and there's blobs of solder on everything - stripping everything out of there and starting over would really be the smartest way to go. I just really didn't need another project.

I have an email into Dave's. We'll see what they come up with.

[Tortious]

Bummer. Here's a couple of old threads mentioning that no tone control was apparently part of it, stereo y-cable needed etc. jettster said he had a diagram but could not locate it.

https://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/topic/73840-activating-the-fishman-transducer-on-a-t51f/

https://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/topic/43301-t-51-vs-t-51f/

Good luck.

[hamerhead]

9 hours ago, Tortious said:

Bummer. Here's a couple of old threads mentioning that no tone control was apparently part of it, stereo y-cable needed etc. jettster said he had a diagram but could not locate it.

https://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/topic/73840-activating-the-fishman-transducer-on-a-t51f/

https://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/topic/43301-t-51-vs-t-51f/

Good luck.

THAT. Is really helpful. Lotta good info. The 3-knob solution is great. Thank you!

[hamerhead]

Reply from Dave: Return it for a refund, return it and we'll clean it up, or take $75 and piss off (not really on that last part).

So I says, "$75 seems a little light. Throw in a T-shirt and you got a deal".

He laughed. The check and shirt go out Monday.  

[crunchee]

I was away for a few days so hadn't heard about this, sorry to hear about the trouble, usually Dave's tends to catch mods and other boogery early on, or at least they used to.  

Has anybody asked Fishman directly, to see if they have any records/recommendations for wiring and using this type of circuit, and specifically any development work they might have done in the past with Hamer on the T-51?

Edited July 19, 2025 by crunchee

[hamerhead]

No trouble, really. I just didn't have anything else to whine about at the time.  And I still really appreciate the heads-up!

The $75 will go towards a new pre-wired plate, then that will be as clean as the rest of the guitar, which it deserves. It's really pretty nice.

If anybody has a preferred wiring guy or control plate guy, let me know.

[Jakeboy]

Dibs if it doesn’t work out. I’d replace it all with  a 5 way passive Strat setup and a new bridge…

[Dutchman]

16 hours ago, hamerhead said:

No trouble, really. I just didn't have anything else to whine about at the time.  And I still really appreciate the heads-up!

The $75 will go towards a new pre-wired plate, then that will be as clean as the rest of the guitar, which it deserves. It's really pretty nice.

If anybody has a preferred wiring guy or control plate guy, let me know.

I love the 4 way switch on a tele. You get the regular plus a combined which is thicker and very much like a humbucker! It's a well kept secret!