S70D Control Layout

[Sam1957]

Please can anyone tell me how the controls function on an S70D model? In particular I’m confused about what the micro switches do. The controls on my S90 and S300D are simple enough for even me to grasp.

 

[hansmoust]

Hello Sam1957,

Welcome! This should help you out.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[Sam1957]

Hello Sam1957,

Welcome! This should help you out.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

Hans. Thanks for that as I’m sure I would never have figured that out without your help. It all seems a little over complicated to be honest and I don’t find the phase switch on my S300D to be very usable. If I were lucky enough to find an S70D here in the U.K. I don’t think I would use the micro switches. Maybe I’d be better looking for an S60D. Sam

 

[hearth_man]

The S70 (S70D) phase switch may not be as useful as the bypass switch which can fill out the sound in a number of the 5 positions. I have had both the S60D and S70D which use the Dimarzio SD1 pickups. If you can find one, the S70D has a much better array of sounds.

 

[Sam1957]

Thanks for that. I suppose it is logical when I think about it. I’m definitely on the lookout for an S60D or S80D to complement my S300D. I had a 1977 S300D from 1978 through to about 1990 and stupidly sold it. I recently picked up another 1977 S300D which is only 6 digits away from the serial number of my original one. My S90 is a 1973 model but to be honest I prefer the shape and feel of the S300 family.

 

[mushroom]

Nice pair you have there.

 

[Sam1957]

Thanks. For a period in the late seventies I played in an “all Guild” band. I used an S300D, the other guitarist used an S90 and the bass player used a B301! Do you use a Guild guitar yourself?

 

[mushroom]

Thanks. For a period in the late seventies I played in an “all Guild” band. I used an S300D, the other guitarist used an S90 and the bass player used a B301! Do you use a Guild guitar yourself?

Howdy
Yeah I mainly used a Bluesbird or M75 into a Marshall or Mesa Boogie.
All the others in the band(s) were Rickenbacker fanatics.

 

[matsickma]

I have two S-70. The first one I purchased acquired had a cracked pickguard and some dings in its brown burst type finish. The interesting thing was it was not wired up in the stock configuration. When I examined the wiring and solder joints they looked "original". Essentially the By-Pass switch was not present. Instead the mini switches were setup so that the "By-Pass" switch reversed the phase between the middle and bridge pickups and the "Phase" switch reversed the phase of the neck and middle pickup. Interestingly the 5-position blade switch was also a "double sided" switch. Only one side being used.

The 2nd S-70 I acquired was a mint black model and it was wired up as per the illustration provided by Hans.

I mentioned the above because I was pretty sure the wiring looked stock on the "brown" S70 and began to think occasionally a wiring mishap may have occurred at the factory.

I never compared the physical wiring between the two guitars as I had altered the wiring on the brown guitar with a middle pickup attenuator with push/pull DPDT switch to use the 2nd side of the 5-position blade switch to bypass the added attenuator. With those changes the mods I made would be indistinguishable from and tampering done by a previous owner.

So in the event the guitar controls don't match the info Hans provided there is the possibility it was wire like the brown S70 I described above.

 

[Sam1957]

Howdy
Yeah I mainly used a Bluesbird or M75 into a Marshall or Mesa Boogie.
All the others in the band(s) were Rickenbacker fanatics.

I had a beautiful Bluesbird from the nineties but stupidly sold it off! Around the same time I had a Rickenbacker 360/6 - loved how it looked and sounded but couldn’t get on with the sticky lacquered fretboard at all.

 

[Sam1957]

I have two S-70. The first one I purchased acquired had a cracked pickguard and some dings in its brown burst type finish. The interesting thing was it was not wired up in the stock configuration. When I examined the wiring and solder joints they looked "original". Essentially the By-Pass switch was not present. Instead the mini switches were setup so that the "By-Pass" switch reversed the phase between the middle and bridge pickups and the "Phase" switch reversed the phase of the neck and middle pickup. Interestingly the 5-position blade switch was also a "double sided" switch. Only one side being used.

The 2nd S-70 I acquired was a mint black model and it was wired up as per the illustration provided by Hans.

I mentioned the above because I was pretty sure the wiring looked stock on the "brown" S70 and began to think occasionally a wiring mishap may have occurred at the factory.

I never compared the physical wiring between the two guitars as I had altered the wiring on the brown guitar with a middle pickup attenuator with push/pull DPDT switch to use the 2nd side of the 5-position blade switch to bypass the added attenuator. With those changes the mods I made would be indistinguishable from and tampering done by a previous owner.

So in the event the guitar controls don't match the info Hans provided there is the possibility it was wire like the brown S70 I described above.

Wow! Two S70s when I have never even got my hands on one. I don’t really like the phase switch on my S300D - Peter Green is my favourite guitarist and I have done the magnet flip on one of my Les Pauls and it works great. On my original S300D I had the pickups re-wired to allow coil splitting and used to he original switch to split the humbuckers. I found that far more useful but, as my 1977 S300D is now close to 47 years old, I’m kind of loathe to start hacking it about. Views welcome!