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|
Constructional Project
Project by Brandon Speedie
upgrade your instrument with these
Electric & Bass Guitar
Pickguards
The control circuitry on electric basses has remained remarkably simple since
Leo Fender first introduced the instrument over 70 years ago. These modern
PCBs offer more advanced features and a cool aesthetic. They suit many popular
models of electric bass as well as the Fender Telecaster electric guitar.
Image source: https://unsplash.com/photos/teal-and-brown-electric-guitar-phS37wg8cQg
M
ost electric guitars and basses
have circuitry built into the
instrument's body. Typically,
it includes a passive network of potentiometers and capacitors to give
the musician control of output volume
and ‘tone’. The standard configuration
is shown in Fig.1.
The volume control is a potentiometer that divides the audio signal voltage from the pickup(s). The tone control is an adjustable low-pass filter to
reduce the amount of treble and therefore change the instrument’s sound to
suit different music and playing styles.
Its simplicity has made it a popular
circuit, remaining relatively unchanged
since the early 20th century. However,
it has some weaknesses. These updated
circuits aim to correct some of those
shortcomings and add some handy
new features.
Most electric instruments, including
guitars and basses, use passive inductive pickups to sense the vibrations of
the metal strings, converting them into
electrical signals that can be amplified.
Pickups
There are predominantly two types
of electromagnetic pickups used on guitars and basses. The most common is
the ‘single coil’ type, so called because
it is constructed of a single inductor
wrapped around a set of permanent
magnets. The magnets are made of an
iron alloy known as alnico (aluminium, nickel & cobalt), which are positioned under the instrument strings to
form ‘pole pieces’.
Wrapped around these magnets are
several thousand turns of enamelled
copper wire (see Fig.3). The pole pieces
magnetise the strings, producing a
Fig.1: a typical control
circuit on an electric guitar
or bass. The ‘tone’ control
is an adjustable low pass
filter, while the volume
control is an adjustable
voltage divider.
42
changing magnetic field for the copper
coil when plucked. This movement
induces a voltage in the coil, which
is ultimately sent to an amplifier for
playback or recording.
The other type of pickup is called
a “humbucker” because it can cancel
interference and therefore reduce the
hum induced by noisy sources such
as nearby transformers and fluorescent lighting. The humbucker has two
coils mounted next to each other in the
Fig.2: the magnetic field lines around
a typical humbucker pickup. Source:
Lawing Musical Products – https://
pemag.au/link/abw4
Practical Electronics | October | 2025
Electric Guitar/Bass Pickguards
bridge-mounted pickups will sound
brighter with strong mid-range and
treble sounds. The electronic control
circuitry allows the musician to select
these different pickups and control the
final sound.
I have designed four different circuits with custom-shaped PCBs to suit
some of the more common or interesting electric basses and guitars.
J&D Luthiers T-Style electric
bass
Photos 1 & 2:
the outside
surface of the
T-style bass
pickguard has
a nice tinned
pattern. The
labels aren’t
upside-down; at
least, not from
the player's
perspective!
same package. One coil has its north
magnets facing the strings, while the
other has its south poles facing the
strings (Figs.2 & 3).
The coils are wired 180° out of phase,
so any external interference that impinges on the pickup will induce an
opposing voltage in each coil that is
therefore cancelled out. Any (wanted)
voltage induced by the strings will be
out-of-phase due to the opposite orientation of the pickup magnets, and
those signals will reinforce due to the
out-of-phase wiring.
Humbuckers are known for their
stronger and fuller sound but tend to
lack clarity and brightness compared
to a single coil. These differing characteristics, as well as pickup placement,
can be used by the instrument designer
to influence its overall voicing.
Pickups placed towards the neck
of the instrument tend to have more
bass and sound more mellow, while
The inspiration for this project came
during the restoration of an old bass
guitar, known as a T-Style, from the
Australian designer J&D Luthiers (see
Photo 1). The existing circuitry was
mounted directly to timber veneer,
which was showing its age and needed
replacement. I routed the veneer off,
leaving a hole in the body to be covered by a new fascia.
The obvious choice for a new material would be custom-machined sheet
metal, but making that is time consuming and quite expensive. Most parts
of this nature are also chrome-coated,
which adds further expense. Instead,
I decided to make a new fascia from
a printed circuit board (PCB), which
could act as both a visually appealing fascia and house the new circuitry
(see Photo 2).
The new circuit is shown in Fig.4
and Photo 3. The instrument features
two pickups: a single coil near the
neck and a humbucker near the bridge.
These wire directly to CON1, a 7-way
screw terminal.
Both coils' negative ends and the
humbucker shield are grounded, along
with the instrument drain wire. The
drain is electrically connected to the
Fig.3: the internal construction of a single coil pickup, an early “PAF” Humbucker with bottom-mounted magnet
and steel pole pieces, and a more modern form of humbucker with alnico magnet pole pieces. Source: https://
lawingmusicalproducts.com/dr-lawings-blog/the-wide-range-humbucker-and-the-genius-of-seth-lover
Practical Electronics | October | 2025
43
Constructional Project
Fig.4: my new circuit for the J&D Luthiers T-Style bass allows you to select which pickups are active and the
configuration of the humbucker. It also provides tone, overdrive and volume controls and has compensation so that
the frequency response doesn’t change too much with volume level.
bridge, to suppress interference induced on the strings and metal hardware.
The ‘middle’ of the humbucker
(coil one negative, coil two positive)
connects to switch S1, a DP3T toggle
switch with a slightly unusual on/
on/on switching pattern, as shown
in Fig.5. This provides the option of
series/split/parallel selection for the
humbucker coils.
When in the split position (centre),
one of the coils is grounded, so the
humbucker operates as a single coil,
giving a clear and bright tone. When
in the series position (down), the coils
are in series. This gives the strongest
output and a rich tone but less brightness than a single coil.
When in the parallel position (up),
the coil one negative is grounded and
the coil two positive connects to the
output, placing the coils in parallel.
This gives a tone somewhere between
the other two modes.
The output of the humbucker switch
leads to S2, the bridge/neck pickup selector switch. In the bottom position,
the neck single coil will be active;
in the top position, the bridge humbucker will be selected (in whatever
mode S1 has it operating in); and,
in the centre position, both pickups
are active.
Switches S1 & S2 provide a lot of
flexibility for the musician, selecting
between a total of seven different configurations for the two pickups.
Photo 3: there’s a fair bit of room inside the T-Style bass guitar body for the
components on the underside of the PCB.
The signal is then fed to the traditional tone control, made from potentiometer VR1 (connected as a rheostat)
and the four paralleled capacitors. This
configuration forms a low-pass filter
but in a slightly unusual way.
Because the pot is in series with
the capacitor(s), it effectively works
as a magnitude control. With the pot
all the way up, the signal sees a high
impedance and very little of the high
end is shunted.
With the tone all the way down, the
capacitor(s) are connected directly in
parallel with the output, giving a strong
high-frequency roll-off. The RC combination of the pickup source impedance and filter capacitance will loosely
set the cutoff frequency. Still, with no
buffering, there is a strong interaction
with the other controls.
Because we prefer to use plastic film
dielectric capacitors for linearity, the
range of values available in the size
used (SMD M3216/1206) is only up to
about 1μF. The four footprints therefore allow for a broader range of capacitances and for tuning the sound
by connecting smaller capacitors in
parallel with larger ones.
A typical value is 47nF, but I prefer
higher values to scoop out a bit more
of the mid-range, so I use 200-220nF.
In the prototype I built, I used two
100nF film capacitors in parallel, but
I’ve specified a single 220nF in the
parts list for simplicity.
The next control in the signal path
is potentiometer VR2, which is a new
feature: a passive overdrive/distortion
control. It works similarly to the tone
control, except there are back-to-back
(inverse parallel) schottky diodes (D1,
D2) in series with the rheostat.
When the pot is fully down, there
44
Practical Electronics | October | 2025
Electric Guitar/Bass Pickguards
The Wireless for the Warrior
books are references for the
history and development
of radio communication
equipment used by the British
Army from the very early days
of wireless up to the 1960s.
Volumes 1 & 3 are still
available. Order a printed copy
now from:
https://pemag.au/link/ac20
Fig.5: the unusual switching
patterns of the “on/on/on” and “Les
Paul” DP3T switches used in these
circuits allows the coils to be used
together or individually.
is a high resistance in series with the
diodes, so they have little effect on
the signal.
When the pot is all the way up,
the diodes are connected directly to
the signal line. The voltage from the
pickups is too low to fully forward
bias these diodes, but even operating
in their square law region, they introduce some nonlinearity to produce
a subtle ‘overdrive’, a popular effect
amongst guitarists.
The seasoned musician will note
that the overdrive effect is applied
before the volume control, so its impact
won’t be reduced if the volume is adjusted. This offers a useful contrast
to other distortion sources, such as
downstream foot pedals or amplifiers,
which are mellowed by their input
voltage level.
By combining the onboard distortion with downstream effects, the
musician has the flexibility to dial
up or down distortion from a mixture of sources.
Constructors might like to exper-
iment with different combinations
of diodes here; for instance, a single
schottky diode would give asymmetric distortion, while back-to-back combinations of small signal diodes like
the 1N4148WS would provide a more
mellow effect. You could even have
a combination, with one 1N4148WS
and one schottky diode facing in either
direction.
The final potentiometer, VR3, is a traditional volume control with a twist. In
a conventional circuit, the output signal
is simply tapped off the pot's wiper.
But this arrangement has a drawback:
as the volume is turned down, the pot
resistance appears in series with the
output. When connected to an amplifier via a coaxial cable, this resistance
forms an unwanted low-pass filter (with
the cable parasitic capacitance), reducing upper frequencies.
In this updated circuit, a 1nF capacitor is placed in parallel with the
volume control to ‘bleed’ additional
treble into the output as the volume
is turned down, compensating for the
undesirable tone loss.
Additional series and parallel footprints R5, C6 and C7 are provided for
other combinations of capacitance or
resistance to do this job. For instance,
100kW || 1nF may sound more linear
as the control is turned down.
The output signal appears at the
output jack, CON, a ¼-inch (6.35mm)
TS socket to suit a standard instrument cable.
The PCB is secured to the front
of the instrument using 3mm stainless steel self-tappers. They mount
through 3mm plated through-holes
and secure directly into the timber.
I prefer plated holes for mechanical
mounting, as they are a bit more hardy
than bare fibreglass against the metal
screw threads.
A standard 1.6mm thickness PCB
with black solder mask is best; any thinner would be too flimsy, any thicker
would present too much of a lip. We
will be supplying boards with a leadfree HASL finish (basically tin plating)
as the solder will be on the outside of
the guitar. If a gold finish would suit
your guitar, you could go for an ENIG
finish, although it will make the board
considerably more expensive.
The Fender Jazz Bass
Many of the features of this T-style
bass circuit can be applied to more
Fig.6: my Jazz Bass circuit is similar to the one for the T-Style bass shown in Fig.4, except the pickup switching is
simpler because both pickups are single-coil types.
Practical Electronics | October | 2025
45
Constructional Project
Photo 4: a Fender
Jazz electric bass.
Source: www.
megamusiconline.
com.au/product/
fender-americanperformer-jazzbass-guitarrosewoodfretboard-3colour-sunburst/
Photo 5: the unusual ‘Les Paul style’
DPDT switch closes all contacts in its
central position, rather than opening
them all, as in a normal DPDT centreoff switch.
46
common instruments. One of the most
popular bass guitars is the Fender Jazz
Bass (Photo 4), which has two single-
coil pickups. Jazz basses have been
played extensively by legends like
Jaco Pastorius, John Paul Jones of Led
Zeppelin, Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Adam Clayton of U2 and Geddy
Lee of Rush.
There are also clones of the Jazz Bass
(and the other guitars listed below) that
would likely fit my new pickguard designs, possibly with slight modifications to the inside of the body.
Traditionally, the two pickups would
be wired to individual volume control
potentiometers with a shared common
tone control. My new arrangement is
shown in Fig.6.
The negative of the second coil and
the bridge shield are connected directly to circuit ground, similarly to the
T-Style circuit from above. The first
coil's negative and the second coil's
positive are routed to S1, a DPDT
toggle switch that provides series/individual switching for the two coils.
With S1 in the position shown, S2
allows the player to select either coil
or both in parallel.
Parallel is the standard configuration for a Jazz bass, while series is a
new mode that will give a stronger and
fuller tone. Series switching with
two single-coil pickups
is a rare configuration but, in my opinion, heavily underrated. On a genuine
Fender, it can give the player a beefier
tone that is more akin to a humbucker.
It can compensate for low-cost pickups, which tend to sound thin on a
cheap imitation.
Photo 5 shows how this special
‘Les Paul style’ switch works; with
the toggle in the central position, all
contacts are closed.
Moving it to one side opens the contacts on the opposite side, while leaving the set on the same side closed. In
its standard configuration, that lets
you choose one pickup, the other or
both in parallel.
With S1 in the standard parallel
mode, S2 can select between the neck
pickup only, bridge pickup only, or
both pickups in parallel. With S1 in
the series position, S2 selects between
both in series or mute.
Mute can be helpful for live work, to
avoid unwanted sounds when moving
around on stage between songs, or it
can be rapidly switched on and off to
give a tremolo-style effect.
The signal is then sent to the tone
control potentiometer, VR1. A single
capacitor is used here (220nF recommended), as there is no space for
more footprints. Following this is pot
VR2, the passive overdrive with dual
schottky diodes.
After that is pot VR3, the volume
control with a single
1nF treble
Photos 6 & 7: the outside of the Jazz Bass pickguard has a pleasing zigzag
pattern in tin along with the necessary labels. The other side of the pickguard is
where all the components are mounted.
Practical Electronics | October | 2025
Electric Guitar/Bass Pickguards
Fig.7: the Music Man Stingray circuit is virtually identical to the one for the J&D Luthiers T-Style bass, except that
there is no switch S2 as it doesn’t have a neck pickup.
bleed capacitor. Again, there is no space
for additional footprints or series/parallel combinations as there was on the
T-Style circuit.
The entire PCB fits in place of the
existing chrome-plated controls (visible in Photo 4) and is screwed down
to the body. If your instrument doesn’t
quite fit the new controls (shown in
Photos 6 & 7), additional space can be
made by filing, rasping, or routing out
a larger body cavity.
Music Man Stingray
Another very popular bass guitar,
the Stingray (Photo 8), was designed
by Leo Fender after he sold his interest
in his founding business, the Fender
music instrument company.
Unusually for a Fender design, it
features a humbucker pickup. Legends
who have used this bass include Cliff
Williams of AC/DC and John Deacon
of Queen on tracks like Another One
Bites the Dust.
The standard Stingray was the first
electric instrument to feature active
electronics, with a volume control and
a two-band EQ powered by a 9V battery. Some models add a knob to provide a three-band EQ. Cheaper copies
of the Stingray will come with a similar circuit to the Jazz Bass: two volume
control potentiometers for each of the
humbucker coils and a common tone
control.
My replacement circuit is shown in
Fig.7 and Photos 9 & 10. The bridge
shield and humbucker coil two negative are connected to circuit ground.
Like the humbucker wiring in the TStyle circuit, humbucker coil two positive and humbucker coil one negative
connect to S1, a DP3T toggle switch
with the special on/on/on switching
pattern.
This provides the same series/split/
parallel switching for the humbucker
as the T-Style circuit, with the same
tonal flexibility.
When in split mode, only a single
coil is active. Depending on which
coil the user prefers, this can be the
one closest to the bridge or nearest to
the neck. It can be changed by simply
swapping the wiring of coil 1 with coil
2 in the screw terminal.
As the two pickups are mounted
so close to each other, there is only
a very minor difference in sound
between the two, but the bridge coil
will be marginally ‘brighter’, so I
prefer to use it.
The signal from S1 connects with
the humbucker coil one positive and
is sent to the tone control formed by
potentiometer VR1 and up to four paralleled capacitors.
In this example, a single 220nF film
Photo 8: a Music Man Stingray bass with my
new pickguard in place. This guitar
has seen plenty of use!
►
Photos 9 & 10: a close-up of the controls on the Stingray, showing how the
orientation of the labels makes sense for the guitar player. Generally, only
capacitors C1 and C2 are required, as shown here, but the extra pads give you
more options.
Practical Electronics | October | 2025
47
Constructional Project
Fig.8: while the other three circuits were for bass guitars, this one is for a Fender Telecaster standard electric guitar.
It’s the simplest of the four due to the minimal space available on the guitar, with pickup switching, tone and volume
controls and a simple on/off overdrive option.
cap is loaded. After this is the overdrive control, formed by potentiometer VR2 and inverse-parallel schottky
diodes D1& D2.
The final control is the volume
control, VR3, with the treble bleed
circuitry already described. A single
1nF capacitor (C2) is used in my prototype, but footprints R5, C6, and C7
are also provided to give flexibility
to the builder.
Fender Telecaster
The previous circuits have all
been designed for electric bass guitars but can also be applied to electric guitars. The Fender Telecaster
(Photo 11) is one of the oldest and
most popular electric guitars, and its
two-pickup combination can work
with a circuit similar to that of the
Jazz Bass. There are too many famous
Telecaster players to list, including
Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Bruce
Springsteen, George Harrison and
Muddy Waters.
The standard controls on a telecaster are a three-way pickup selector switch (neck/bridge/both) and
the typical volume and tone controls. These can be replaced with
the circuit shown in Fig.8, Photo
12 & Photo 13.
The output jack negative, the
second single coil negative and the
bridge shield connect directly to
circuit ground. The negative of the
first single coil and the positive of
the second single coil are routed to
S1, a DPDT toggle switch providing series/parallel switching for the
two coils.
The output from S1 is sent to S2,
a three-way bridge/neck selector
switch. With S1 in the standard parallel mode, S2 can select between
the neck pickup only, bridge pickup
only, or both pickups. With S1 in the
series position, S2 selects between
on and mute.
The signal is then sent to the tone
control potentiometer, VR1. Two footprints are provided for capacitors.
After this is the passive overdrive,
which differs from other circuits in
its use of a switch rather than a potentiometer.
Due to space constraints, the dual
schottky diodes are simply switched
in or out of circuit. An SPST or SPDT
toggle switch can be used here. After
that is pot VR3, the volume control,
with a single 1nF treble bleed capacitor.
Photos 12 & 13: once your Telecaster pickguard has been assembled and the wires added, it should look like this, ready to
install in the guitar. The pickguard is packed with controls and has a zigzag pattern to add a bit of interest.
48
Practical Electronics | October | 2025
Electric Guitar/Bass Pickguards
Photo 11: a Fender Telecaster electric guitar. Source: www.
keyboardcorner.com.au/fender-player-telecaster-pau-ferrofingerboard-3-color-sunburst/
This circuit does not include a
¼-inch output jack, as the Telecaster
mounts this off-board on the bottom
edge of the body. The output signal
instead connects back to the 7-way
screw terminal, where it can connect to flying leads that wire down
to the output jack.
Construction
All versions can be approached
similarly, referring to the photos presented so far and the relevant PCB
overlay diagram (one of Figs.9-12).
Begin by mounting the toggle
switch(es) and securing them to
the PCB with the supplied washer
and nut.
I prefer a flush mount; if the toggle
stands too proud for your liking,
an additional nut can be placed on
the back of the switch to adjust the
length of shaft that protrudes through
the PCB.
Tin the SMD pads and toggle
switch terminals with solder, then
run short lengths of fine-gauge wire
from the pads to the terminals. The
DPDT and DP3T switches require
all six connections, while the SPST/
SPDT on the Telecaster circuit only
needs the two connections as marked.
Continue by mounting the ¼-inch
jack (excluding the Telecaster).
Secure it to the circuit board using
the supplied washer and nut, like
the toggle switches. Tin the two terminals and the pads and make connections with the fine gauge wire.
The hot pad connects to the tip of
the instrument cable, the longest
conductor on the jack. The ground
Practical Electronics | October | 2025
Parts List – Electric & Bass Guitar Pickguards
Parts common to all versions
2 500kW logarithmic taper single-gang 16mm spline shaft potentiometers (VR1, VR3)
1 6.35mm switched SPST mono jack socket (CON2) *
3 16mm aluminium ¼-inch shaft grub screw knobs
2 BAT43W 30V 200mA SMD schottky diodes, SOD-123 (D1, D2) [DigiKey, Mouser etc]
1 220nF 16V metallised plastic film or NP0/C0G ceramic capacitor, M3216/1206 size
[DigiKey ECP-U1C224MA5]
1 1nF 100V metallised plastic film or NP0/C0G ceramic capacitor, M3216/1206 size
[DigiKey ECW-U1102JX5]
1 1m length of black light-duty hookup wire
* omit jack socket and one knob for Telecaster
Fender Jazz Bass specific parts
1 double-sided PCB with black solder mask coded 23109241, 127 × 105.5mm
1 5-way SMD screw terminal, 3.5mm pitch (CON1) [DigiKey 2383942-5]
1 DPDT solder tail mini toggle switch (S1)
1 "Les Paul 3 Way Selector" DP3T switch (S2) [AliExpress 1005001900886767]
1 100kW linear taper single-gang 16mm spline shaft potentiometer (VR2)
J&D Luthiers T-Style specific parts
1 double-sided PCB with black solder mask coded 23109242, 200.5 × 87.5mm
1 7-way SMD screw terminal, 3.5mm pitch (CON1) [DigiKey 2383942-7]
1 'on-on-on' DPDT miniature toggle switch with solder tags (S1)
[AliExpress 1005008032212175]
1 "Les Paul 3 Way Selector" DP3T switch (S2) [AliExpress 1005001900886767]
1 100kW linear taper single-gang 16mm spline shaft potentiometer (VR2)
Music Man Stingray specific parts
1 double-sided PCB with black solder mask coded 23109243, 190 × 71mm
1 5-way SMD screw terminal, 3.5mm pitch (CON1) [DigiKey 2383942-5]
1 'on-on-on' DPDT miniature toggle switch with solder tags (S1)
[AliExpress 1005008032212175]
1 100kW linear taper single-gang 16mm spline shaft potentiometer (VR2)
Fender Telecaster specific parts
1 double-sided PCB with black solder mask coded 23109244, 28.5 × 148mm
1 7-way SMD screw terminal, 3.5mm pitch (CON1) [DigiKey 2383942-7]
1 DPDT solder tail mini toggle switch (S1)
1 "Les Paul 3 Way Selector" DP3T switch (S2) [AliExpress 1005001900886767]
1 SPDT solder tail mini toggle switch (S3)
49
Constructional Project
Fig.9: the replacement
pickguard for the
T-Style bass is relatively
large and easy to assemble.
Connections to the guitar are
made via a 7-way SMD screw
terminal, as through-holes would
mar the appearance of the outer
(visible) side of the PCB.
Fig.10: the Jazz Bass
pickguard is quite a bit
smaller than the T-Style
bass but all the controls still
fit neatly. A 5-way terminal is
used this time because the bass
doesn’t have a humbucker pickup
with its two extra terminals.
connection is to the jack’s sleeve.
Now mount the potentiometers.
The Volume and Tone controls are
nominally 500kW audio taper, but
other values can be substituted if
the builder prefers.
For instance, 250kW and 1MW pots
are also commonly used on many
instruments. Generally speaking,
higher values will give a brighter
voicing to the instrument but will
also increase the circuit's output
impedance.
The potentiometers are mounted
flush against the PCB, with the provided keyway holding the control in place
to prevent unwanted body rotation.
50
The terminals can be bent down
towards the pads on the PCB and soldered with a blob. Begin by applying solder to the legs of the pot and
wait for the solder to reflow down
onto the pads for a good connection.
Finish the potentiometers by
mounting the brushed aluminium
knobs to the shaft. If the pot shaft is
too long, it can be cut with a hacksaw
and filing to give a flush mount. The
knobs secure to the shaft by tightening the grub screw.
Next, mount the SMD screw terminal. Solder each leg individually
in a similar way to the pot legs; flow
solder onto the legs and wait for it
to reflow onto the pads of the PCB.
Finally, the passives can be soldered to the pads on the circuit board.
I used plastic film caps throughout,
as plastic dielectrics are highly linear.
Finish by soldering the schottky
diodes with opposite orientations.
Editor’s note: C0G ceramics (also
called NP0) are more linear than
many common film caps, such as
polyester types, so they might give
a more neutral sound.
The pickups can now be wired to
the screw terminal, and the entire assembly mounted to the body of the
instrument with 3mm wood screws.
PE
Happy playing!
Practical Electronics | October | 2025
Electric Guitar/Bass Pickguards
ALL DIAGRAMS ARE SHOWN AT 100% FULL SIZE
N/I = NOT INSTALLED FOR STANDARD BUILD
Fig.11: the Music Man Stingray pickguard can double as a boomerang! It’s pretty large, so all
the controls are nicely spaced out. The single humbucker pickup means that only a five-way
terminal is required for this one.
Fig.12: the Telecaster pickguard is the most compact of
all, so there’s only room for the necessary components.
To save space, the overdrive pot is replaced with a switch.
The Fox Report
... continued from page 41.
Flyby11 (now called Flyoobe) is a
free software tool that helps owners
of Window 10 PCs bypass the upgrade
barriers involving TPM, Secure Boot
and CPU type imposed by Microsoft.
It is not a push-button-and-go
installation tool; it’s an assistant that
removes the restrictions during the
upgrade. Flyoobe is not for novices.
It may or may not wipe previously
installed programs and settings, but
with the option to keep previously
stored data. You need your wits about
you before pressing Continue.
I used Flyoobe with an old, underpowered, treacle-slow laptop that
Practical Electronics | October | 2025
had previously refused all forced upgrade tricks. In my case, Flyby/Flyoobe
worked by using the installation mode
created by Microsoft to install the Windows Server variant of Windows.
Although the tool says it is installing
Windows Server, it actually downloads
the normal Windows 11 ISO, burns it
to an 8GB USB stick and installs bogstandard Windows.
The process is lengthy, so I left the
last stages running overnight. In the
morning, the laptop astonished me by
starting up with a Windows 11 Home
Version 24H2 nicely installed. My data
remained intact, but the desktop program and app icons no longer worked.
I needed to re-connect to Wi-Fi and
re-sign in to Google and Gmail. The
installed Windows 11 then needed
a shedload of Windows 11 updates.
Almost all programs and apps needed re-
installing but that’s a small price to pay.
What matters is that Flyoobe works.
It has achieved what Microsoft is trying
to prevent, and can save lower-end PCs
from the scrapheap. If anything, my
‘new’ Windows 11 laptop runs faster
than my ‘old’ Windows 10 machine.
Congratulations to the developer – who identifies only as Belim
and asks for (well-deserved) donations via PayPal. You can get it from
PE
https://github.com/builtbybel
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