Humbucker wiring for EX-5 Explorer Bass Kit

Hello, I have just purchased an EX-5 Explorer Bass Kit and there is no wiring diagram for it on here. Does anyone know how 2 Humbuckers wire up to 3 pots please ? From past experiences with other humberbuckers, the red and white wires are taped together, the green and bare wires go to the back of the volume pots, and the black wire get connected to the 3 way switch, one to each end. But this EX-5 kit does not have a 3 way switch. If i am right with the other wires, where does the black wires get connected too please ? One from each humbucker.

You can just wire it like the YB-4 wiring diagram. If your wire colours are correct (I don't have an EX-5 to check) then your black 'hot' will connect as the 'white hot' in the diagram, green and bare to the back of the pot as ground and red/white series link insulated/taped.

The YB-4 diagram sets up the volumes like a Jazz bass, independent of each other, so you just turn down the pickup you don't want etc.

Waz has built one and tweaked the wiring so he should be able to give you the full info.

Hey buddy, I also have an EX-5 and recently upgraded with Custom John Benson PUP's and converted it to have 1 Volume & 1 Tone with a 3 way switch so that I could coil split. Here is a link to the standard Chinese PUP's showing how to coil split if you want to do that and it is also useful as it identifies which wires go where and do what.... http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=6476

If you want to do the simple standard wiring it is the same as a Jazz Bass with 2 Volume & 1 Tone as per this link.... http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...B-4_2014v2.pdf

Black wire is 'Hot' whilst Green wire & shielding go to ground and you just leave Red & White soldered together however that joint should be insulated with tape or heat shrink.

Hope this helps.

Hello WeirdBits and Waz, thank you so much guys for your information, very much appreciated. You are both helpful. Waz, as for customizing to the push / pull pot, i am not sure if i am skilled enough to do that ! I would love to split and combine pick up coils to have a more of a variety of sound from my bass.

Regards,Naim.

Hi Naim, Very easy modification however you need these parts....
http://www.realparts.com.au/electron...l-pot-new.html
http://www.realparts.com.au/electron...tch-black.html

So for a bit less than $60 incl postage you are set to go. Just need to drill out a slightly larger hole for the 3 way switch and follow the instructions posted above.

If you want to be able to get single coil Jazz Bass sounds as well as Gibson Thunderbird tones this should help and cheapest way to go before spending nearly $300 bucks for better PUP's.

Cheers, Waz.

Thank you Waz, i may just try that configuration. I found the push / pull pots on ebay for a tenth of the price.
http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_f...s+pot&_sacat=0

Waz, I have your wiring diagram you provided earlier, thank you. What gets connected to the three looms at the top please ?

Regards,
Naim.

Here, price definitely = quality. If you want your bass to be reliable, then you do need to use quality parts, otherwise you will forever be replacing them. Also note that pots come in long- and short-shaft versions. The short-shaft versions are for mounting directly onto a thin pickguard. The long-shaft versions are for mounting through routed control cavities (as on your EX-5). If you look at the pots that came with your kit (or the PBS EX-5 picture of them), you'll notice that the threaded section is quite long, so you'll need to make sure you get long-shafted pots.

If you ever find they are too long, so that too much thread sticks out from the face of the guitar, you can always use washers and another nut on the control cavity side, to limit the amount of thread poking through. Ideally you'd want about 2 full turns of thread showing above the external nut, once the nut has been tightened.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wazkelly

If you want to do the simple standard wiring it is the same as a Jazz Bass with 2 Volume & 1 Tone as per this link.... http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...B-4_2014v2.pdf

Black wire is 'Hot' whilst Green wire & shielding go to ground and you just leave Red & White soldered together however that joint should be insulated with tape or heat shrink.

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Naim - I think that Waz's approach would be the most straightforward and uses the components that are supplied with the guitar.
A full diagram is here: http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...-RD-4_2014.pdf that has all the connections - go with Waz's description on dealing with the extra wires.

Thank you Simon and Brendon, much appreciated. I am not sure on the brands and pricing, i just thought they were the same as they look alike. I understand Waz's diagram with the bottom 6 looms, just wondering about the top 3 looms on the push / pull pots. Unless i coincide Waz's approach with the Rd-4 wiring diagram ? I will keep on doing more homework and watch youtube tutorials before i attempt this.

Regards,
Naim.

Yes, due to the way they are constructed, almost all potentiometers look the same from a distance. But it's things like how smoothly the pots turn, are there any dead-spots in the track (some cheap switching pots have a dead spot just before full volume), is the back of the pot held on securely (ones with very thin metal lugs holding the back on can have the back come loose if you knock or press the top of the knob inwards), how small a tolerance the pot's value has, how well the actual resistance curve matches the ideal curve, how many turns before the track starts to wear though and become scratchy etc.

No pot is going to last for ever if they are used a lot, but I'd prefer to pay for one that gave me at least 5 years good service (and some CTS pots have lasted well over 50 years on Gibsons and Fenders) than one that only lasted a year without issues.

If you leave the volume and tones at maximum all the time. then you are going to have far fewer issues. But if you ever use the volume and tone controls when playing, then you will value the long-term benefits that well made potentiometers bring.

Thank you Simon. I never use my controls, they are either on 0 or 5 or 10. Depending on the bass i am playing at the time, the tone and volume pots are either fully on, or fully off or set on half.

Hi Naim, understand that it is easy to be tempted by cheaper priced items but there is usually a reason for that, and mostly it comes down to lesser quality matching the lower price point. Sometimes you can be lucky and find something relatively inexpensive that does the trick, hence why I used the Bourns ones which were priced mid point. This link to Real Parts shows more of their range, and yes there are 'Alphas' cheaper but never used them or heard reviews from anyone who has. http://www.realparts.com.au/electron...pull-pots.html

Most of the forum guys tend to use Bourns or CTS and the sound difference may be hard to pick but they have better feel and control when compared to basic stock Chinese units.

For coil splitting the stock Chinese Humbuckers it is very, very easy if you follow these instructions http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=6476

Most push/pulls have the 'box' on them with 6 lugs except the CTS ones so best to avoid those unless you want to pioneer how to wire them up. The wires that are already paired go to the middle lug on LHS of the bank of 3 lugs side by side whilst a separate wire takes bottom LHS lug to earth. From memory I used a small length of wire and looped it back up on to the side of the Pot and earthed it that way. These steps are the only things you do differently when compared to doing normal wiring for these PUP's.

Hope this helps demystify things a bit more for you.

Awesome, thank you again Waz. It is a bit confusing for me, but i understand i little bit more now. I will keep doing my homework on this and will definitely come back here with more questions before i start this process.

Alpha pots are fairly common in the UK, and whilst not having quite the reputation of CTS, they seem to get a good press, and are certainly a step up from generic no-name pots.