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  1. #1
    Moderator dingobass's Avatar
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    Good ole Weirdy to the rescue again!

    There is always a workaround for glitches, mistakes and other Guitar building gremlins.....

  2. #2
    I've drawn up a couple of diagrams… but, the tricky thing is it depends on how your pickups are wired (internally). Some manufacturers match colours to pickup poles, others match them to inner/outer coils. For example, with some pickups the black 'hot' represents the 'start' of the inner coil for both bridge and neck, but they have opposing poles so they can be linked in a hum cancelling pair. With other manufacturers the black may always be the north 'start' and the green always the south 'start', so you have to match opposing colours when you are linking split bridge and neck coils. As such, without knowing your particular pickup's configuration I've drawn the diagrams like so:

    Blue: inner start (hot)
    Yellow: inner end (series link)
    Red: outer end (series link)
    Green: outer start (ground)

    Therefore, you'll need to work out which pairs of wires on your pickups are for the inner and outer coils etc. so that you can link them in inner/outer hum-cancelling pairs. Make sense?

    Diagram 1:
    Push/Pull pairs for volume and tone for each pickup, allowing individual series/parallel/outer coil/inner coil switching. Plus, a separate switch giving In Phase/Out of Phase between the pickups and a kill (mute) position.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    BV = Bridge Volume, BT = Bridge Tone, NV = Neck Volume, NT = Neck Tone, up = Push/Pull up, down = Push/Pull down

    BV down, BT down: Bridge series humbucker (standard)
    BV up, BT down: Bridge outer coil
    BV down, BT up: Bridge inner coil
    BV up, BT up: Bridge parallel humbucker

    NV down, NT down: Neck series humbucker (standard)
    NV up, NT down: Neck outer coil
    NV down, NT up: Neck inner coil
    NV up, NT up: Neck parallel humbucker

    The phase switch changes the phase of the bridge pickup only, so you'll only notice it when combined with the neck pickup in the pickup selector middle position. In the 'kill' position on the phase switch it just shorts the jack's hot to ground to mute the guitar. They're a little pricey, but a double-neck style On/On/On 4-pole toggle switch would work nicely for the phase/kill and should fit perfectly in that larger 5th hole (rather than trying to fit a mini-switch). But, the phase switch is just an idea, you could do cap switching or a rotary switch or whatever.


    Diagram 2:
    Similar to above, but only one pair of push/pulls (neck volume and tone) that switch between series/parallel/outer coil/inner coil for both pickups together. Standard pots for the bridge volume and tone. The 3-way toggle switch still controls which pickup(s) are selected, but the push/pull settings control how both pickups are configured. Again, there's a separate switch giving In Phase/Out of Phase between the pickups and a kill (mute) position.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    NV = Neck Volume, NT = Neck Tone, up = Push/Pull up, down = Push/Pull down
    (Push/Pull setting affects both pickups)

    NV down, NT down: Series humbuckers (standard)
    NV up, NT down: Outer coils
    NV down, NT up: Inner coils
    NV up, NT up: Parallel humbuckers

    If you'd rather have a series/parallel setting between the pickups instead of a phase switch it's easy enough to do, but there are some caveats to how it can be used. Let me know if you're interested in that option.


    Anyway, that should give you some ideas for using push/pulls for series/parallel/splitting.
    Scott.

  3. #3
    Moderator dingobass's Avatar
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    Wow... Thats awesome, Weirdy!

    There is always a workaround for glitches, mistakes and other Guitar building gremlins.....

  4. #4
    Hey WeirdBits, great diagrams. I see how you're doing it now with the push/pulls. Very inventive.

    What's the best way to check the wires? Hook them up to a multimeter and tap the coil with a screwdriver?

    Is there any alternative to the 4p3t on/on/on? For example, can I use a 3 pos 4 pole rotary instead or is there a problem getting them into hollow bodies up the top?

    Otherwise is a Switchcraft Right Angle 'Double Neck' Toggle Switch basically the same thing? Is there such a thing as on/on/mom.on?

    Thanks.
    Last edited by ihasmario; 12-06-2015 at 08:41 AM.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by ihasmario View Post
    What's the best way to check the wires?
    What brand and model are the pickups? We may be able to get the info without having to test them. Failing that, a multimeter is the best option. This video guide explains it pretty well.

    Quote Originally Posted by ihasmario View Post
    Is there any alternative to the 4p3t on/on/on? For example, can I use a 3 pos 4 pole rotary instead... ?
    To include the kill switch position I needed to use the 4-pole On/On/On (4P3T) with its specific contact sequence for it to work. If you're willing to drop the kill position and just have the phase switching the you can use any old On/On DPDT switch, much simpler and cheaper.

    A double-neck 4-pole right angle switch would probably work, but I'd need to check the contact sequence to be certain (I don't have one here, so I'll have to do some research).

    You could use a multi-pole rotary if you want, the problem is it may not fit through the f-hole. For example, with a wafer style rotary switch on the ES-1 kits you have to shave down the wafers and bend its lugs to squeeze it through the f-hole (or disassemble the switch, feed its parts through the hole then reassemble it inside the cavity... but I'm not willing to try that). However, it does look like the Starcaster's f-holes may be slightly larger, so it may work. With a multi-pos multi-pole rotary you could do in/out phase switching and series/parallel switching all on the one switch, but it would be a little clumsy as kill switch in my opinion.

    Having said that, the volume pots in the above diagrams are wired in the traditional LP style, so when the pickup selector is in the middle position if you turn either volume to 0 it mutes both pickups... so you have a pseudo kill/mute built in, sort of.

    Quote Originally Posted by ihasmario View Post
    Is there such a thing as on/on/mom.on?
    It's possible somewhere like Mouser may have something along those lines, but number of poles and contact sequence would determine if it was a viable option. I suspect it would be more cost and effort than it's worth just for a kill/mute setting.

    I suggested the phase switching as I thought that would better suit your taste for clean tones, if I'm remembering your tastes correctly. But, the pickup options alone will give you a wide variety of sounds, so if you particularly want a kill switch then I'd just forget the phase switch and put a dedicated kill switch in there instead. You could even use an old 3-way toggle for that, though not ideal.
    Scott.

  6. #6
    GAStronomist wokkaboy's Avatar
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    nice diagrams Weirdy,
    do you sleep buddy, you post at some weird times !
    Current Builds and status
    scratch end grain pine tele - first clear coat on !
    JBA-4 - assembled - final tweaks
    Telemonster double scale tele - finish tobacco burst on body and sand neck

    Completed builds
    scratch oak.rose gum Jazzmaster - assembled needs setup
    MK-2 Mosrite - assembled - play in
    Ash tele with Baritone neck - neck pup wiring tweaks and play in

  7. #7
    Overlord of Music keloooe's Avatar
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    Nice diagrams Weirdy, do you ever sleep as Wokka asked?
    Also how have you done these awesome diagrams, I'd like to start doing my own soon and these look really nice!

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by wokkaboy View Post
    you post at some weird times !
    Mate, you're in Perth, you're the one with the weird times. Made the diagrams last night, fell asleep, posted this morning.

    Quote Originally Posted by keloooe View Post
    Also how have you done these awesome diagrams...
    Pest, there are much better ways to do them, but I've just been using GIMP (cross platform, free, and I'm used to it). I use separate layers for each component type (pups, caps, pots etc), and separate layers for each wire colour. I take photos of my components as I use them to build up a library and then just paste them in as needed. For example, in the above diagrams I made the first one then just changed the pot layer and some of the wire layers to make the second diagram. The hard part is figuring out the design in the first place... option 1 of the Frakenpester took some head-scratching. Paper, pencil and eraser are still your friends when working up designs.
    Scott.

  9. #9
    GAStronomist wokkaboy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WeirdBits View Post
    Mate, you're in Perth, you're the one with the weird times. Made the diagrams last night, fell asleep, posted this morning.
    haha its all relative Weirdy, assume you are 2 hours ahead but there was posts 2 something and 3 something our time so your up before 5am is keen.
    Keep up the good work bro Pitbulls resident wiring guru. I'm sure all of the forum appreciate all these custom wiring diagrams you knock out
    Current Builds and status
    scratch end grain pine tele - first clear coat on !
    JBA-4 - assembled - final tweaks
    Telemonster double scale tele - finish tobacco burst on body and sand neck

    Completed builds
    scratch oak.rose gum Jazzmaster - assembled needs setup
    MK-2 Mosrite - assembled - play in
    Ash tele with Baritone neck - neck pup wiring tweaks and play in

  10. #10
    Overlord of Music Fretworn's Avatar
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    You could always add one of these
    Current:
    GTH-1

    Completed:
    AST-1FB
    First Act ME276 (resurrected curb-side find)
    ES-5V
    Scratchie lapsteel
    Custom ST-1 12 String
    JBA-4
    TL-1TB
    Scratch Lapsteel
    Meinl DIY Cajon
    Cigar Box lap steel

    Wishing:
    Baritone
    Open D/Standard Double 6 twin neck

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