I have sourced 2nd hand components from Waz and another friend, and I would like some wiring guidance, as I am changing things up a little from the original set up.
Below is a photo of my components
I have a standard looking Humbucker(taken from an EX-1 Kit - 12.1k), a Korean WSC 4-wire Hot stack Single, and a standard single from a Korean Magnum Strat copy. There are two Pots(1 x A500k, & 1 x B500k), a standard Strat style 5-way switch, and a small 3-way microswitch(on-on-on) that I want to use for the Hot Stack PUP.
Here are a couple of photos of the Hot Stack wiring diagram that came with the PUP.
If anyone can assist with a suggested wiring diagram it would be most appreciated.
Any questions, please let me know, and I will try my best to fill in any gaps.
Thanks in advance.
As the EX humbucker isn't splittable without modding the simplest option is to use the mini-toggle to split the hot stack. That way you can have the standard strat positions and toggle the hot stack to a single coil for the quack etc.
The trick is working out which coil from the hot stack will match the neck single as a hum cancellng pair, as that's the one you'll need to split to. Basically, you connect the hot stack coils, one at a time, to the neck pup and listen through an amp... if it hums you need the other coil. So, first try the green-hot red-ground coil and if that's not hum cancelling with the neck try the white-hot black-ground pair. Once you work out which coil you need then we can work up a wiring layout.
Thanks for the quick reply Weirdy, most appreciated.
So to test these, I'm assuming I need a cable plugged into an amp, and touching the bare wires of both pups to the tip and shaft of the cable to produce a sound through the amp, similar to this video around the 2:10 minute mark, but both pups at the same time?
Basically, yep. I normally use clip leads and a jack as it's a lot easier than trying to hold wires in place while testing.
The phase of the pups in relation to each other can also be an issue, particularly with mixed pickups from different manufacturers, but that's easy to deal with once the guitar is making noise.
The joined white and red wires are the 'series link' between the two coils. One of the coils will be reverse wound, reverse polarity to the other coil so linking them together gives you a hum cancelling/bucking pair... hence, humbucker. When you split the coils and combine it with a single coil pickup you want the split coil to be the reverse wound reverse polarity of the single coil pup thus giving you a hum cancelling pair. On a strat the middle pup is RWRP compared to the bridge and neck so in positions 2 & 4 on the lever switch you get a hum cancelling pair with bridge & middle and middle & neck, respectively. This is what you want to achieve when you split the hot stack, if you get what I mean.
Btw, you don't need to separate the red and white for testing. So, green->hot and red & white->ground for the first coil, then red & white->hot and black->ground for the other coil. It should be very evident which coil cancels the hum with the neck single coil.
Alright, that actually was as easy as you explained it! !
It's a crappy amp, and I had to wind it up to max to hear it, but the green wire stops the hum.
I hope this helps!
Ok, that makes it easy. If you want I can draw up a wiring diagram for you that includes the mini-toggle to split the hot stack. What colour are the wires on the neck single coil and bridge humbucker?
Also, as the mini-toggle is an on/on/on it should be possible to set it up as: split hot-stack/full hot-stack/'bridge on'.
What that means is that in the 'bridge on' position it connects the bridge pup regardless of the lever switch setting, so you can have the bridge + neck and bridge + middle + neck in positions 5 & 4 respectively... something you can't normally do on a strat. Just an idea. Note that in the 'bridge on' position the hot stack will be in full mode, not split.
Thank you so much Weirdy, a diagram with that combo would be awesome.
With the "bridge on" would that technically make it a double up on position 3? Not that it matters, I'm just trying to wrap my head around it all!
As seen in the photo above, the Humbucker has a red sheath to the wire, but inside it has a white hot wire, and bare wire strands.
The single coil has a black sheath, with again, a white hot wire, and bare wire strands.
Hopefully this makes sense for you.
Any extra questions, please let me know!
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