HHH Wiring Options

[David M]

(I hope this is posted in the right thread.)

I have a cheap Strat copy that's been sitting in my store room downstairs for the last couple of years. Just because I can, I want to replace the pickups with a few Wilkinson humbuckers I have spare from older projects.

Can I just replace the existing single coils with these or is it a bit more complex than that?

At the moment it's a SSS configuration with one volume, two tones and a 5 way toggle.

[corsair]

Don't see why not! I have a H/H/H guitar wired so that the 3 way switch activates the bridge and neck, as per normal with the middle pickup being wired straight to the output through a volume pot. I put coil split in as well, and it works a treat...

[Sonic Mountain]

Yeah you can, the tone pots will be using 250k caps on them, which might make the humbuckers a bit brighter overall, but in a normal HSS setup the bridge humbucker doesn't have a tone control anyway. There is no real hard and fast rule, it comes down a lot to personal preference.... and the only way you work out what you like is by trying different things. If you don't like it, a couple of 500K caps are an easy swap.

[David M]

Yeah you can, the tone pots will be using 250k caps on them, which might make the humbuckers a bit brighter overall, but in a normal HSS setup the bridge humbucker doesn't have a tone control anyway. There is no real hard and fast rule, it comes down a lot to personal preference.... and the only way you work out what you like is by trying different things. If you don't like it, a couple of 500K caps are an easy swap.

Thanks Sonic. I'm assuming it's going to have a loaded pickguard but I won't know for sure until I start pulling it to bits. So do you think I can just remove the singles and wire the HB's in their place with no other wiring adjustments? Also, the Wilkinsons I have are fairly high gain so should I just change the capacitors anyway?

[Sonic Mountain]

Yes you should be able to directly swap them. There may be extra wires coming out of the pickups that you can use for coil splitting, but if you post up pics I’m sure it can be worked out. The caps only come into play once you adjust the pots afaik. So on ‘10’ there is no difference. I’d try it first and see. I’m still learning in this area, but hopefully someone like weirdbits will be along to confirm.

[David M]

Ok. I'll post some pics once I get onto it. Hopefully over the weekend. Any help/advice is always appreciated

[WeirdBits]

With the humbuckers you'll probably want 500K pots for volume and tone, and a 0.022uF cap. 250K pots will mean you lose more highs even on 10 so the hummies will typically sound darker than 'normal'. But, as with anything, different sounds and flavours suit different guitars/builds, so there's no hard and fast rules... whatever works for you.

[David M]

I do prefer the heavier/metal sound of the high gain pups so It’d be fair to say I probably won’t get it just swapping the singles out?

[Marcel]

Did a partscaster Alder HHH Strat in natural colour build some time back. Fitted it with a full set of SD rails.... Hot rails on the bridge, Vintage rails in the middle, and Cool rails on the neck. Push-pull on the 1st tone control for SC-HB switching on all 3 PU's, and an Oak 5 way switch.

The 3 PU's cost more than the entire rest of the build combined.

The axe has some serious output level. It spends most of its time in HB mode and position 2 that combines bridge and middle. And best of all it still sounds like a strat.... A VERY angry Strat....

[David M]

I've never been a great fan of Fenders although I did have a Lead Series II In the 80's. The one I'm considering the mods to is a cheap Eko copy that my step son bought a couple of years ago and just as quickly became bored with wanting to learn to play. So it's sat downstairs collecting dust for the last couple of years.

It sounds very ordinary compared to my other guitars and the trem is that stiff it's almost like a hardtail with an arm. I just thought it would be a bit of fun to fit the spare HB's I've got laying around and see if I could turn it into a half decent guitar with the metal growl that I love. I also want to strip the finish back and refinish it something a little more "flamboyant", for the want of a better word.