Looking to put a neck HB on strat

[Nevada Princess]

Hi all,

I have a Fender Modern Player Strat, configured with HSS pickups. It has a conventional five-position switch with one volume knob, one tone knob for the middle and neck, and one tone knob for the bridge that is a push-pull split coil for the bridge HB making it effectively a SC.

I would like to put on a strat-compatible dual-rail humbucker (thinking of the SD Cool Rails) in the neck to give a warmer jazz tone, something a little more Les Paul-ish.

I'm looking for help with the wiring since I don't see exactly the wiring diagram this configuration on the SD web site. To make things more interesting, I'm also considering putting in a push-pull switch to split the coil on this new HB at the neck to allow more of that clean stat tone when wanted, though could do without that for now (unless it's a relatively simple rewiring job for that).

The latter push-pull option could always be done later. I really just need to know the wiring for the HB to essentially replace the existing SC for right now.

Any suggestions?

Deborah

[darthphineas]

Re: Looking to put a neck HB on strat

keep looking on the SD site. there's an awesome schematic for throwing in a p/p that makes it all series or all split. yes, I know, there are a lot of schematics there and they can be a pain to figure out. but it's there.

[Nevada Princess]

Re: Looking to put a neck HB on strat

Okay, thanks I'll do that. A tech guy from DiMarzio directed me to one on their site, but I'd be more confident seeing the same thing here.

Interestingly, he said I could use the same push-pull tone knob that now splits the bridge to also split the neck HB! I would have thought a separate switch would be needed....

[Nevada Princess]

Re: Looking to put a neck HB on strat

I just checked everything again. The closest I find is HSH with a five way switch, one volume and two tones.

ALMOST right.

My second tone knob is push pull, and I can't find anything with that configuration...

:-(

[GoldenVulture]

Re: Looking to put a neck HB on strat

Page/PM Artie Too, if he can't help, it's not looking good.

[Att. Artie Too ]


PS; Welcome to the forum.

[UberMetalDood]

Re: Looking to put a neck HB on strat

Hi all,

I have a Fender Modern Player Strat, configured with HSS pickups. It has a conventional five-position switch with one volume knob, one tone knob for the middle and neck, and one tone knob for the bridge that is a push-pull split coil for the bridge HB making it effectively a SC.

I would like to put on a strat-compatible dual-rail humbucker (thinking of the SD Cool Rails) in the neck to give a warmer jazz tone, something a little more Les Paul-ish.

I'm looking for help with the wiring since I don't see exactly the wiring diagram this configuration on the SD web site. To make things more interesting, I'm also considering putting in a push-pull switch to split the coil on this new HB at the neck to allow more of that clean stat tone when wanted, though could do without that for now (unless it's a relatively simple rewiring job for that).

The latter push-pull option could always be done later. I really just need to know the wiring for the HB to essentially replace the existing SC for right now.

Any suggestions?

Deborah

The only two Duncan single size neck buckers I'd recommend are the Stack Plus or Duckbucker. The Stack Plus is tried and true. The Duckbucker, even though commonly used in middle position, I find to be an incredibly good neck pickup. I was extremely happy with it and would be using it still if it could have given me just a little more output to keep up with a full size bridge bucker. If output isn't what you're looking for then I highly recommend the Duckbucker for neck position.

You're going to find a better single size humbucker selection at Dimarzio however. There are lots to choose from and they are all great. Dimarzio has great customer service like Seymour Duncan; however, if you call them then they will give you all of the help you need.

Last time I had trouble wiring my strat, they asked for a picture of the wiring cavity. I sent it to them then they sent me a customized wiring diagram. You can' beat that.

If you decide to go with Duncan, then the Duckbucker is designed to be wired a certain way. You can get a humbucking tone or like a parallel wired sound out of it. That would work well with your 5 way switch I think.

[Liko]

Re: Looking to put a neck HB on strat

Okay, thanks I'll do that. A tech guy from DiMarzio directed me to one on their site, but I'd be more confident seeing the same thing here.

Interestingly, he said I could use the same push-pull tone knob that now splits the bridge to also split the neck HB! I would have thought a separate switch would be needed....

The basic coil tap (wire the two leads of the "midpoint" to center, and a lead to ground to one outside terminal) only requires one side of a DPDT, so yeah, you can use one P/P to tap both, provided you won't want to change which of the two coils of each HB you want to use on the fly.

For a pickup with a few more tonal options, like a 59/Custom hybrid, you'll probably want to select which of the coils you're getting when you split the pickup. Doing that with two-position DPDTs is significantly more complex; you basically need two of them per pickup and you need both sides of each. The theory is the same - bypass one coil by changing where the leads from ground and to hot are connected - but with two-position switches, you need one that chooses whether they're split, and a second to choose which one is live.

A three-position DPCO makes it easy again; the switch sends one coil or the other to ground (thus soloing the other coil), with the center "off" position keeping both coils in the circuit. It also only uses one side of a DPDT, so you could wire one switch to tap both coils, perhaps in an "inside/outside" configuration. The only problem is that a three-position switch takes a little added finesse to put into its center position accurately.

[darthphineas]

Re: Looking to put a neck HB on strat

sometimes you just gotta piece the schematic you want out of a few other schematics. take one thing from that one and something from another and maybe even something else from a 3rd and so on. throw in a basic understanding of signal flow and you should be good to go. or you can wait on artie to get around to making you one... I'm still waiting on mine. lol!

[TimmyPage]

Re: Looking to put a neck HB on strat

I've been using a Cool Rails in my strat for a few years now, and I absolutely love it. It's thick, it's creamy, it responds well to gain like a humbucker, you can get a MONSTER jazz tone from it with the tone knob rolled off: http://youtu.be/kD5Hc8WaTEM (all with a strat style guitar with cool rails). It does still have a fair bit of single-coil styled grease too, it's just such a fantastic pickup that noone ever talks about.