Pickup Wiring PLEASE HELP!!

[Jhimushiyori]

Hello, i've wanted to do an upgrade on my Strat for a while now, so after saving money i bought an SH-8B (Invader) pickup for the bridge, an SHR-1N (Hot Rails) and a SCR-1N (Cool Rails) for the middle and bridge position, i decided to get rid of the 5-Way selector switch and in turn opted to try the Dan Armstrong Super Strat configuration using 3 DPDT switches, my idea was to be able to use any combination of pickups i would like...

heres the problem, i followed the diagram for the wiring and connected everything to the best of my knowledge, what had me confused was the fact that the wiring schematic showed pickups with only 2 wires coming out of them, and all my Seymour Duncan pickups have 5 (red, white, green, bare and black).

I hooked up the black as the hot lead cable on the solder points where the schematic showed the lead cable to go (to the best of my understanding) then i soldered the green and bare cable to the other points where the schematic showed the none lead cable of the pickup to go, and red/white wires i just soldered together and taped off.

the problem is that only the Humbucker works and both other pickups don't, if i hit the middle and neck pickups with a screwdriver they do make a sound but they do not pick up the sound from the strings.

Please help!!

I am attaching the picture of the schematic if someone with better guitar wiring knowledge can help, i also went with a single tone knob which works again only with the bridge.

also, i only put a .01mf condenser on the tone knob as i didnt have the .05mf for the volume.

any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lp3bg2e16kon6w1/armstrong-big.jpg

[ParameterMan]

Re: Pickup Wiring PLEASE HELP!!

You did the right thing with the humbucker. (black to "C", green+bare to "Z", red+white linked)

The 0.05uf cap on the volume control is not audible, it's merely part of the link that connects the strings to ground. You can omit it if you want - having a cap in there is, if I recall correctly, supposed to safeguard against the possibility of getting electrocuted due to ground leakage from faulty house wiring.

The diagram looks ok to my addled brain. The only thing I can think of is that your on/on/on might be the wrong kind. I've heard of three options for the middle position:

 {1}      {2}      {3}
o o-o    o-o o    o-o-o
o-o o    o o-o    o-o-o

I believe your diagram wants #1. EDIT: #2

I could be on the wrong track but it's probably worth testing the switch to see.

[Jhimushiyori]

Re: Pickup Wiring PLEASE HELP!!

I will test the switch, thank you for the idea, do you think this is why theres no sound coming from middle and neck pickup, or is it because the green and bare wires are connected to the switches and not grounded?

[ParameterMan]

Re: Pickup Wiring PLEASE HELP!!

All bare wires should go to ground but the green wires need to go to their respective lugs. This is so all three pickups can be in series in some of the combinations.

I missed that you're using Duncan humbuckers in all three positions. Using the green leads for the x, y, and z connections and black leads for the a, b, and c connections should be correct.

If it's the switch, every combination should work correctly except the ones that involve the three-way in the middle(or position 0 as labeled in the diagram).

If not, you'll end up having to triple-check that every connection is in the right place and is a good solder joint.

EDIT: After further study, the diagram needs switch #2, ie. this one:

o-o o
o o-o

If you have the mirror opposite switch (#1) you can just swap the sides of the switch horizontally from what's drawn.

[Jhimushiyori]

Re: Pickup Wiring PLEASE HELP!!

I just remembered that in the instructions it said to ground the switch bodies, i did not do this, can this also be the cause of the problem??

[Jhimushiyori]

Re: Pickup Wiring PLEASE HELP!!

Understood, thank you!

[ParameterMan]

Re: Pickup Wiring PLEASE HELP!!

I just remembered that in the instructions it said to ground the switch bodies, i did not do this, can this also be the cause of the problem??

Nope, that just reduces an infinitesimal amount of interference. Now, if you don't ground lug "Z", you'll only get the bridge pickup and any combination that involves the bridge pickup in series with other pickups.