Split humbuckers by removing S from HSH guitar?

[nikosteph]

I have a new Ibanez HSH guitar, and I'm replacing the bridge and neck humbuckers. However, for I never really use the middle position, so I was thinking of just taking the single coil out during the pickup swap. I read in some forum that this allows you to get single coil split tones in positions 2 and 4 on the 5-way selector, but I haven't found anything else that confirms this. Is this indeed true? I don't plan on putting coil taps in at the moment, so would this be a roundabout way to get the split tones "for free"?

Are there any reasons I shouldn't take the pickup out (aside from cosmetic ones, and I don't mind the hole)? I don't particularly like the sound of the pickup that's in there now (not to mention it's green, so it'll clash with my nice new black humbuckers), and it sometimes gets in the way of my picking, so I definitely don't want to spend any more money swapping it to something better...

Thanks!

[Liko]

Re: Split humbuckers by removing S from HSH guitar?

It's possible to get split-coil tones using only a 5-way, as long as the pickup selector doesn't also select volume or tone controls.

The basic idea is:

1. Wire the black neck pickup lead to terminal 1 of "side 1" of the knife switch.
2. Wire the black bridge pickup lead to terminal 3 of side 1 of the knife switch.
3. Wire a lead from the common terminal of side 1 to the volume or tone pot.
4. Wire both the red and white leads of the neck pickup to terminal 1 of "side 2" of the knife switch.
5. Wire both the red and white leads of the bridge pickup to terminal 3 of "side 2" of the knife switch.
6. Wire a ground lead to terminal 2 of side 2.
7. Wire both pickup green wires to the jack sleeve terminal.
8. Wire the volume and tone pots like you normally would for a two-pickup VT guitar.

In this configuration, you'll have the following:

Position 1 - Bridge Humbucker
Position 2 - Bridge single coil(the red and white wires on terminal 1, side 2 are now continuous with the ground lead at terminal 2, shorting the south coil)
Position 3 - Mute (you can keep the middle pickup and use position 3 to solo it)
Position 4 - Neck single coil (same thing that happened with the bridge coil in position 2)
Position 5 - Neck humbucker

There's probably a way to make position 3 be neck 'bucker + bridge 'bucker, but darned if I can figure out how. It certainly can't be done with any glaringly obvious variation on the wiring I just described, meaning you'll probably need a different approach to using the switch.

[nikosteph]

Re: Split humbuckers by removing S from HSH guitar?

Great, thanks so much for the in-depth instructions! I'll definitely try this out...(and it's kinda cool that I also get a kill switch of sorts in position 3 in addition to the coil-taps in posn's 2 and 4; not a bad trade-off for a single coil I don't even want !)

[Liko]

Re: Split humbuckers by removing S from HSH guitar?

Great, thanks so much for the in-depth instructions! I'll definitely try this out...

Cool beans. If you are willing to spend a little more money on this, you can also get a "superswitch" aka Lonestar Strat switch. It gives you four sets of terminals versus just two, and it also gives you a terminal for each discrete position. Using something like this, it's possible to wire just about any combination of coils, though the necessary wiring can get hairy. Check out this slightly older thread for a few ideas.

It would probably be easier, all told, to replace your volume and tone pots with push-pull switches that tap the buckers. Then you replace the 5-way switch with a Tele-style 3-way (same terminals but no combo positions) and you can get any combination of neck, bridge, humbucking and split-coil.

[nikosteph]

Re: Split humbuckers by removing S from HSH guitar?

Yeah, I talked to the guitar tech I'm going to take the axe to for a pup swap and setup, and he actually recommended the push-pull pots too. I guess it all depends how much it'll cost (I'm still waiting for an estimate); I don't use the middle position on 2-bucker guitars almost ever anyways, and I'm thinking of keeping at least the option of a middle pickup in case (A) I change my mind later and decide to install a single coil (not too likely), or (B) want to sell the guitar, so the new owner can go back to the traditional HSH format (this is an Ibanez RG550) if he/she wants (much more likely).

I just figured that since I'm already taking out the central pickup for other reasons, might as well get "the poor man's coil taps" out of the deal too .