HH 1 tone 1 vol 3way or 5way switch

[hockeytown9]

Hi guys,

I have been all over the forum and net looking for a wiring diagram but I am not having any luck. Getting close, but not quite what I am looking for, so I figure I would ask you guys.

I am looking to wire a Jackson with 2 humbuckers 1 vol 1 tone and a 3 way switch. I am looking to get the most sounds/tones out of this guitar. What I would like is a way to get the LP, Strat, Tele, Jackson tones in ne guitar. I figure coil splitting is the best way to go, but what combinations would work best? I thought this would work with a 5 way super switch:

Position 1: Full neck hum
P2: Neck south coil
P3: Both hum
P4: Neck south coil with Bridge north coil
P5: Full bridge hum

Would this be a good combo? Is there a better set up? Again looking for the classic tones of the LP, Strat, Tele, or as close to them as I can, so any combo suggestions you have are welcomed.

I don't mind swapping the 3 way switch out for a 5 way or 5 way super switch, or swapping one or both pots with push/pulls or push/push pots, or any combo of those. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: HH 1 tone 1 vol 3way or 5way switch

I did my Warmoth HH Strat with a 3-way and a push-push pot on the tone control to split the pups. I'm not familiar enough with a 5-way to know whether you can achieve the same result with one of those, but hopefully someone will pop in with an answer.

[hockeytown9]

Re: HH 1 tone 1 vol 3way or 5way switch

By the way I have a SD SH-6B, Jackson hot bridge, Jackson hot Neck, and a Fender humbucker from a Jag-Stang available. I was thinking of getting a '59 as well unless there is a better suggestion? Maybe going SH-6B in the bridge and '59 in the neck? Oh and the guitar is a 25.5" scale like most Jackson's.

[Tallwood13]

Re: HH 1 tone 1 vol 3way or 5way switch

Your wiring diagram will require a super 5 way switch or a coiltap for sure. Just to add another suggestion that is kind of out of the box but if you never use the tone knob by all means.

so this mod is called the spin a split. Pretty much you take all the wires and so forth off of your tone
*connect the red/white wires (seymour duncan color code) to the middle contact of the potentiometer
*ground the potentiometer to the base of itself like a volume pot
*than just ground the other volume pot to it and out to the input jack (not 100% sure on this one , haven't done it in a while)

so what this does is simple
0% = a coiltap on one or more pickups
100% rolled back to 1% you'll lower the output of the pickup
1% rolled up to 100% you'll increase the output of the pickup

this will help

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=1h_1v_1sas

[hockeytown9]

Re: HH 1 tone 1 vol 3way or 5way switch

Cool idea. I will consider that. What type of coil split options would that give?

[Brian Griffin]

Re: HH 1 tone 1 vol 3way or 5way switch

I use this DiMarzio diagram for Ibanez, and it's quite close, except the position 2 is neck parallel. Be sure to adjust the wire colors according to Seymour Duncan's:

[Brian Griffin]

Re: HH 1 tone 1 vol 3way or 5way switch

To add to my previous post, you DO NOT need a super switch or push/pull pot. A regular 5 way works just fine.

[hockeytown9]

Re: HH 1 tone 1 vol 3way or 5way switch

Not bad. With the tones you get from that set up I am guessing the classic Les Paul and harder tones come through. How about that strat tone? Or tele tone? Like Mark Knopfhler, and Brad Paisley type of sounds?

[hockeytown9]

Re: HH 1 tone 1 vol 3way or 5way switch

Thanks for the ideas so far.

[Brian Griffin]

Re: HH 1 tone 1 vol 3way or 5way switch

Not bad. With the tones you get from that set up I am guessing the classic Les Paul and harder tones come through. How about that strat tone? Or tele tone? Like Mark Knopfhler, and Brad Paisley type of sounds?

To my ears the split neck/ bridge combo position (position 2 if you start from the bridge) really yields that stratty single-coil tone, if you play clean. I have used this with both INF3-INF4 and JB-59 combo.

[GuitarDoc]

Re: HH 1 tone 1 vol 3way or 5way switch

Your wiring diagram will require a super 5 way switch or a coiltap for sure. Just to add another suggestion that is kind of out of the box but if you never use the tone knob by all means.

so this mod is called the spin a split. Pretty much you take all the wires and so forth off of your tone
*connect the red/white wires (seymour duncan color code) to the middle contact of the potentiometer
*ground the potentiometer to the base of itself like a volume pot
*than just ground the other volume pot to it and out to the input jack (not 100% sure on this one , haven't done it in a while)

so what this does is simple
0% = a coiltap on one or more pickups
100% rolled back to 1% you'll lower the output of the pickup
1% rolled up to 100% you'll increase the output of the pickup

this will help
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support...tic=1h_1v_1sas

The Spin-a-split is a great mod, but let me add a little clarification to this post.

What this mod does is use a pot to gradually remove one of the coils of a humbucker. Yes, it does reduce the output of the pup but only indirectly. What it does is reduce the "output" of one of the coils of the pup. It allows you to add in or take out as much of that coil as you want and ultimately remove it altogether (split). The other coil remains at full output. This gives you much more variety in your tone than a simple split switch.

[vinta9e]

Re: HH 1 tone 1 vol 3way or 5way switch

Nothing sounds like a tele, but a proper tele. Same story about Strat, same about Les Paul.

Still, you can use a 5-way super/mega/multipole switch for some extra tones if you wish. PRS and Ibanez do that quite often with some success. What I mean is that the two extra tones they get out of the 2H setup are not just there for the sake of being there but can actually be used in a musical way. I'd rather go for hum cancelling in all switch positions, like in the Ibanez diagram Brian Griffin posted. I guess that limits your extra tones to two out of five combinations: inner or outer coils, either in series or parallel, plus neck parallel. Bridge in parallel is possible as well, though I would expect it to sound rather shrill and unexciting.

Alternatively, you could wire your ax a'la Satriani, that is a 3-way switch + a push/pull or two.