Three Pickup SG?

[ThreeChordWonder]

Thinking about a project which would see a three pickup SG style body. Don't laugh, it just will, okay?

I'm thinking about a Pearly Gates set for the bridge and neck, but what would I put in the middle?

Also, what switch would you use, and how would you wire the switch?

Two options that just popped into my head would be to

1) wire it with a push-pull so it can be added in any position;
2) wire it with three volumes and a single tone, the middle having its own volume, rigged like a blender circuit on a Strat;

Thoughts on pickup choice and or wiring anyone?

[Ashurbanipal]

The 3pu models are cool, haters can dutifully overlook this thread .

I've seen people put a Phat Cat in the middle of this setup and with three volumes, as you've ruminated upon, so the middle can be blended at will.

The Kirk Douglas SG is kinda similar, but had an additional coil splits for each hb and a global master volume, kinda like a Gretsch.

[ThreeChordWonder]

The Pearly Gates come with 4-core wires, so they can be coil split w/ push-pulls, apparently, but I've had problems on my Gibson SG because the body is too thin / the cavity not quite deep enough (take your pick) to take off the shelf push-pulls. The Gibson ones, which are simple two-pole on/off switches, are a bit shorter, not by much, but enough to get the backplate on without bulging or a spacer ring. Tgeyre bloody expensive though. TBH, though, coil splitting a three humbucker SG kind of defeats the object of the exercise IMHO. Kind of like buying an Abrams tank and fitting it with a BB gun.

[ArtieToo]

A Phat Cat does a nice visual balance in a 3-pup guitar. I'd do an on-on-on DPDT. Off / added to the 3-way toggle / and by itself. (Not in that order.)

[GuitarDoc]

I'd do the wood chipper for the project.
I know it was said that 3 pup haters can ignore this thread, but since I'm not necessarily a "hater", I figured I'd chime in anyway.

[Ashurbanipal]

The Pearly Gates come with 4-core wires, so they can be coil split w/ push-pulls, apparently, but I've had problems on my Gibson SG because the body is too thin / the cavity not quite deep enough (take your pick) to take off the shelf push-pulls. The Gibson ones, which are simple two-pole on/off switches, are a bit shorter, not by much, but enough to get the backplate on without bulging or a spacer ring. Tgeyre bloody expensive though. TBH, though, coil splitting a three humbucker SG kind of defeats the object of the exercise IMHO. Kind of like buying an Abrams tank and fitting it with a BB gun.

Yes, the ones Gibson uses look like CTS spst ones, and indeed, they just fit, with the terminals bent over. They appear to be on sale right now at Stew Mac.

[ThreeChordWonder]

Iwood chipper

Where half my projects end up anyway, usually painting issues

[ThreeChordWonder]

Yes, the ones Gibson uses look like CTS spst ones, and indeed, they just fit, with the terminals bent over. They appear to be on sale right now at Stew Mac.

Yeah. Only 25 bucks a pop

[beaubrummels]

If it were my SG, I'd go Custom 5 bridge, '59 neck in the middle and Jazz neck (because I've already been saving these for a 3-PU Gibson). So basically A5s with some heat in the bridge and going down to the weaker Jazz in the neck. Moving the '59 neck to the middle takes away the tubbiness, but the bottom end of it gives it some chunk and girth so it works on it's own in the middle (or bridge even.) Then wire a master tone with individual volume on the pickups. 3-way toggle does standard Gibson switching on bridge and neck and the middle volume just blends that in. If I want the middle by itself, I just flip the switch to the neck, turn that down and leave the middle turned up. I had a Firebird wired that way and it was way more useful than when I put traditional Gibson 3-way wiring in.

I don't know if I would bother with splits in this scenario, with a Pearly set. They are pretty bright to start with. Maybe both split in the middle position might have some Fender character (I haven't tried that with Pearlies). I think parallel options might be more useful with a 3-PU setup. When I had Jimmy Page wiring in my SG, I found myself using neck in parallel with full bridge, or bridge in parallel with full neck A LOT.

[eclecticsynergy]

Phat Cat was a good rec for the middle IMO.

Here's how I'd wire it: Master tone, 3 volumes.
regular 2-pickup style switch wiring, but with a push-pull pot to give you middle pickup only.
The other half of the DPDT might be used to disable the tone control when middle pickup is engaged.
With the middle on its own volume pot, it's like having a cleaner, brighter preset.
I might even consider putting a hot hum in the middle but split, using only one of its coils.