Hello,
Attached to this post is a wiring diagram that shows how I expect to wire 3 mini humbuckers into a Squier Vintage Modified Stratocaster. The diagram uses a separate mini toggle switch for each pickup to turn them on or off, a separate volume control for each pickup, and no tone controls. The pickups are wired in series (at least that's what I intended). I am hoping that someone can either validate this diagram or point out where it is incorrect, or why it won't work.
I have played around with wiring in parallel and coil splitting, and I don't care for those sounds. I found I'm one of those people who will use a single coil pickup if I want that type of sound. I also don't care for the sound out of phase pickups.
I strongly dislike blade switches for reasons that are at least partly unwarranted, so I won't use something like a 5-way blade switch. I like 3-way toggle switches, but like the 5-way switches their capabilities don't account for all pickup possibilities in a 3-pickup configuration, and I don't like the possible options for getting around those limitations. I am no longer play gigs and am not concerned about the effort to flip 3 separate switches to select pickups. I rarely change pickup selections during a song, and that was true even in my live performing days.
The reason for using 3 volume controls is to balance the output of the pickups. I have read a number of posts where people state that certain combinations of pickups in a 3-pickup configuration don't sound good, but in all those cases people are using only 1 or 2 volume controls. Perhaps balancing the pickups using 3 volume controls won't work, but I'm interested in trying it, and if it doesn't work I'll switch to something else.
The diagram doesn't have a tone control because I've always found them to make the sound muddy, so in any guitars I've had that have had tone controls I have always kept them all of the way up adjust the tone in my amp. These days I use amp simulation software that includes 7 band equalizers, and that gives me great control over the tone.
I am concerned about the potential loss of volume using this configuration. My understanding of electrical wiring, resistance, etc... is very limited. I don't understand how the combination of switches and potentiometers causes signal degradation, but I've seen other posts discussing something like this, so it is something that needs to be taken into consideration in any wiring configuration.
Other than creating a new pickguard for the Squire, the only modification I'll need to make to the guitar it is to slightly enlarge the neck pickup cavity. It is currently routed for HSS even though the original pickguard contained 3 single coil pickups.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Attached to this post is a wiring diagram that shows how I expect to wire 3 mini humbuckers into a Squier Vintage Modified Stratocaster. The diagram uses a separate mini toggle switch for each pickup to turn them on or off, a separate volume control for each pickup, and no tone controls. The pickups are wired in series (at least that's what I intended). I am hoping that someone can either validate this diagram or point out where it is incorrect, or why it won't work.
I have played around with wiring in parallel and coil splitting, and I don't care for those sounds. I found I'm one of those people who will use a single coil pickup if I want that type of sound. I also don't care for the sound out of phase pickups.
I strongly dislike blade switches for reasons that are at least partly unwarranted, so I won't use something like a 5-way blade switch. I like 3-way toggle switches, but like the 5-way switches their capabilities don't account for all pickup possibilities in a 3-pickup configuration, and I don't like the possible options for getting around those limitations. I am no longer play gigs and am not concerned about the effort to flip 3 separate switches to select pickups. I rarely change pickup selections during a song, and that was true even in my live performing days.
The reason for using 3 volume controls is to balance the output of the pickups. I have read a number of posts where people state that certain combinations of pickups in a 3-pickup configuration don't sound good, but in all those cases people are using only 1 or 2 volume controls. Perhaps balancing the pickups using 3 volume controls won't work, but I'm interested in trying it, and if it doesn't work I'll switch to something else.
The diagram doesn't have a tone control because I've always found them to make the sound muddy, so in any guitars I've had that have had tone controls I have always kept them all of the way up adjust the tone in my amp. These days I use amp simulation software that includes 7 band equalizers, and that gives me great control over the tone.
I am concerned about the potential loss of volume using this configuration. My understanding of electrical wiring, resistance, etc... is very limited. I don't understand how the combination of switches and potentiometers causes signal degradation, but I've seen other posts discussing something like this, so it is something that needs to be taken into consideration in any wiring configuration.
Other than creating a new pickguard for the Squire, the only modification I'll need to make to the guitar it is to slightly enlarge the neck pickup cavity. It is currently routed for HSS even though the original pickguard contained 3 single coil pickups.
Thank you in advance for your help.
