4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

[loziodavid]

As you probably know, many Seymour Duncan pickups comes with 4 conductors to split coils.
I have an OLP MM1 Trans Red, clone of the Ernie Ball Axis, with just 1 pot for volume. No tone, non additional pots, no push-pull.

Is it possibile to install a 4conductors pickup on this particular guitar? If so, what is the correct wiring diagram?

 

[Big Mike Blues]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

Yes you can use the 4 conductor.

solder the white and red leads together and tape off to keep them from contacting anything.
The black wire goes to the switch or wherever the stock OLP hot wire is.
The green and bare wires go to ground, likely the back of the volume pot.

4 conductor gives you options, but you don't jhave to use them. Just make sure you solder the red and white together and tape it off. If you don't, you won't get both coils.

 

[loziodavid]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

Yes you can use the 4 conductor.

solder the white and red leads together and tape off to keep them from contacting anything.
The black wire goes to the switch or wherever the stock OLP hot wire is.
The green and bare wires go to ground, likely the back of the volume pot.

4 conductor gives you options, but you don't jhave to use them. Just make sure you solder the red and white together and tape it off. If you don't, you won't get both coils.

Thanks a lot, you were very clear!

With this wiring scheme, is it like to have the Tone pot on 10/10? I want that both pickups are not filtered in any way with trebles roll-off, as if the Tone is completely open.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

The advantage of the 4 wires in a pickup is that it allows you several wiring options, if you want any of them.

You can split to either coil of the pickup by using a mini switch or a push/pull volume pot. You can split either pickup or both of them using this one switch.

https://docs.google.com/gview?embed...content/uploads/2016/05/WD_Coil_Splitting.pdf

Or you can change the configuration from the standard series coil wiring to parallel coil wiring with a p/p pot or mini switch

https://docs.google.com/gview?embed.../uploads/2016/05/WD_Pushpull_minitoggle_3.pdf

Or you can put your pickups out-of-phase by using the p/p pot or mini switch to reverse the phase of just one (either one) pup.

https://docs.google.com/gview?embed...com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/WD_H_phase.pdf

 

[jeremy]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

there is no tone control on the guitar so there is no tone control, not a tone control on 10 regardless of what pups are in there. wiring a 4 cond pup in typical series in phase wiring as described above will do what you want.

 

[Big Mike Blues]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

Thanks a lot, you were very clear!

With this wiring scheme, is it like to have the Tone pot on 10/10? I want that both pickups are not filtered in any way with trebles roll-off, as if the Tone is completely open.

IT will be even less 'filtered' than a regular tone pot would be (Which always has some resistance).
You'll get the full duncan goodness that way.

Should you want to simulate the load a tone control can put on it, that's an easy fix too, but I'd try it straight up first.

 

[loziodavid]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

IT will be even less 'filtered' than a regular tone pot would be (Which always has some resistance).
You'll get the full duncan goodness that way.

Should you want to simulate the load a tone control can put on it, that's an easy fix too, but I'd try it straight up first.

Yes, with "Tone pot on 10/10" I meant "no filtered".
Indeed a tone pot is a capacitor connected to the pickup output, but even with the pot completely open, it exerts a little bit of filtering on the signal. It's not 100% transparent.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

Indeed a tone pot is a capacitor connected to the pickup output.

Actually, the tone pot is a resistor.

 

[Chad]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

Actually, the tone pot is a resistor.

Actually, it’s a resistor and a cap.

 

[jeremy]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

the tone pot is a variable resistor, the tone control requires the cap to be connected to the pot. people use the terms interchangeably frequently though. i tend to like having a tone control wired in even if i leave it on 10 90% of the time. still takes off a bit of edge i dont care for

 

[Chad]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

the tone pot is a variable resistor, the tone control requires the cap to be connected to the pot. people use the terms interchangeably frequently though. i tend to like having a tone control wired in even if i leave it on 10 90% of the time. still takes off a bit of edge i dont care for

Yep, or in this person’s situation where there is only one pot on their guitar, they can wire in an RC network that simulates their resistance setting and cap of choice. I’ve done that before.

 

[loziodavid]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

For the bridge PU, is it better an humbucker or a trembucker? I measured the E-e string distance over the bridge pickup, as suggested by the Seymour Duncan website, and it's about 54 millimeters.

 

[Big Mike Blues]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

For the bridge PU, is it better an humbucker or a trembucker? I measured the E-e string distance over the bridge pickup, as suggested by the Seymour Duncan website, and it's about 54 millimeters.

I never notice a huge difference myself, fbut might as well go trembucker to push the pole pieces under.
Regular are 49.2 mil

 

[Mincer]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

If you have the choice, a Trembucker will look better.

 

[loziodavid]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

A few days ago I've seen a simple and effective solution.
This guy had a Squier Showmaster with the same problem of my OLP guitar: just 1 pot, and 4 conductors pickups set.
Look at how he solved the problem..

Could I use the same trick to split the HB to SC? It would be cheaper than installing a push-pull tone pot?

 

[jeremy]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

buying two mini switches and drilling two holes in you guitar will not be cheaper than installing a push/pull pot to split both pups.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

If you have the choice, a Trembucker will look better.

Yes. And the key word here is "LOOK".

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

Yes, you could do the same thing...install a mini switch. But as Jeremy said, it won't be any cheaper (at least not significantly), but you'd have to drill a hole in your guitar. I'd just change my vol pot to a p/p pot.

 

[ErikH]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

Be ready to snip the corners of the mounting tabs of any Seymour Duncan to fit in the cavity. Those pickups stock in the guitar have tabs like DiMarzios where Duncans are square.

Wire it up like mentioned in post #2 and rock on.

 

[Mincer]

Re: 4 conductors pickup on 1 pot guitar

Yes. And the key word here is "LOOK".

Indeed. Some people are OCD about the looks.