Hootmeister
New member
The goal of this wiring was to create a 2-volume setup to allow blending between single coil tones, humbucker tones, and varying amounts of both in series. It consists of a typical single coil circuit, with 250k volume and tone pots and a 3-way Telecaster switch to go from the usual neck, middle, or both in parallel. Then there's a typical humbucker circuit with 500k volume and tone pots, using 50's wiring for the tone circuit (for reasons I'll explain below).
Here's where things diverge from the well-worn path: The single coil and humbucker circuits are connected in series by linking the middle lug of volume 1 to the "ground" lug of volume 2. I put "ground" in quotes, because it isn't grounded, and I think this is key to making the scheme work. From the perspective of the humbucker circuit, the single coil output IS "ground", so parts of that circuit that would normally be grounded - the volume lug, the humbucker negative wire, and the tone capacitor - are all connected at the lug of volume 2. (Other dual-volume series circuits do things differently: The Jimmy Page wiring bypasses the neck tone & volume, when in series mode. Some basses use twin volume knobs that are wired backwards, with the pickup output connected to the middle lug.)
When both volume knobs are wide open, the tone sounds mostly like the humbucker, but slightly higher output with less treble and more midrange harmonics from the single coils. With volume 1 all the way down, the humbucker is all that's heard (and the volume 2/tone knobs operate just like you'd expect). With volume 2 all the way down, it sounds like an ordinary single coil guitar (and the volume 1/tone knobs work as expected). When volume 2 is rolled back a little bit, there's a pleasant balance between single coil and humbucker tones. There's a lot of harmonic content, and this is the part of the wiring that I enjoy most. The interaction between the volume & tone knobs seems more complicated when both volumes are open, but it sounds fine to me.
My reason for using 50's wiring for the humbucker circuit was that the best sounds come from rolling back volume 2, and I didn't want to lose treble when doing that. A treble bleed circuit on volume 2 might also work here. I didn't want to use 50's wiring on the single coil circuit, because I don't know if that would affect the humbucker tone.
This setup runs the risk of getting muddy, which I tempered by using vintage output pickups and tone capacitors with lower values than usual. Overly imbalanced pickups also might make the blended tones less useful, since hotter humbucker output would probably obscure the single coil tones. Right now I have a Shawbucker in the bridge position, but I'm waiting for a '78 Model to arrive to replace it.
Overall I found this to be a very versatile setup, with usable tones across most of the range of the 3 knobs. The combination of humbucker and single coils in series sounds rather different - but that was the point. It's less pure, but it's got some more "meat on the bone" than either pickup alone. It growls a bit more, you might say. If you try it, maybe other combinations of pickups or tone capacitors would work out for you.
Here's where things diverge from the well-worn path: The single coil and humbucker circuits are connected in series by linking the middle lug of volume 1 to the "ground" lug of volume 2. I put "ground" in quotes, because it isn't grounded, and I think this is key to making the scheme work. From the perspective of the humbucker circuit, the single coil output IS "ground", so parts of that circuit that would normally be grounded - the volume lug, the humbucker negative wire, and the tone capacitor - are all connected at the lug of volume 2. (Other dual-volume series circuits do things differently: The Jimmy Page wiring bypasses the neck tone & volume, when in series mode. Some basses use twin volume knobs that are wired backwards, with the pickup output connected to the middle lug.)
When both volume knobs are wide open, the tone sounds mostly like the humbucker, but slightly higher output with less treble and more midrange harmonics from the single coils. With volume 1 all the way down, the humbucker is all that's heard (and the volume 2/tone knobs operate just like you'd expect). With volume 2 all the way down, it sounds like an ordinary single coil guitar (and the volume 1/tone knobs work as expected). When volume 2 is rolled back a little bit, there's a pleasant balance between single coil and humbucker tones. There's a lot of harmonic content, and this is the part of the wiring that I enjoy most. The interaction between the volume & tone knobs seems more complicated when both volumes are open, but it sounds fine to me.
My reason for using 50's wiring for the humbucker circuit was that the best sounds come from rolling back volume 2, and I didn't want to lose treble when doing that. A treble bleed circuit on volume 2 might also work here. I didn't want to use 50's wiring on the single coil circuit, because I don't know if that would affect the humbucker tone.
This setup runs the risk of getting muddy, which I tempered by using vintage output pickups and tone capacitors with lower values than usual. Overly imbalanced pickups also might make the blended tones less useful, since hotter humbucker output would probably obscure the single coil tones. Right now I have a Shawbucker in the bridge position, but I'm waiting for a '78 Model to arrive to replace it.
Overall I found this to be a very versatile setup, with usable tones across most of the range of the 3 knobs. The combination of humbucker and single coils in series sounds rather different - but that was the point. It's less pure, but it's got some more "meat on the bone" than either pickup alone. It growls a bit more, you might say. If you try it, maybe other combinations of pickups or tone capacitors would work out for you.
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