Artie's doodle pad: adjust-a-split, adjust-a-mud

[Artie]

Update: Please don't anyone start rewiring your guitars just yet. There's an update to this mod, but the phone company is working on my phone line, and I keep getting bumped off-line. I'll post more info tomorrow. Thanks all.
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Here's a couple pup mods that I doodled up, and tried out today. They both work great.

1. The first one is "adjust-a-split". Not to be confused with spin-a-split. Two completely different things.

Fig 1 shows a normal push/pull pot used to split a pup. Fig 2 shows adding a small "trim-pot", (the tiny kind), between the red and white wires. Now, in full humbucker mode, you can dial in a little attenuation without affecting the character of the pup. Tweak the pot until the full and split modes are of equal volume. Works pretty cool. I used a 500k pot, but anything down to about 100k would probably work just as well.

This would also work to balance one high-output 'bucker with a lower output one.

2. The second one, I call - "adjust-a-mud". Again, a pot, wired as a reostat across the red/white wires, in parallel with a cap. With the pot dialed full on, the cap is shorted out, and you have a normal humbucker. As you dial in the pot, you put more of the cap in, removing the very bottom end. I used a 500k pot with a .01uf orange drop. The difference is subtle, but noticable.
It takes away a little of the "mud" that we associate with some neck humbuckers.

I tried both of these with my neck Distortion. I'm going to try the adjust-a-mud with my neck 59 a little later.

The cap value on the second mod takes a little tweaking. Its somewhat dependent on the coil DC resistance, but .01uf is a good starting point.

I'll try to post clips a little later.

Artie

 

[Dom L]

Re: Artie's doodle pad: adjust-a-split, adjust-a-mud

Artie you are the wiring man!!!!!!
I think you should have your own wiring section in the forum here
I have an archive with most of your diagrams and stuff,
Hope you don't mind

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Artie's doodle pad: adjust-a-split, adjust-a-mud

Thanks Artie, I´m sure these will be a godsend for some :beerchug:

But "Adjust-A-Mud"??? ROFLMAO :chairfall:

 

[Artie]

Re: Artie's doodle pad: adjust-a-split, adjust-a-mud

I have an archive with most of your diagrams and stuff,
Hope you don't mind

Not only do I not mind, but feel free to use them anywhere, anytime.
Thats why I make them.

Thanks Artie, I´m sure these will be a godsend for some :beerchug:

But "Adjust-A-Mud"??? ROFLMAO :chairfall:

It was spur of the moment . . . :laugh2:

 

[ranalli]

Re: Artie's doodle pad: adjust-a-split, adjust-a-mud

SWEET!!! This is really good info!! THank for posting it. I wish I had an "adjust-a-mud" when I had my '59n.....might not have gotten rid of it!!!

 

[Artie]

Re: Artie's doodle pad: adjust-a-split, adjust-a-mud

Maybe I should call it the mud-be-gone mod.

Anyway, I'm going to try this with my 59 tomorrow, or the next day. I'll post clips of how it turns out.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Artie's doodle pad: adjust-a-split, adjust-a-mud

Artie-
Long ago read about the Outlaws having a midrange roll off of some type on their LPs to get thinner sounds- Could that have been a derivation of the mudbegone mod or is this highpass only?

 

[Artie]

Re: Artie's doodle pad: adjust-a-split, adjust-a-mud

This is strictly a high-pass.

I'll comment more tomorrow. They're working on the phone line, and I can't stay on for more than a moment. :yell:

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Artie's doodle pad: adjust-a-split, adjust-a-mud

Update: 1. The first one is "adjust-a-split". Not to be confused with spin-a-split. Two completely different things.

Fig 1 shows a normal push/pull pot used to split a pup. Fig 2 shows adding a small "trim-pot", (the tiny kind), between the red and white wires. Now, in full humbucker mode, you can dial in a little attenuation without affecting the character of the pup. Tweak the pot until the full and split modes are of equal volume. Works pretty cool. I used a 500k pot, but anything down to about 100k would probably work just as well.

This would also work to balance one high-output 'bucker with a lower output one.

Artie

Which lugs of the pot to you wire the red and white wires to?





*

 

[Artie]

Re: Artie's doodle pad: adjust-a-split, adjust-a-mud

Like this:

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Artie's doodle pad: adjust-a-split, adjust-a-mud

So the white goes across the two lugs, meaning there's no ground lug? Or is one of the lugs still grounded (and if so, which one)?

 

[Artie]

Re: Artie's doodle pad: adjust-a-split, adjust-a-mud

The ground is connected through the push/pull pot. The ground is only relevant to the "split" mode. The pot is used to balance the "full" mode with the "split" mode.

Here's how one might wire up a push/pull pot to achieve this function:

Now mind you, I wouldn't use a push/pull pot for this function. I'd use one of those little "trim-pot" resistors. Hidden under the pickguard. I'd find the value needed to balance the split and full modes then replace the pot with a fixed resistor.

Artie

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Artie's doodle pad: adjust-a-split, adjust-a-mud

Okay -- then for the Adjust-A-Mud:

I assume the red and white wires are on the two non-ground lugs of the pot.

And the cap also across the two non-ground lugs. Or is it?

 

[MattPete]

Re: Artie's doodle pad: adjust-a-split, adjust-a-mud

Hmmm...for the adjust-a-mud, I wonder if this would work on an LP-style guitar with tone controls for each pickup:

Wire the tone pot so that it acts somewhat like the treble bleed circuit, but using a larger capacitor value, such as .047 or .1? That is, the pot and the capacitor are in parallel, with the pot determining how much of the unfiltered signal bypasses that capacitor. So, with the pot all of the way off, the capacitor filters out the lows, allowing only the highs to pass.

 

[Artie]

Re: Artie's doodle pad: adjust-a-split, adjust-a-mud

Exactly. One of the things I discovered, (and haven't updated in this thread), is that the "adjustable" part proved not to be worthwhile. In my final design, I replace the pot with a fixed 500k resistor. The problem is, resistance in series with the windings has little affect. A resistor's prime function is that of current limiting, not voltage limiting. So, since a pup generates so little current to start with, my 500k pot, in series, had almost no affect 'til I hit the end. You'ld probably need a 1 - 5 meg pot to really see a difference. I never experimented past that point simply because I was happy with the fixed resistor results.

I've got so many projects on my to-do list right now, I'm not sure when I'll get around to playing with this some more. But feel free to try it, and let us know how it goes.

One more thing to keep in mind: the larger value of cap you use, the less affect the adjustable pot will have, because you're allowing a greater portion of the signal to bypass the pot. Using a small value cap may actually return more pleasing results.

Artie

 

[martinsixstringcustoms]

Re: Artie's doodle pad: adjust-a-split, adjust-a-mud

Artie you are the wiring man!!!!!!
I think you should have your own wiring section in the forum here

I'll second that!