H H 3 way 1 v 2 t

[Spidersale49]

This has probably been asked before so sorry to repeat. I have a MIM Stratocaster and a calibrated set of SD 59 humbuckers. I want to wire them up using the standard controls and a 3 way blade switch. Most things I can find have two tone and two volume knobs. I want 1 volume and 2 tone diagram and how I wire the blade switch. Would like a picture if possible. Have already spent a bundle having a HSH setup done by a shop. The combination was a waste of time and money.Thanks.

 

[Liko]

Re: H H 3 way 1 v 2 t

Do you still have a middle pickup, or are you going full H-H configuration? What was the issue with the wiring the shop guys did?

Here's one for HH with a 3-way Tele switch and 4-conductor SD humbuckers. If you have 2-conductor, then black is ground and whatever other color you have besides bare wire goes to the pickup selector (bare wire always goes to ground; those wires and a lot of other ground connections have been omitted):



The three-way is wired more like a Tele than a Strat, but each hot pickup lead has the tone control in parallel, which allows the tone controls to respond to the pickup selector switch, unlike a Tele where the tone is wired off the volume pot after the pickup selector. In the middle position (neck and bridge together), both tone controls will be active and there's not much you can do to fix that, which is why Teles don't have two tone controls. On an LP, the two tone controls are each hooked to an independent volume control allowing you to "decouple" the tone controls by turning one pickup down.

If you have a middle pickup, I would recommend wiring it using a "middle on" switch. Just replace one of the pots in the diagram with a DPDT push-pull pot, then wire the middle pickup's hot lead to the center terminal on one side of the switch, and another wire from the terminal on the same side of the switch that's closest to the pot, and connect the other end to the center wiper of the volume pot. Pull the switch up, and the middle pickup is turned on in combination with whatever else you have going on. You won't get a middle-only setup out of the available hardware; you'll want the full 5-position Strat switch for that, and if that's your situation then the wiring job should pretty much look like a stock Strat, except with 500K pots and a "neck on" switch to give you the neck and bridge pickups (the wiring's identical to the middle on switch, except your starting point is the terminal on the pickup selector that the neck pickup lead is wired to; you'll run a second wire to the DPDT).

 

[Spidersale49]

Re: H H 3 way 1 v 2 t

Liko, Thank you for the info and the diagram. It sets it out very clearly so a novice can follow.

I didn't like the loss of tone when the bridge and middle were on. The other positions were okay but I didn't think there was any point to the set up ie n,n&m, m,m&b,b. I have a strat with phat cats and it just has the n,n&m,b configuration and it is a versatile guitar. I think it has spoilt me as I've gone away from the vintage single coil sound. With the new set up I'll use the bridge & neck a lot more.

Truth be known I probably only need a bridge pickup on my guitars.
Thanks again for your help.
Bye 4 now
Spidersale

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: H H 3 way 1 v 2 t

That diagram looks crazy on many accounts. Wipe it out of your memory.

First of all...SD pups are normally wired with the green and bare wires to ground and the black wire as lead. To make it simple for now and for later when you may want to make some changes, let's stick to convention.

For HH, 1 vol, 2 tones...wire the pickups and tone controls following this diagram (since you are using a blade switch, just ignore the switch in this diagram for now...we'll fix it in the next diagram):

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=2h_1v_2t_3w

The wire in the first diagram that goes from the bridge tone pot to the switch will go to the common lug on the left side of the blade switch in this next diagram marked "Bridge pickup".

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=3ws_trans

The wire in the first diagram that goes from the neck tone pot to the switch will go to the common lug on the right side of the blade switch marked "Neck pickup".

In this second diagram, the wire that goes from the "Hot output from switch" will go to your master volume pot.

This is a more conventional way to do it and much simpler in the long run than the diagram posted by Liko (which I'm not sure will even work the way you want it to).

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: H H 3 way 1 v 2 t

PS, welcome to the forum.

 

[Spidersale49]

Re: H H 3 way 1 v 2 t

Thanks for the welcome. Just updating to let you know I went with the seymour duncan format and the 3 way blade switch link. I was able to accomplish the task reasonably fast. Dah to me for overlooking the link wires. Luckily I did it all on my old pick guard and attached the jack so it could be tested before assembly. I hooked it up and bridge and middle weren't working. Then I went over the diagram again and found my error. This is a good configuration which is good for twang as well as rockabilly blues and a nice jazz tone from the neck. Thanks to IanBallard and limo for their interest and guidance.