H S H wiring for 3 way toggle and 5 pots (or tell me why this is dumb)

[shadowfire90]

Re: H S H wiring for 3 way toggle and 5 pots (or tell me why this is dumb)

made two fixes to the diagram. I included the string ground to the neck pickup volume and the coilsplits are now in the right orientation. I ended up documenting the CTS push pull pot and went back to this diagram and made the proper fixes. Either way hopefully this wiring does what you're after.

View attachment 102528

 

[Benway37]

Re: H S H wiring for 3 way toggle and 5 pots (or tell me why this is dumb)

Just saw this. Appreciate the update. Im still a few days away from my install so i'll just sub out this diagram. A million thanks again.

 

[Benway37]

Re: H S H wiring for 3 way toggle and 5 pots (or tell me why this is dumb)



Hey how ya doing. Happy holidays. Just starting to wire this up and initially i'm having a bit of an issue. Testing the wiring with screwdriver and getting nothing on any channel, but diagram as drawn is backwards from layout in cavity, so it's very likely that my attempts to work the diagram from right to left didn't translate to my actual left to right cavity. I've uploaded the diagram with the way my cavity is laid out (and also what I'm assuming is each pickup).
I don't know if this discrepancy between cavity and diagram would make a difference in the connections but perhaps the flow would be different? The other little thing I have is that my single coil has three wires instead of two (red, white, and bare). Working from diagram, I used red for yellow, white for black, but I don't really know what to do with the bare. I know it's just a ground but I'm not sure where to mount it in this flow. Any chance I could bother you for one more update?

Just to be clear: my little green labeled diagram here is how my cavity is laid out and how I'd like the diagram to flow, but not how I wired up. When wiring, I followed diagram as is: all connections to bridge pots are still to bridge pots and vice versa, just the physical location of those 4 pots are flipped, so of course my wiring is much more back and forth and not in a directional flow like your diagram is. FWIW, when wiring, I did assume "top" humbucker in diagram was neck and bottom was bridge. Can you confirm that's right or wrong for me?

 

[shadowfire90]

Re: H S H wiring for 3 way toggle and 5 pots (or tell me why this is dumb)

I'll break this down into parts to make this easier to digest. I honestly don't remember much about this as I usually do a different diagram every day on here.

Alright lets start with the easy part bringing it to life
the red wires are hot lead to the switch. Notice how there is 2 wires going to the common (center) of the 3 way toggle and to the output jacks tip (hot lead). Make sure everything is soldered there and you shouldn't have a problem. However some things to check for are cold solder joints or if volume or tone pots are touching the walls of the guitar assuming there is either shielding paint or copper tape. One of the easiest ways to wire inside the guitar is with a small template about the size of a volume or tone pot.

question 2
with the orientation of the pots if it's a standard les paul 2 volume, 2 tone the approach of my diagram it is right when you flip it over. I even looked at a really old 1950s les paul diagram for reference Seymour Duncan drew out a long time ago when they were black and white just to reassure myself. Once the hot lead is resolved check and see if everything lines up. The Volumes and tones from the humbuckers and push pull pot for the pickup. If it all lines up rotate the switch around and it'll solve it. If not re-solder the red/white and black wires of the humbuckers and problem solved.

question 3
with three wire pickups I had a duncan designed in a few weeks back though I'm surprised no one chimed in. The red is your hot lead. White and bare are ground if memory serves me right. I usually try my best to avoid single coils as I usually dislike them. However this is an easy one to google from past forum posts. My experience is humbuckers more than anything.

how you'd approach that
the red wire will be going to where the yellow wire is
the white / bare - ground to the back of any volume or tone pot

when wiring up the guitar start with all the volume and tone controls at 10 when doing the tap test and you should be ok.

 

[Benway37]

Re: H S H wiring for 3 way toggle and 5 pots (or tell me why this is dumb)

Thanks again for reply. Hope it didn't come off like I had doubt in your diagram. I'm positive the issue is either in my attempt to flip it around or my execution. FWIW I'm not really a fan of single coils either unless we're just talking Jazzmasters or 'Tron style on a three way same as a HB setup. I've double checked my connections and feel pretty confident I've done things correctly. The reverse visualization thing is sort of challenging for the way my mind works but everything seems to be in line there and I think I'm ok there. I've also double checked and I'm not touching cavity shield anywhere. I think I'm close.

Where I'm at is that with 3way in bridge, I'm getting signal from bridge HB and from single coil. With 3way in middle I get nothing from any P/U and with 3way in neck I get nothing from either neck HB or single coil. I've already troubleshot the possibility that it's the neck pickup and I think the wiring is according to diagram so I'm thinking it's gotta be my connection to switch or the solder at the switch (or I guess it could be the switch itself, but it's brand new) that's the issue. Having said that, and assuming that both my wiring and my solder is fine, does anything else stand out to you as an obvious fix or red flag given that explanation?

If you're doing a diagram a day I hope you're getting residual forum income or bit dollars or some form of Duncan related renumeration. I know I'd definitely venmo you a fee for your time.