HHH with 5-way Super Switch: Which combinations?

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I have an old Ibanez NDM1 with an HSH pickup configuration. I currently have a SD Cool Rails in the middle between a SD Custom 5 and pearly gates neck, making it HHH. I got a 4-pole super switch to try some new combinations, what do y'all suggest?

I want each pickup on its own for 3 of the 5 positions, so I'm mostly looking for suggestions for the other 2 positions on the switch.

Thanks in advance

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My suggestions:

3-way switch, 1 volume, 1 tone using push pulls .

Use one push pull to simultaneously coil split the bridge and middle, the second to split the neck.

Or...

5 way superswitch with full humbuckers in P1, P3 and P5, and auto coil split your choices of 2 out of a possible 3 in P2 and P4.
 
I like the coil of the neck closest to the frets combined with the coil of the bridge closest to the neck in parallel. It cops a decent telecaster-y middle position for cleans and funk playing. If you had a high output neck pickup I'd say split the neck for that single coil neck tone . . . but the PG is low enough output that it might not work out for that. So I'd either go with:

- Coil of the neck closest to the frets combined with the coil of the bridge closest to the neck in series (for a hybrid humbucker made of one coil of each) or
- both buckers in parallel for that regular in-between HB sound.
 
Splitting to the outside (screw) (south) coils on the bridge and neck won't be hum canceling unless the OP takes one pickup apart, flips the magnet over and solders it in "backwards" to make it RWRP.

I like the idea, but I'm just sayin'
 
ThreeChordWonder said:
Splitting to the outside (screw) (south) coils on the bridge and neck won't be hum canceling unless the OP takes one pickup apart, flips the magnet over and solders it in "backwards" to make it RWRP.

I like the idea, but I'm just sayin'
Click to expand...
What about the screw coil of one and the slug coil of the other? That'd be hum cancelling, right?

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bigcupholder said:
What about the screw coil of one and the slug coil of the other? That'd be hum cancelling, right?

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Click to expand...

If they are both Duncans, I believe that is correct. That is what GuitarStv was suggesting. The bridge slug coil is toward the neck and the neck screw coil is nearest the fretboard.
 
^ Depends on whether specified as bridge or neck. SD swaps the coils over on neck spec pickups so the screw coils are on the outside also:

20220303_104437.jpg That's why I posted what I did ;-)
 
ThreeChordWonder said:
^ Depends on whether specified as bridge or neck. SD swaps the coils over on neck spec pickups so the screw coils are on the outside also:

That's why I posted what I did ;-)
Click to expand...

That's not exactly correct. The pickup is rotated, but Duncans are all wired the same. If you mate the slug of one with the screw of another, it should be hum-cancelling. Which is what GuitarStv was saying - have the slug of the bridge in parallel with the screw of the neck - a south coil with a north coil.

fetch
 
Yes, but my remarks were just to point out screws plus screws is not hum canceling unless you flip the magnet and wire it in backwards, regardless of where the screw poles sit.:beerchug:
 
The Custom 5 is known to be useful as a split coil, so I would add the split coil Bridge pickup in both postions 2 and 4. At least 3 of the positions have full humbucking.

1. Bridge humbucker
2. Bridge (slug coil) + Coolrails humbucker
3. Cool Rails humbucker
4. Bridge (slug coil) + PG Neck Hubucker
5. PG Neck humbucker.
 
beaubrummels said:
have the slug of the bridge in parallel with the screw of the neck
Click to expand...
My Kiesel (with stock wiring and pickups) has the middle position wired as one coil from each pickup connected in series. It's a nice sound, but I think I will try this suggestion of connecting them in parallel to get a bit more tonal range out of it.

Teleplayer said:
The Custom 5 is known to be useful as a split coil
Click to expand...
That's good to know. Are either the cool rails or PG useful split?

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Coolrails isn't great split IMO, and looses a surprising amount of output. It could still be useful if you want to add brightness and hum cancelling in pos 2, for example if you want to make it more like a Strat.

I don't have experience with PG neck, so I can't answer that.
 
ThreeChordWonder said:
Splitting to the outside (screw) (south) coils on the bridge and neck won't be hum canceling unless the OP takes one pickup apart, flips the magnet over and solders it in "backwards" to make it RWRP.

I like the idea, but I'm just sayin'
Click to expand...

Nah, you're overthinking this. I just wire up 'buckers so that they're hum cancelling, and then physically flip the pickup to get to the position that sounds best. :P
 
Humbuckers are only hum canceling if the two coils within each unit are used together, or if you use two oppositely wound (or wired) coils spread across tow units. Series or parallel doesn't matter.

If you coil split and then combine two humbuckers, in order to get hum canceling you have use the north coil from one and the south coil from the other.:beerchug:
 
I like the idea of a Tele-ish middle tone. My suggestion:

1: bridge hum
2: Cool Rails full (or parallel if you want a lighter pos 2)
3: bridge slug & neck screw coils in parallel
4: Cool Rails split + neck screw coil in series
5: neck hum
 
Oh, don't regard that coolrails as a humucker. That's a small humbucker, yes, but tonally, I'd look at it as a singlecoil!

My choice for an HSH setup with a 5way superswitch and 2 pots:

- bridge full
- bridge and neck series in phase
- bridge and neck parallel
- bridge and neck in series, split
- neck full

Add a push pull pot to add the middle pickup to any position and you're done.
 
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