HSH Blend Wiring Mod

[Geronimo1345]

Hi guys! So I am planning on building a new guitar as soon as I get the funds to start the project. I plan on making an HSH guitar that has individual on/off switches for each pick up. My question is this, can it be wired to a three way that will switch from neck/middle, neck/bridge, middle/bridge, to a blend knob, but also bypass the switch and the blend knob if not in one of these positions? For example, any pick up on their own, or all 3 together, I wouldn't need the blend knob, it would probably even make adjusting more cumbersome.
So maybe, a 4 way switch, where the 4th position would turn on all the pickups (or all of the ones on at the switch anyway) that would bypass the blend and then go straight to master volume.
I guess, really, can a switch be made to go to different pots based on it's position? Or, any other way that you could think to do this.
I don't know if it is relevant or not, but I will also be using triple shots on the humbuckers.

 

[Geronimo1345]

Re: HSH Blend Wiring Mod

Another possible option, using a 4 way rotary switch, and just keeping the blend "off" when in the 3 pickup position. The question then would be, how to wire a rotary switch with the following combos: N-M-B, N-M, N-B, M-B?
I say a rotary because the guitar in question has a toggle switch, so a blade switch wouldn't work without extra cutting, and I don't care to spend a small fortune on the freeway switch when I only need 4 positions. So, I'm guessing a rotary is the best bet.

 

[Adieu]

Re: HSH Blend Wiring Mod

3 pickup blend-only could be a mess with 2 (?) Blend pots...maybe.... or could be really cool?

I once made a partscaster with HSS, volume, 3 way between the bucker and the singles, and a blend pot mixing the singles, that was pretty badazz. Excellent versatility.

3way + blend allows you to select any of the 3 pickups individually as well as mixes thereof.

Can't recall how I wired the volume though, bridge bucker only or master,

 

[Chistopher]

Re: HSH Blend Wiring Mod

Can't recall how I wired the volume though, bridge bucker only or master,

My guess is you wired it with a master volume switch. If you wired it to only have a volume control on the bridge you would most likely remember not liking it.

I've had a couple people ask me if there would be any advantage to wiring a HSS Strat so the humbucker bypasses all the pots (for a "purer" sound or so that the bridge could be used as a boost), but in the end they all realized not having a volume control on a pickup is a massive hindrance.

 

[Adieu]

Re: HSH Blend Wiring Mod

My guess is you wired it with a master volume switch. If you wired it to only have a volume control on the bridge you would most likely remember not liking it.

I've had a couple people ask me if there would be any advantage to wiring a HSS Strat so the humbucker bypasses all the pots (for a "purer" sound or so that the bridge could be used as a boost), but in the end they all realized not having a volume control on a pickup is a massive hindrance.

That WAS my initial thought, but the humbucker was an 80s NOS Seymour JB, not exactly a weakling... while the singles were of unknown origin. But I recall it blending together quite well though.

 

[Geronimo1345]

Re: HSH Blend Wiring Mod

Ok, so as bad as I didn't want to do the free way switch, I emailed the people asking about it, and here is the response that I got:

"I think this some of what you asked for is possible. You could have:-

Position 1 Neck PU
Position 2 Neck + Bridge PU (pan with blend pot)
Position 3 Bridge PU
Position 4 Neck + Middle PU (pan with blend pot)
Position 5 Neck + Middle + Bridge PU (pan between neck/Middle to Bridge with blend pot)
Position 6 Bridge + Middle PU (pan with blend pot)

With the blend pot in the centre position you would get the straight pickup selections above. The blend pot would still affect the positions with single pickups, i.e. it would turn down their level depending on how it was set. Alternatively you could bypass the blend pot with a push/pull."

Which is great. The problem is there is no wiring diagram for this. I asked for one, even to purchase one, but it has been several days and no response. So are there any free way switch gurus that could help me with this?