HSH Wiring question

[Chris H]

HI, this may not be a normal setup, but I wanted to try it just to see how it sounds. I have a strat style guitar that I'm piecing together. I put a humbucker in the bridge and neck positions and a single coil in the middle position. It has the standard 5-way switch. I want to wire it so that I can select the bridge and neck pickups together and add a 3-way switch to control the bridge/neck selection to be in series or parallel. I hope that makes sense. Can someone please provide a schematic for how that can be done?
Note: The coils on these humbuckers cannot be split.
There are separate volume pots for the neck and bridge pickups and 1 tone pot.
Thanks in advance for anyone's help.

 

[hamerfan]

The series connection of 2 humbucker, which are not splitable, does not make a useful sound. Too much wire in series.
For more inspiration look here

Wiring Diagram Library | Seymour Duncan

The world's largest selection of free guitar wiring diagrams. Humbucker, Strat, Tele, Bass and more!

www.seymourduncan.com

 

[Mincer]

I don't think singles in series is a good sound, much less humbuckers in series. A switch to turn the neck on when the bridge is on (in parallel) might be useful, though.

 

[Chris H]

Thanks for the quick replies.
I understand it may not be the best configuration, I'm new to wiring a guitar and want to try different configurations to get practice with soldering and learning the different switches that can be used and configurations that can be done.
@hamerfan, thanks for the explanation for why humbuckers in series is not a good idea. I was hoping to receive information like that.
@Mincer, I've talked to people who do think that singles in series sound good. Thanks for the switch suggestion. I did think about adding a switch for that purpose.
All of that being said though, I would still like to find a wiring diagram for this configuration. If for nothing else but to gain some experience and understanding for wiring guitars.

 

[hamerfan]

Thanks for the quick replies.
I understand it may not be the best configuration, I'm new to wiring a guitar and want to try different configurations to get practice with soldering and learning the different switches that can be used and configurations that can be done.
@hamerfan, thanks for the explanation for why humbuckers in series is not a good idea. I was hoping to receive information like that.
@Mincer, I've talked to people who do think that singles in series sound good. Thanks for the switch suggestion. I did think about adding a switch for that purpose.
All of that being said though, I would still like to find a wiring diagram for this configuration. If for nothing else but to gain some experience and understanding for wiring guitars.

Seymour Duncan had that idea combining two single coils in a humbucker shape decades ago. Its called the SH-3. Its one of the most unpopular humbuckers in his line, even after he a revision from the The Mag (flat mags and A2) to the Stag Mag (staggered mags and A2). How do i know? I am trying to sell a The Mag since April and i sold more than 10 other humbucker for higher prices.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Can't think of an easy way to do what you want using a standard 5-way (or even a Superswitch).
And I concur with the others above that two humbuckers in series with each other is unlikely to be useful, likely even unusable.

So let me offer an alternative that I might consider myself: swap the middle and neck connections on the 5-way.
In the days before superswitches players used to do this on Strats to approximate a 'Tele' middle tone of bridge & neck together.
So you'll have
Position 1 - bridge
Position 2 - bridge & neck parallel
Position 3 - neck
Position 4 - neck & middle parallel
Position 5 - middle

Then add two mini switches giving series/parallel on the two humbuckers, or (what I'd probably do) just use 1 DPDT to split both.
If one wired the DPDT for partial-split using resistors, I think this would be a pretty versatile arrangement without useless tones.

PS: The PRS 513 uses two blade switches, with a three-way blade for series/parallel/split on both humbuckers at once.
If you have enough room, it might be worth looking up the wiring diagram for that model.

 

[Chris H]

@eclecticsynergy - Thanks for the reply. I like that idea. I'm new to wiring a guitar myself and didn't really think of changing how the 5-way is wired. I never use the middle pickup by itself so using that position for a different combination would be perfect for playing around with different sounds.