HSS w/ coil split wiring help

B

benf207

New member
I have a few questions about wiring an HSS strat for coil splitting. My build has two SSL-1s and a JB. Pots will be 250k with a .047uf cap, using a super switch.

Here's what I'd like to have:

Position 1 - Bridge (humbucker)
Position 2 - Bridge (single coil) + mid
Position 3 - Neck + bridge (single coil)
Position 4 - Neck + mid
Position 5 - Neck

I'm not entirely sure what the best configuration for the tone knobs is. I've heard it's best to leave the humbucker with no tone knob, but with my current layout the second tone knob is almost pointless. Is there a different configuration for the tone knobs you would recommend?

I've come up with a wiring diagram I think is correct, but perhaps someone with a little more experience could confirm? Thanks!


See below:

https://i.imgur.com/ujS1wxI.jpg


EDIT: oops, already spotted a mistake. Updated link.
 
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Re: HSS w/ coil split wiring help

Is a superswitch necessary in order to get the bridge (coil split) plus neck pickups in parallel for the 3rd position? I'm using this diagram and would like to try that using the current 5-way.. possible?
Screenshot_20200504-190702_Chrome.jpg
 
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Re: HSS w/ coil split wiring help

rainsong86 said:
Is a superswitch necessary in order to get the bridge (coil split) plus neck pickups in parallel for the 3rd position? I'm using this diagram and would like to try that using the current 5-way.. possible?
View attachment 104671
Click to expand...

No, its not possible to get that in Position 3 with a "normal" (i.e. 2 pole) 5 way switch. You will need a superswitch, or a combination of normal 5 way switch plus some other 2 way switches.
 
Re: HSS w/ coil split wiring help

Thanks Jack. If benf207 uses 250k pots with the diagram he drew up I'm pretty sure the bridge pickup will lose some highs. I'm planning on doing a similar wiring except a 500k volume pot and one 250k tone pot (.047 cap) contrlling both neck and middle pups. This way I can just turn the tone knob down a bit if the single coils are too bright (from having a 500k volume pot). But would this sound really dark in the bridge(single)+middle and bridge(single)+neck positions? Having a 250k tone pot and 500k volune pot in parallel is like 166k?
 
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Re: HSS w/ coil split wiring help

Thanks for the feedback GuitarDoc. I think I'm going to change it to a master tone. Just not sure what to do with the second knob...
 
Re: HSS w/ coil split wiring help

Switching looks fine.

Tone circuit is a matter of preference. This is sort of like the traditional strat circuit except that in a traditional strat both knobs are in the circuit in the notch position. Since you're treating the tone as two separate tone circuits, I'd wire the tone pots like a master tone knob (capacitor between the middle lug and ground). In effect, you'd be switching between two tone pots that are both acting as master tone knobs. That may the the operation you're looking for, and could quite useful if you don't like to fuss with tone knobs while playing.

If you're looking to play around with different options, another tone circuit that I like to use is the G&L PTB (Passive Treble Bass), which gives you a master tone circuit with separate controls for treble and bass roll-off. You'd need different pots and capacitors than what you have, however.
 
Re: HSS w/ coil split wiring help

How would I adjust the diagram in benf207's first post to just one tone pot for both middle and neck pickups?
 
Re: HSS w/ coil split wiring help

Is that what you ended up going with benf207?

Also.. is the bridge(single)+neck position hum-cancelling in your diagram if middle pickup is RWRP?
 
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Re: HSS w/ coil split wiring help

rainsong86 said:
Is that what you ended up going with benf207?

Also.. is the bridge(single)+neck position hum-cancelling in your diagram if middle pickup is RWRP?
Click to expand...

Yes, this is what I'm going with. I'm still waiting on my single coils, but I wired everything else and the humbucker/coil splitting is working correctly. 2nd tone knob will just be a dummy knob for now.

The middle coil is RWRP, but that will have no effect when using the bridge + neck position. Since we are splitting to the slug position of the humbucker, it will be hum cancelling when combined with the neck pickup (position 3), but not with the middle pickup (position 2).
 
Re: HSS w/ coil split wiring help

With my HSS, I have hum cancelling with one coil of the humbucker, and the middle. The middle is not rw/rp.

The pickups are:
Classic Strat Stack: n (rw/rp)
Five Two: m
59/Custom Hybrid: b

All positions are hum-cancelling, middle position is 1 coil of Hybrid + top coil of the neck pickup. I wrote a blog about it, here.
 
Re: HSS w/ coil split wiring help

Mincer said:
With my HSS, I have hum cancelling with one coil of the humbucker, and the middle. The middle is not rw/rp.

The pickups are:
Classic Strat Stack: n (rw/rp)
Five Two: m
59/Custom Hybrid: b

All positions are hum-cancelling, middle position is 1 coil of Hybrid + top coil of the neck pickup. I wrote a blog about it, here.
Click to expand...

Which has more effect on a humbucker compared to standard 500k volume and 500k tone.. switching the volume pot to 250k or switching the tone pot to 250k?
 
Re: HSS w/ coil split wiring help

rainsong86 said:
Which has more effect on a humbucker compared to standard 500k volume and 500k tone.. switching the volume pot to 250k or switching the tone pot to 250k?
Click to expand...

To me, the tone pot going to 250k has a bigger change.
 
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