I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

[A_fire_inside]

So ya i have a 3 humbucker les paul and heres what i want to do..Get new pickups, Emg 81, 85 and an emg hz in the middle, i want the 3 way pickup selector to select one pickup only per its 3 positions and have the 4 knobs be 3 tone and one master volume. Now...is this possibile? And if so does anyone have any wiring diargrams or input on this? Also does anyone have any 3 humbucker wiring diagrams or know where to find them in general, i cant find anything.

Thx

 

[Kac]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

Yes it's possible, no i have no idea how to do it!

Rock On :headbang:

 

[A_fire_inside]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

well thats good. I really want this, it should sound amazing...annddd...i have the same amp as you. Load and sweet tone, and these pickups shall make it bester

 

[Kac]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

well thats good. I really want this, it should sound amazing...annddd...i have the same amp as you. Load and sweet tone, and these pickups shall make it bester

The only concern I would have with that set-up is the 2 active pick-ups and the passive in the middle, It would have noticably less volume, but I guess if that's what you're goin' for, then it could work out.

Someone will come around eventually to point ya in the right direction as far as wiring.

Rock On - kac

 

[A_fire_inside]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

Ya i thought about that. which is why im getting some other opinions. i dont know what other pickup to put in the center. I was thinking of like a Dimebucker, but i think it would look cooler with emgs. And Alexi Laiho plays EMG Hz's and i love his ****.

 

[Artie]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

The wiring on this is pretty simple. Probably don't even need a diagram. A Fender-style 3-way lever switch will have three terminals, and a "common". Wire the "hot" output of each pickup to one lug each. One half of the switch, you won't even use.

Now take each of those lugs and also run them to the middle lug of one tone control each. If you're looking at the back of the pot, and the center lug is at 12 o'clock, connect the cap to the 11-o'clock lug. Take the other end of the cap to ground.

Run the "common" of the 3-way to the volume control, and the center lug out to the jack.

Use this diagram as a guide, but with a simple change. Instead of one tone control, you'll have three. And instead of it being connected to the volume control, each one will connect to the 3-way on the same lug as the pups hot wire.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/website/support/schematics/S_3singles1vol1tone1switch.html

Let us know if that doesn't cover it, and I can make you a custom diagram tomorrow.

Artie

 

[ksmith63]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

if you want actives and passives in the same guitar they will not be able to all share the same volume pot. Active pups use 25k pot while passives use either 250k or 500k. So your setup of 1 volume/ 3 tone will not work unless you have either all passives or all actives.

 

[Artie]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

if you want actives and passives in the same guitar they will not be able to all share the same volume pot. Active pups use 25k pot while passives use either 250k or 500k. So your setup of 1 volume/ 3 tone will not work unless you have either all passives or all actives.

Yup. I forgot about that. I believe there's a simple way around that though, since you want only one pup on at a time.

If you can wait 'til tomorrow, I'll draw it up for you.

Edit: Basically, the unused side of the 3-way can be used to switch a parallel resistor across the volume pot when in the #1 and #3 positions.

 

[A_fire_inside]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

****, the pasive/active thing kind of sucks. It would be soo great if u could draw it up since im fairly new to this and dont fully understand it. Im pretty content on putting a passive into the midle but im gunna look at what other options i have....any suggestions?...and ya thanks a lot for drawing



and i completely forgot, emg's have battery things with them. I dont have a battery in my guitar now, will i still need one/can i just throw it in there someone if i do?

 

[ksmith63]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

a_fire_inside

my suggestion would be to buy an emg 60 and forget about the hz. an 81b/85m/60n combo would sound very good especially with each pickup having its own tone knob.

 

[Artie]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

You'll definitely need a battery with the actives.

Can I interest you in a nice set of passive Duncans? :laugh2:

Seriously though, I can draw you up the diagram, if you can find a spot for the battery.

 

[tfb1990]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

cover the dime if u really need to

 

[A_fire_inside]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

I opened up my guitar and i tink i could like tape the battery onto the back pannel tihng or something.

i like the idea of the EMG 81/85/60..would compliucate less and 60 sounds good too.

I dunno bout duncans, emgs look coolers and sound more metal(and have the rep too), which is what im going for.

What do u mean by covering the dime?

 

[Kac]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

I opened up my guitar and i tink i could like tape the battery onto the back pannel tihng or something.

i like the idea of the EMG 81/85/60..would compliucate less and 60 sounds good too.

I dunno bout duncans, emgs look coolers and sound more metal(and have the rep too), which is what im going for.

What do u mean by covering the dime?

The 3 EMG's would be very awesome, but don't rule Duncan's out for metal!

he might not know what he's talking about when he said cover the dime... but i won't talk for him..

Rock On!

 

[slash857]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

www.allparts.com sells pickup covers they sell a black plastic one maybe thats waht he meant. that combo sounds killer though. once u do that u better record some sound clips. that will be so sweet. :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:

 

[ksmith63]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

hey you could put an emg 89 in the middle position (an 85 with coil tap capability) for an extremely versatile axe.

 

[A_fire_inside]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

Ya the 89 would be sweet too...i dunno crazy choices...and i have a feeling this is gunna cost me quite a bit too. Good thing about emg(that i wish all pickup manufacturers did) is that quick connect ****. I can definitaly move pickups around spots. Would also benifiical if everyone had them so u could alternate various pickups quickly thru various guitars and stuff....but im gunna look into the 89..its between the 60, 89 and EMG-H/HA...tough choicessss

 

[tfb1990]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

lol yea i dont know, but i was just guessing, ok ill leave haha

 

[tfb1990]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

but off topic... but y cant u cover it? (still learning)

 

[Kac]

Re: I have a 3 humbucker guitar and need help

but off topic... but y cant u cover it? (still learning)

even if you cover the dimebucker it is still a passive pick-up, and the EMG's are active pick-ups, the passive and active pick-ups can't work together and share the same volume knob, because actives and passives use different volume pot resistance levels.

Rock On