ideas for extending Jimmy page wiring and switching 50s tone wiring

K

KX36

New member
Hi all

Right now I have an epi less Paul with the Jimmy page wiring similar to that in the SD wiring diagram. Looking at the Gibson website for the page #2 reissue, it sounds like the volume pots switch the actual coils in each pickup in parallel. Reading further, it appears that that's not the case. The pickguard switches are just redundant switches for what I already have, but it got me thinking what else I can use those 2 extra switches for. can anyone offer an opinion on what the pickups sound like with the coils in parallel? I tried it briefly with crocodile clips, but it sounded a bit too thin. Any other ideas for those switches? Perhaps a switch to lift the tone controls grounds or change the tone cap. Not sure it can be done with a single dpdt, but perhaps something to switch the coil splits from the slug to screw polepieces.

The other thing is the 50s wiring where the tone controls move from before the volume pots to after. That's easily switched with a DPDT, but is there any point in me putting it on a switch or am I likely to just pick one way or the other and stick to it?

Cheers
Matt
 
Re: ideas for extending Jimmy page wiring and switching 50s tone wiring

Let me do the last thing first . . . I wouldn't switch the 50's mod. The difference wouldn't be worth it. Just go one way or the other.

As for the other switch, I might recommend my "coil-swap" mod. Another forum bro just reminded me to repost that technique. Its simply a DPDT switch the swaps the two coils on the two humbuckers. That is, you have the bridge stud mated to the neck screw coil, and vice-versa. It makes for some interesting new tonal character. The thing is, incorporating it into a JP wiring scheme might be a little "tricky".

Let me doodle up a few things and see if its do-able. ;)

Artie
 
Re: ideas for extending Jimmy page wiring and switching 50s tone wiring

So you effectively make one pickup from the coils of each closer to the neck, and the other pickup from the coils of rack closer to the bridge. That does sound interesting, but I don't thing that would buck hum, whereas one pickup made from slug coils and the other from screw coils should still buck hum. Do you notice much hum?
 
Re: ideas for extending Jimmy page wiring and switching 50s tone wiring

The coil-swap mod mixes the bridge stud w/neck screw and vice versa. So all positions remain humbucking. I'll try to post a diagram after all the grandkids leave.
 
Re: ideas for extending Jimmy page wiring and switching 50s tone wiring

Just got back from work and checked my guitar. Mine uses the neck screw coil and bridge slug coil in coil plit mode like you describe. I thought it used the 2 slug coils because I saw someone elses do that.

Is the sound with the other 2 coils as a pair very different from these 2 as a pair?
 
Re: ideas for extending Jimmy page wiring and switching 50s tone wiring

KX36 said:
Is the sound with the other 2 coils as a pair very different from these 2 as a pair?
Click to expand...

No, mainly just the bridge slug/neck screw is relevant. However, using both parallel, (Strat quack), or both series, (virtual 3rd humbucker), are very different. Both sounds are worth having.
 
Re: ideas for extending Jimmy page wiring and switching 50s tone wiring

I think I get where you're coming from. If I understand correctly,these are all things I can do already anyway with the standard Page wiring. If I coil split both pickups so i have neck screw, bridge slug, in the middle position the 2 are in parallel, and I can switch them in series.

I have just jotted down a couple of options for separate coil selection when the coils of the pickup are split. One way keeps the polarity of each coil the same as it would be when in a humbucker, the other flips the polarity of one of the coils to select that one, so the phase of the whole pickup remains constant regardless of selection. Both can be accomplished with a switch for coil split and another for coil selection. I expect the former would be more useful, as the magnet isn't flipping in the latter but the coil polarity is, but these things are a bit confusing to check in your head.

This is just one possible option though. It makes the guitar's features pretty single coil heavy and might not give much advantage over the bog standard coil split.

I think some people might read this and wonder why I don't just use a Triple Shot mounting ring. I think I would find the tiny DIP switches impractical for quick changes, but my current idea is just to wire the push-pulls in the same way. That would get me the 42 permutations from the incorrect Gibson description of the #2, plus the option to choose which coil to use when split, and also leave me one pole on each switch to use for something else such as swapping in a different tone cap when in single/parallel coils modes, which might help to fine tune the difference between single and humbucker tone. Perhaps that would help people get around the issues I have sometimes read where people say they like a certain pickup's sound as a humbucker, and they would like to split it, but don't like its tone when split. That would be possible on a standard coil split switch too.

I'm also considering putting a p rails in the neck. It's all moving away from page, but I don't have the page wiring so that I can cover led zeppelin, I have it to get a wider range of tones from a single guitar.
 
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