Lil 59 hum in position 1 when using auto split.

AZ Picker

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So I put a Lil 59 in the bridge slot of a pickguard I had built with a RW/RP aps-2 in the middle and regular Aps 2 in the neck. The wiring is your standard strat 5 way with 1 Vol and 2 tones. Problem is: the Lil59 has full on 60cycle hum like a single coil when I have the red and white wires soldered onto the switch to auto split per Seymours wiring diagram. It's dead quiet in position 2 like it should be but in full humbucker mode its noisy just like the single coils. Removing the red and white wires from the switch gives me dead quiet in position 1 (which is more important actually) but of course I lose the auto split and the resemblance of a typical "pos 2" strat sound. I'm guessing this is probably the realm of the super switch to separate off the ground for the split, but that's just a guess. I figured out early on that I had to remove the Tone control for either the middle or bridge pickup with this setup if I was going to split the 59 so I took the tone off the middle pickup because I hardly ever roll the tone back on the middle pickup. So I have the lower tone pot connected to the bridge only. Any help would be appreciated, as I said the quiet position 1 is the real goal and I have that now. Now it's just bugging me that I can't get it working lol.
 
Re: Lil 59 hum in position 1 when using auto split.

If you could post the diagram and pics of your wiring, it would help get you up and running again!
 
Re: Lil 59 hum in position 1 when using auto split.

Just to clarify, when you remove the Red/white from the switch and leave the tone connected to the black, everything works fine?

Also, you are using one "side" (pole) of the switch for just the auto-split, right? How did you connect this side?
 
Re: Lil 59 hum in position 1 when using auto split.

So I wired it like this but with the red and white connected to the 2nd lug on the same lug as the bridge tone pot. I'm guessing that's the issue, I need to move the tone hookups to the lugs on the other side directly with the pickups lead and have the auto split on its own lug. image.jpg
 
Re: Lil 59 hum in position 1 when using auto split.

And it should be like this... image.jpg but with the rear tone control tied to the bridge.
 
Re: Lil 59 hum in position 1 when using auto split.

Correct, you'll want this one, with the middle tone moved to the bridge.

1SCH_2S_5W_1V_2T_AS.jpg



EDIT - Ha, beat me to it by 30 seconds.

Let us know how it turns out, sounds like a great Strat.
 
Re: Lil 59 hum in position 1 when using auto split.

So I finally got some time to pull the pickguard off the strat, changed the wiring to match the 2nd diagram above EXACTLY. And still have 60 cycle hum in position 2. Position 1 is dead quiet. I even moved the tone off the bridge to the middle as per the diagram. Does anyone have any experience as to which coil the little 59 splits to when using the standard wiring and tying off the red and white wires as per the above diagram ? Mine is splitting to the side where the lead exits the pickup.
 
Re: Lil 59 hum in position 1 when using auto split.

Sorry, have you made a typo or has the hum moved to a different position. Your OP said you had hum in the full humbucker mode, but quiet in the autosplit.
 
Re: Lil 59 hum in position 1 when using auto split.

IIRC, Red+White to Hot typically activates the adjustable coil (closest to bridge for typical bridge humbucker). Autosplit appears to send the R+W to Ground, turning off the coil closest to the bridge.
 
Re: Lil 59 hum in position 1 when using auto split.

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, you are splitting the humbucker to its non-humbucking mode. Dare I suggest that what you are getting is completely "normal", and you just happen to be in non-single-coil friendly environment. (Lots of fluorescent lights, etc.)
 
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Re: Lil 59 hum in position 1 when using auto split.

Lol Artie!! I know, in theory the split coil should be hum cancelling with the RW/RP aps-2 I have in the middle. It's more just something that is annoying me now because I know I should be able to make it work. I'm going to get out the solder wick, clean everything up, and start over, maybe there is a bad solder joint somewhere.
 
Re: Lil 59 hum in position 1 when using auto split.

I had a "duh" moment. :)

I forgot that in the #2 position, you're combining it with the middle. Before you do anything drastic, try connecting the red/white wire to the black wire of the lil 59. See if that's hum-canceling. If so, we can go from there. Sometimes, the Lil series of pups are picky about which coil you split to.
 
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