MAJOR electrical challenge

D

Drycreek

New member
This aint no cupcake folks! I could sure use solid advice? Please!!!!

OK..running three Matsumoku MMK45 pickups (coil tap/split humbuckers)

three on/on mini toggle switches to split the humbuckers

three volume/three tone pots

six way toggle selecter switch

Now here is where it gets sticky......My total comprehensive electrical skills stop at changing a light bulb....That is not an exhageration!!
I am located in Southeastern Oklahoma and would really like to walk into a "super tech" shop and get this thing done.
Went to three shops and the guys ran backwards shaking their heads...Finally drove 75 miles and walked away with a partially functioning piece.
The bad part is ...DONT TELL ME how to fix it it aint happening!!!!!!!!! Im a wood worker, fabricater, kinda sorta painter and a killer BSer......I am NOT an electrician!!
Does anyone know of an electrical wizard within 1,2,300 miles of me?
Your my only Obi Wan Kanobi
Thanks in advance for even reading this post, I really do appreciate it.
If you can come up with an idea to resolve this problem, I swear if you ever need a kidney I'm your donor.
I'm in Armore, Ok. on Hwy 35 1/2 way between Dallas and OKC
THX
Drycreek
 
Re: MAJOR electrical challenge

 
Re: MAJOR electrical challenge

My advice is to change the 3 on-on switches to 3 on-on-on switches and ditch the 6-way switch.
Wire the on-on-on switches to select series/split coil/off or series/parallel/off.
This will give you pretty much any combo you want.
Wire to the volume/tones as usual and tailor the caps to pickup position.

Are the volume/tones stacked pots?
That would save space.

Otherwise, good luck.
 
Last edited:
Re: MAJOR electrical challenge

MojoMonster said:
My advice is to change the 3 on-on switches to 3 on-on-on switches and ditch the 6-way switch.
Wire the on-on-on switches to select series/split coil/off or series/parallel/off.
This will give you pretty much any combo you want.
Wire to the volume/tones as usual and tailor the caps to pickup position.

Are the volume/tones stacked pots?
That would save space.

Otherwise, good luck.
Click to expand...

Uh...did you even read his post??!

You might as well be talking Chinese to him.
 
Re: MAJOR electrical challenge

Drycreek said:
This aint no cupcake folks! I could sure use solid advice? Please!!!!

OK..running three Matsumoku MMK45 pickups (coil tap/split humbuckers)

three on/on mini toggle switches to split the humbuckers

three volume/three tone pots

six way toggle selecter switch

Now here is where it gets sticky......My total comprehensive electrical skills stop at changing a light bulb....That is not an exhageration!!
I am located in Southeastern Oklahoma and would really like to walk into a "super tech" shop and get this thing done.
Went to three shops and the guys ran backwards shaking their heads...Finally drove 75 miles and walked away with a partially functioning piece.
The bad part is ...DONT TELL ME how to fix it it aint happening!!!!!!!!! Im a wood worker, fabricater, kinda sorta painter and a killer BSer......I am NOT an electrician!!
Does anyone know of an electrical wizard within 1,2,300 miles of me?
Your my only Obi Wan Kanobi
Thanks in advance for even reading this post, I really do appreciate it.
If you can come up with an idea to resolve this problem, I swear if you ever need a kidney I'm your donor.
I'm in Armore, Ok. on Hwy 35 1/2 way between Dallas and OKC
THX
Drycreek
Click to expand...

Sorry, I don't mean to be flip when you are trying to get a serious answer. The setup you describe is fairly complex, though. I can see why you're having trouble finding a tech who can/will do this job for you.

If you can find a wiring diagram of what you want, any tech should be able to set this up for you. But having so many switchable paths can make things very complicated, and more connections inside the guitar means more potential points of failure. You have described having three pickups, three mini-toggles, six pots, and a six-way selector switch. I can envision how you might have the pickups feed into the coil tap toggles, then into the tone and volume for each of the three pickups, and from there into the six-way selector switch.

But Holy Momma! That setup would make Jimmy Page blush. It's a lot of controls and wiring to cram into a guitar, which can make things more difficult to arrange. And different types of guitar bodies have different amounts of space available in the control cavities. It may be the case that the techs who've refused to take on this job are either unclear on what it is you want, or are just dubious that you'll be satisfied with the result.

So maybe some simplification is in order. You might want to consider things like using push/pull pots to do the coil tapping instead of using toggles. This doesn't simplify the wiring any, but it might make it easier to fit everything into the available space. You could also think about whether you really need a separate volume for each pickup, or whether a single volume knob would be easier to use. This would limit your flexibility in terms of your ability to mix the pickups, but fewer knobs to tweak may actually be a good thing. Having the kitchen sink at your fingertips isn't always a good thing when your goal is to make some good music.

What I would do is to think about what you are trying to accomplish with this setup so you can talk it through with the tech to figure out the best way to achieve it. Have a two-way discussion about the best set of controls that will accomplish your goals. I'm sure there are techs in your area that can handle the job. Just be sure you are clear about what you want and are open to suggestions about other alternatives.
 
Re: MAJOR electrical challenge

A self-proclaimed guitar tech should not be afraid of using some protoboards and try the stuff out. Actually I think regular repairmen should need to know how to make a Strat or LP type of wiring from scratch without any schematics. I hardly ever use a schematics, for me it's not like LEGO bricks when you use abstract pieces to make something "realistic", you have to understand the signal path at least in an analog fashion.

If I were in your area I'd be glad to help and take a try. From what you've written the only troubled part could be the 6-way switch but can be easily pin-pointed with a DMM.

Having 3pup/3V/3T/3 mini toggle is very simple, altough the number of components might force you into thinking it's darn too complicated. As I said coupling that to a 6-way switch might give a headache or two.
 
Re: MAJOR electrical challenge

Yep, for a technician should be simple, for an engineer to wire this should be as easy as flicking a switch, but for a guitarist having to control all these stuff while playing......there will be no room in his head for music.
 
Re: MAJOR electrical challenge

constant mesh said:
A self-proclaimed guitar tech should not be afraid of using some protoboards and try the stuff out. Actually I think regular repairmen should need to know how to make a Strat or LP type of wiring from scratch without any schematics. I hardly ever use a schematics, for me it's not like LEGO bricks when you use abstract pieces to make something "realistic", you have to understand the signal path at least in an analog fashion.

If I were in your area I'd be glad to help and take a try. From what you've written the only troubled part could be the 6-way switch but can be easily pin-pointed with a DMM.

Having 3pup/3V/3T/3 mini toggle is very simple, altough the number of components might force you into thinking it's darn too complicated. As I said coupling that to a 6-way switch might give a headache or two.
Click to expand...

Absolutelly agree. Lots of controls but very simple design.
What I am not getting is WHAT'S THE ISSUE?.
That nobody wants to wire it or what?
 
Re: MAJOR electrical challenge

The OP didn't mention what kind of guitar this is going into. It can be a major PITA to cram that much wiring into a guitar if you expect everything to still work after you button it all back up, especially if that 6-way is located in a remote spot.

We're also talking about 48 combinations of switch settings here, so maybe the techs are concerned about mundane issues like making sure the different positions are balanced properly. It's one thing to just wire that all up; quite another to make sure it will all work well. I can see where a tech might balk if they want to do a good job and have a satisfied customer that won't be back for a lot of repairs under warranty.

@Drycreek: What kind of guitar is this? Do you have documentation on the 6-way switch? Any pictures of the inside of the control cavities? And what do you mean when you say you ended up with a "partially working piece" - what works/doesn't work according to your expectations?
 
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