New? HSH wiring diagram - Fat tap with bypass on positions 2 and 4

Superstrat

New member
I've wired my HSH ibanez with a push/pull tone switch to fat tap or 'tuned coil split' the humbuckers. This means that when the tone pot is pulled up, the inner coil of the humbuckers goes to ground (like a coilsplit) but via a capacitor which causes the inner humbucker coil to retain some of its bass tones. this also lessens the volume drop of splitting a humbucker, prevents an overly bright single coil sound (due to the 500k pots) and retains most of the hum cancelling properties.
This is nothing new and I'm sure there are tons of posts about it. I have however also wired the humbuckers to split and bypass the capacitors straight to ground in positions 2 and 4 of the 5 way pickup selector. this causes a single bridge/neck coil and the middle coil to work together like a strat in positions 2 and 4 but without any input from the inner coils of the humbuckers, this is called autokill. again this is nothing new and many people do this to their HSH setups.
The thing that I think is unique about my wiring diagram is that I have done both tuned coil splitting and autokill using a single push pull switch depending on which position the pickup selector is in.
with the tone pot pushed down: with tone pot pulled up:
position 1 = bridge humbucker
position 2 = bridge humbucker + middle single coil
position 3 = middle single coil
position 4 = neck humbucker + middle single coil
position 5 = neck humbucker

with tone pot pulled up:
Position 1 = tuned coil split bridge humbucker
Position 2 = coil split bridge single coil + middle single coil
Position 3 = middle single coil
Position 4 = coil split neck single coil + middle single coil
Position 5 = tuned coil split humbucker

that's a total of 9 distinct pickup combinations from 1 5 way pickup selector and 1 push/pull pot, not bad right?
I've not seen this before and if its not been done then I'd love to call it 'Super Gisby' wiring after my Dad who gave me a love of HSH guitars. if it has been done then someone let me know.
.
capacitor 1 should have a value of 0.022uf
capacitor 2 is to 'tune' the splitting of the bridge humbucker, for vintage alnico 2 style pickups I would recommend 0.0047uf, for medium output 8k-12k I recommend 0.01uf and for hot modern humbuckers I'd go with 0.022uf especially for trebley JBs and the like.
capacitor 3 is to 'tune' the splitting of the neck humbucker for vintage and medium output pickups up to 10k I would recommend 0.047uf capacitors, for hot pickups over 10k I would recommend 0.01uf capacitors. I don't recommend 0.022uf for capicitor 3 as it makes even very hot necks muddy when split.

Lastly, for seymour duncan pickups please change my colours:
Red > Black
Green > White
White > Red
Black > Green
supergisby wiring.jpg
 
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Re: New? HSH wiring diagram - Fat tap with bypass on positions 2 and 4

Neat idea, but could I suggest using a resistor instead of a cap? I use 4k7 resistors to do the same thing and to me it sounds more like a single coil. It's really just a preference thing, but most people I've met that do partial splits prefer resistors.
 
Re: New? HSH wiring diagram - Fat tap with bypass on positions 2 and 4

Yeah absolutely. I've not tried resistors but I know many do and may do myself in the future. I'm wondering if anyone has ever combined a tuned split with a full split for positions 2 and 4 before in one push/pull?
 
Re: New? HSH wiring diagram - Fat tap with bypass on positions 2 and 4

I've never seen it. I know for my guitars at least, for an HSH setup I never use one of the humbucker split without the middle pickup, so I have no use for it. But I like to keep my wirings simple, with minimal switches. Some other people may have tried it though.
 
Re: New? HSH wiring diagram - Fat tap with bypass on positions 2 and 4

What are the tuned split sounds like?
 
Re: New? HSH wiring diagram - Fat tap with bypass on positions 2 and 4

What are the tuned split sounds like?

I have a 16k alnico V hot bridge humbucker split via a .022uf cap and it has a very stratty bridge sound but a bit beefier and with hum cancelling properties. I'd say it sounds somewhere between a fender single coil and a P-90 which I really dig.
My neck pickup is 13k overwound modern PAF alnico V humbucker and splits via a 0.01uf cap. Its very clear and chimey when split but not overly trebley and cuts through the mix a bit better than your standard neck humbucker. again it has hum cancelling properties. its not dissimilar to a true single coil in the neck but I wouldn't say its the same. both have a lot more mids than a humbucker when split.

I also really like using the full bridge humbucker with the middle single pickup (selector position 2, tone pot pushed down). Its very loud and full on with all 3 coils going. It keeps that humbucker bridge hotness for killer lead lines but the extra middle pickup simultaneously drives the sound and rounds it out reducing any shrillness.
 
Re: New? HSH wiring diagram - Fat tap with bypass on positions 2 and 4

this also gives you the option to have the humbucker split when used with middle position or use the full humbucker and the middle position, effectively making a very ballsy triple coil. I'm with you on splitting with the middle, I get some great claptonesque sounds out of something that looks like a shredder. The HSH setup is so versatile allowing you to switch between strat and les paul configurations, there are some real gems out there
 
Re: New? HSH wiring diagram - Fat tap with bypass on positions 2 and 4

I've never seen it. I know for my guitars at least, for an HSH setup I never use one of the humbucker split without the middle pickup, so I have no use for it. But I like to keep my wirings simple, with minimal switches. Some other people may have tried it though.

this also gives you the option to have the humbucker split when used with middle position or use the full humbucker and the middle position, effectively making a very ballsy triple coil. I'm with you on splitting with the middle, I get some great claptonesque sounds out of something that looks like a shredder. The HSH setup is so versatile allowing you to switch between strat and les paul configurations, there are some real gems out there
 
Re: New? HSH wiring diagram - Fat tap with bypass on positions 2 and 4

Good stuff. I love my HSH. The neck split quit working and I might have to try a cap when I go back in there!
 
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