Optimal way to wire stacked strat pickups?

[Roadhouse]

Hello!

I want to know how the stacked "singlecoils" are meant to be wired? I am planning to build an HSS with stacked singles in.

Some people say you should not autosplit them in between positions and if not, how will that work in position 2 with a humbucker?

For the build I am thinking: Custom custom bridge, Classic stack mid, vintage hot stack neck.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jeremy]

i experimented with autosplits with the cs+ pups. i found there wasnt enough difference to make it worth it for me. i think they sound great wired as a stack so on my next guitar didnt bother with the splits

 

[ErikH]

Same with me. I have 2 Classic Stack Pluses with a Whole Lotta Humbucker in the bridge. I didn’t bother with auto splitting in position 2 with either. The sound of that position sounds great as it is in my setup.

 

[Mincer]

I wouldn't bother with the splits unless you wanted to auto split it along with an auto split humbucker, so it would still be hum-cancelling. If wiring it with other single stacks, I wouldn't bother with the splits.

 

[Roadhouse]

Thank you for the replies! This will make everything a whole lot easier But it feels strange wiring everything in series since I am used to split everytime I mix humbuckers and singles xD

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

I have a Tele with a Little 59 humbucker in the bridge and a Vintage Stack in the neck.

Coil splitting the bridge has the expected results, but coil splitting the neck, leaving the upper, "north", coil active actually makes the pickup slightly louder. Others who have tried this would concur, and advised me so when I bought the pickups last year.

I have my suspicions why this might be the case, but will keep those to myself until such times as I disect the pickup.

Of course if you coil split to the upper coil you'll lose the hum canceling effect of the lower coil.

I suspect, repeat suspect, if you coil split to the lower coil you'll get a much weaker output, if only because the radius from the string neutral position to the coil effectively doubles. Double the radius and the output falls to a quarter, I believe.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

What you might want to consider as an alternative is using the humbucker in coil split mode, a single coil neck, and a single coil (maybe RWRP- I'll have to look into it) middle.

The humbucker, of course, hum cancels if not split in P1. If you split it it becomes a single coil with no hum canceling, of course.

In P2 if the polarities and windings are matched correctly you'll get hum canceling as well. Half or thereabouts canceled with the bridge not split, fully or there abouts canceled split, I believe. P4 likewise but with two single coils.

In P3 you won't get hum canceling, of course, because you'll only have the one single coil pickup active.

I'm wondering now, if you really wanted to, whether you could wire in either an extra dummy coil or some sort of Frankenstein RWRP stacked coil in the middle, which auto defeats the second coil except in P3...

 

[Mincer]

I've done it with a
Stacked single neck
True Single middle
Humbucker

I had all positions humbucking by

Neck
Neck (1 coil) with middle
bridge (1 coil) with neck (1 coil)
Middle with bridge (1 coil)
Bridge

The neck had to be rw/rp, and I used a Schaller MegaSwitch.

 

[CaptainWhizz]

What about:

1. bridge series
2. bridge parallel & middle stack
3. middle stack
4. middle stack & neck stack
5. neck stack

?

I have a Strat with a switch to add the bridge pickup to positions 4 and 5, I have wondered about putting a JB jr in the bridge wired in series for positions 1 and 2, but having the switch add it in parallel to positions 3, 4, and 5.