Pickup Wiring Help Needed

[cmac]

Hello all!

I have a quick question, I want to wire 2 separate pickups to an on/off/on 3 way slider switch, something like a pickup selector deal, so that I can switch between the 2 pickups like such A/off (neither)/B.

How exactly would this be wired, where would the hot go/what will go to the volume/tone, and is this possible with DP3T type switch?

Thanks!

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

Re: Pickup Wiring Help Needed

Hello all!

I have a quick question, I want to wire 2 separate pickups to an on/off/on 3 way slider switch, something like a pickup selector deal, so that I can switch between the 2 pickups like such A/off (neither)/B.

How exactly would this be wired, where would the hot go/what will go to the volume/tone, and is this possible with DP3T type switch?

Thanks!

Yes, it is possible with a on-off-on DPDT switch.

 

[cmac]

Re: Pickup Wiring Help Needed

Hey thanks a lot! So, it would be easier to achieve this with a DPDT instead of a DP3T? And the wire coming off of the middle lug of the switch, is that a specific wire or just something used to bridge the gap between the switch and volume?

Again thanks for the help!

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Pickup Wiring Help Needed

What is a DP3T? I don't believe I have seen one. What are its positions and connections?

 

[Artie]

Re: Pickup Wiring Help Needed

I just did this in another thread. Let me see if I can find it.

The left one would be N/off/B. The right one N/Both/B.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Pickup Wiring Help Needed

That doesn't seem like a DP3T to me. Each pole should have three separate connections it could make. Seems like you'd need a blade or rotating switch for that. Which lugs are the poles and which are the throws?

 

[Artie]

Re: Pickup Wiring Help Needed

Yeah . . . those slide switches have always been a gray area for me as far as DPDT, DP3T, etc. goes. I was more answering the OP's original question.

Here's an example where Switchcraft themselves, call that a DP3T switch: https://www.etronic-parts.com/Guitar-parts/Guitar-Switches/Slide-Switch-DP3T-on-on-on::1142.html

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

Re: Pickup Wiring Help Needed

Yeah . . . those slide switches have always been a gray area for me as far as DPDT, DP3T, etc. goes. I was more answering the OP's original question.

Here's an example where Switchcraft themselves, call that a DP3T switch: https://www.etronic-parts.com/Guitar-parts/Guitar-Switches/Slide-Switch-DP3T-on-on-on::1142.html

Ahh, thanks for the clarification. Yes, a DP3T does seem like a completely different animal than an "on-off-on". I saw "on-off-on" mentioned in the OP's original post and ran fwd based on that.

 

[cmac]

Re: Pickup Wiring Help Needed

Thanks for the diagrams!

 

[cmac]

Re: Pickup Wiring Help Needed

Yeah slide switches seem to be quiet the animal... however, no matter the toggle switch (strat/lp/tele style) I always seem to bump them and change positions with my erradic strumming pattern. Because of this, I was wondering if I could replace this toggle switch with a slide switch.. who knows we'll see

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

Re: Pickup Wiring Help Needed

.. who knows we'll see

ArtieToo's earlier reply with the diagrams gives you what you need for a DP3T. You are all set.

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

Re: Pickup Wiring Help Needed

I just did this in another thread. Let me see if I can find it.

The left one would be N/off/B. The right one N/Both/B.

Artie,

Your two diagrams ended up stacking top and bottom instead of left and right. Can you clarify which one is the Bridge/No output/Neck diagram that the OP requested?

 

[cmac]

Re: Pickup Wiring Help Needed

Artie,

Your two diagrams ended up stacking top and bottom instead of left and right. Can you clarify which one is the Bridge/No output/Neck diagram that the OP requested?

Kingswebe,
on a computer the images are shown next to each other, so the first of his images would be on the left, and the second would be the image on the right!

 

[cmac]

Re: Pickup Wiring Help Needed

My official plan is, to have 3 strat pickups, and 3 hot rail pickups, and each pair (strat & hot rail), will have a three way switch to select if either is on. The picture will help describe this...



Essentially, you'd have strat and humbucker circuits, but because of the off selection for each switch, you can still just achieve a bridge humbucker, strat neck, single coil neck + bridge humbucker, etc.

If I'm crazy, tell me

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Pickup Wiring Help Needed

It's the same idea as Brian May's guitar, but instead of selecting coils he selects which pup is on and whether it is in or out of phase with the other pups.

Your diagram is perfectly clear and will work as you intend.

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

Re: Pickup Wiring Help Needed

It's the same idea as Brian May's guitar, but instead of selecting coils he selects which pup is on and whether it is in or out of phase with the other pups.

Your diagram is perfectly clear and will work as you intend.

Won't the magnet fields of each pickup in the pair interfere with the other, given that the two pickups are so close in proximity to each other? Especially with one of the pair having its magnets topside in the polepieces.

I thought i have seen threads in this forum that have said this is the reason why you don't see humbuckers made out of two singecoil type pickups slapped together (?)


EDIT: found one example: https://forum.seymourduncan.com/sho...wo-single-coils-in-a-humbucker-slot-in-bridge

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Pickup Wiring Help Needed

Yeah . . . those slide switches have always been a gray area for me as far as DPDT, DP3T, etc. goes. I was more answering the OP's original question.

Here's an example where Switchcraft themselves, call that a DP3T switch: https://www.etronic-parts.com/Guitar-parts/Guitar-Switches/Slide-Switch-DP3T-on-on-on::1142.html

Well, I'm still not so sure about that slider. I'd have to measure each lug and position with a meter. I can see that it has 3 positions, but I can't see how it could possibly be 3 throws. By definition, to be a 3T switch each pole needs to have a separate connection to each of those throws. I just don't see how any of the lugs of that slider can have a separate electrical connection to three other lugs. Sometimes people (even manufacturers) get the terms "throws" and "positions" mixed up. That slider has 3 positions, but it can't have 3 throws.