Rewiring Jackson KE2: Push/Pull? Need some help

[Objector]

Dear Duncan Enthousiasts,

In all the years I've been playing guitar I never felt the need to change out pickups or mess with the wiring. Unfortunately my beloved KE2 is experiencing some problems with dropping out when I select the neck-pup. Since it needs some work I was thinking of making the guitar more versatile, because I have barely used it since I got a PRS Custom 24. I really like the switching capabilities and would like to incorporate it in my Jackson.

In order to coiltap I need pickups with four conductors. I took a picture of the current wiring of my Jackson and I'm still not sure that both pickups have four conductors. I hope someone can confirm that my pickups (SH-2 and SH-4) are switchable, based on this picture?

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to configurate everything? I've looked up some switching diagrams and it seems that with 2 humbuckers, one volume, one tone, a 3 way switch and 1 or 2 push-pulls, there are multiple possibilities.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Objector]

Rewiring Jackson KE2: Push/Pull? Need some help

No one who can help me?

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Rewiring Jackson KE2: Push/Pull? Need some help

Yes both are 4 conductor. As for the switiching it really depends on what you want to do. Do you just want 1 split? Are you against adding a DPDT switch to your guitar? Have you considered triple shots? They work really well and will give you all the switching options you can dream of. Let us know exactly what sort of switching your looking for then its easier to make some specific recommendations.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Rewiring Jackson KE2: Push/Pull? Need some help

You definitely have 4-con + shield cable.

Look at the tone pot. Green and bare wires soldered to the chassis. Red and white conductors joined together. Black wire to the pickup selector switch.

Yes. There are many wiring possibilities. This is why you must form an opinion of what sounds you would like before committing yourself to a specific circuit.

+1 for Triple Shots. Plenty of possibilities, no wasting of space.

Assuming that the control cavity is deep enough to accommodate push-pull pots, consider adding Phase Reversal and Series/Parallel mode switches. These, combined with Triple Shots, would present just about every possible sound that four coils can generate.

 

[Objector]

Re: Rewiring Jackson KE2: Push/Pull? Need some help

Thanks for the elaborate reply both! First of all I'm glad I have the 4-conductor pickups, as I don't have to invest in other pups.

To be honest I'm just looking for a little more versatile setup and at the moment I'm lacking nice sparkly clean sounds. With my PRS I really like the fact that I can go from full blown metal, to nice glassy cleans for intro's and stuff. I have never played with out-of-phase pickups and to be honest I don't know what to expect.

My initial idea was to install two push-pulls so I can switch both pickups to single coil. The pickup selector switch would enable me to choose what sound to get. I use my bridge pup for my rhythm and lead playing and if I'd split the neck-pup, I could instantly go to a more clean oriented sound by flicking the switch.

Those triple shots look like a very convenient solution, but they look a little bit flimsy/plasticy to me? Or do they look and feel better in person? How easy is rapid switching with those? It will be the first guitar that I work on the electronics and the tripleshots look a whole lot easier than just the regular routing with push/pull pots

More versatile can always come in handy, but I need to admit that I'd probably only use two or three settings. I also use and Axe-Fx II as amp, so I can shape my sound exactly as I want!

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Rewiring Jackson KE2: Push/Pull? Need some help

For the occasional "glassy" clean tone, your best bet might be to simply add series/parallel switching on the JB. I would do this via a push-pull pot for the tone control.

Another feature that your PRS has that the Jackson does not is a Treble Bleed network across two terminals of the volume control.