Series/Parallel switch has been impossible to install so far :(

[Dambass]

:angryfire Hey folks, this is the situation: the guitar has 2 P90's, (With a hot, ground and bare wires) a 3-way selector switch, 1 Vol, 1 tone, Both are push/pull, one of them is for Out Of Phase mod (Done) and the other one was supposed to be for series/parallel connection for both pickups, i use the only 2 schematics that seem to be right that i found on the internet (Attached) and neither of those worked :angryfire What could be wrong here? i got out of options, i know i could use a 4 way switch to get the parallel/series option but that wasn't the original idea. Thanks a lot



[url=https://flic.kr/p/Yn4Vhz]https://flic.kr/p/Yn4Vhz

 

[GourmetSaint]

Re: Series/Parallel switch has been impossible to install so far

The Seymour Duncan has a large selection of wiring diagrams for download. Have you tried there?

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

 

[freefrog]

Re: Series/Parallel switch has been impossible to install so far

:angryfire Hey folks, this is the situation: the guitar has 2 P90's, (With a hot, ground and bare wires) a 3-way selector switch, 1 Vol, 1 tone, Both are push/pull, one of them is for Out Of Phase mod (Done) and the other one was supposed to be for series/parallel connection for both pickups, i use the only 2 schematics that seem to be right that i found on the internet (Attached) and neither of those worked :angryfire What could be wrong here? i got out of options, i know i could use a 4 way switch to get the parallel/series option but that wasn't the original idea. Thanks a lot.

Hi,

The two schematics that you've posted are correct.

The problem might be how P90's are grounded. EDIT: your post mentions P90's with "hot, ground and bare" so I'll assume that each pickup is fitted with a 3 conductors cable. If ever it's not the case, I'll correct again my hasty attempt to help.

Personnaly, I'd check the inner wiring of your P90's. We need each of them to have a real 3 conductors cable: one wire must be soldered to one end of the coil. A second wire must be soldered to the other end of the coil. Those two wires coming from the two ends of the coil are those to connect to the poles of the push pull pots. The third wire must be soldered alone to the baseplate in each PU and must go to ground, separately from the others.
If ever the ground and bare are touching each others (or even if they have been soldered together to the baseplates in the pickups by a careless operator), unwanted short cuts between coil and ground are to expect and might explain your problem.

"More later" if necessary...

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Series/Parallel switch has been impossible to install so far

What precisely didn't work? If you have a separate out of phase switch, that and the pickup selector switch could interfere with your series wiring of the pickups, depending on what it's set to when you are trying it and how it's all connected in the first place. So we'd need to see the whole wiring harness you are talking about.

 

[Dambass]

Re: Series/Parallel switch has been impossible to install so far

What precisely didn't work?

Thanks for asking and sorry i didn't specify: The problem is that the parallel or series effect is not there, also when you select position 1 and 2 (Bridge pup and both pups on a 3-way switch) both pickups keep always working, i mean in position 1, Where neck pickup should be off, it's actually on.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Series/Parallel switch has been impossible to install so far

Sounds like either your series link is the default rather than parallel, or your switch has a bent blade that is staying in contact in position 1.

 

[freefrog]

Re: Series/Parallel switch has been impossible to install so far

Thanks for asking and sorry i didn't specify: The problem is that the parallel or series effect is not there, also when you select position 1 and 2 (Bridge pup and both pups on a 3-way switch) both pickups keep always working, i mean in position 1, Where neck pickup should be off, it's actually on.

The good news is that your P90's appear to feature "real" 3 conductors cables. Usually, when I have to struggle with P90's in series/parallel and/or OOP, it involves unseen short-cuts to ground. Hence my first answer -but I'm glad to have been wrong since such problems can be difficult to detect and to solve.

I agree with beaubrummels; when the pickups are in series, it's normal to have them working together even when the bridge PU is selected alone...

Regarding the pots: a bent blade is possible... and all push pull pots are not created equal when it comes to quality. It might be useful to check them with a multimeter (pot pushed: the center poles must be connected to the bottom ones only ; pot pulled: the center poles must be connected to the upper ones only).

Good luck..

 

[AlexR]

Re: Series/Parallel switch has been impossible to install so far

A lot of those schemes with series parallel switches for middle position have issues with other positions being compromised.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Series/Parallel switch has been impossible to install so far

What you are experiencing is to be expected if your p/p switch is set for series.

When your pups are in series, you will have both on in every 3-way switch position because they are linked together like one humbucker pup...you can't have them separate. It's a different story when they are in parallel because the pups are acting separately.

In order for you to have the pups play separately when the p/p is set to series you would need a Strat type switch. It won't work with a 3-way toggle.