series/parallel w/3 way switch

[fender_mod]

okay so my next electronics upgrade will feature my 3 pup pbass with a seies/parallel switch in addition to a 3 way on/off/on selector switch, already installed w/no problems, to select between having the neck on, bridge on, or neither on. the traditional p pup will always be on and is not affected by the switch. now i want to add a series/parallel switch to choose between the middle pup being in series/parallel with whatever pup i have selected on. ive done some searching and put together a diagram to show how i think this can be done.

my concerns are:
1. will it work?
2. will my middle pbass pup be affected if i dont have either the neck/bridge pups on
3. will the middle pup's volume pot control the output for both pups when in series?

after what ive read i think it should work and as far as point 3 goes i dont have a problem with that. the main concern is keeping the middle pup problem free. after all, this thing started out as a p bass and i want to be able to keep that tone, hence my current selector switch can cut either of the other 2 pups if i want.

ps. the pots are going to be stacked cocentric w/ tone. i dont think this should change anything just left it out in the diagram for sake of simplicity.

 

[1ManGarageBand]

Re: series/parallel w/3 way switch

Hi Fender mod--

I'm afraid I can't understand your diagram so I don't know if this will help you, but ...

I just drew up this switch wiring for a DPDT on-on-on switch to wire a ClassicStackPlus into the middle between two humbuckers on my tele so I can have the middle OFF/in-series/in-parallel with bridge/neck, whitchever is selected by my 5-way switch (SW in the diagram). I HAVE NOT TRIED IT YET but it looks to me like it should work. (If you're not familiar with DPDT on-on-on internal connections let me know and I'll send a diagram.)

(Ignore the periods; spaces wouldn't work)

.......O---O................OFF
.......|
SW->O....O->Pot Hot...Parallel
..............|
........O....O................Series
........|.....|
........-***+
..........PU

Good luck!

 

[1ManGarageBand]

Re: series/parallel w/3 way switch

fender mod--

I figured out that the switch above won't work--shorts out the pickup in "parallel" mode. Sorry!

 

[Artie]

Re: series/parallel w/3 way switch

fender_mod: The diagram looks fine to me. I see two "odd" things, but that doesn't make them wrong.

1. It looks like you can only have either the bridge or the neck on, but not both at the same time. That means that you don't really need a neck and a bridge volume control. Unless, of course, you want to switch between one on full and the other on half. That kind of thing.

2. You have the middle volume wired in the "conventional" way, with the output taken from the middle. You have the bridge/neck pots wired with the output taken from the end. Again, thats not necessarily wrong, just unusual.

Artie

 

[fender_mod]

Re: series/parallel w/3 way switch

ya my wiring is pretty screwy but hey, whatever gets the job done. i went with the 3 volume control so i could have difference in pup volume and tone so its all good.

im glad to hear this might work. i also figured that i might not get volume im series mode with neither the neck or bridge pup on. ill prolly be playing in parallel most of the time so it shouldn't be a problem. this way i should get my single p bass pup tone i love.

anyone else agree that i wont get volume in series w/no other pups activated? thx for responding to my posts guys!

 

[octavedoctor]

Re: series/parallel w/3 way switch

Redrew it for clarity.

Should work as the series parallel switching works only on the middle pickup so it's not required to switch two pickups simultaneously, but it will have to be in the parallel mode for the middle pickup to work on its own.

Wiring the volume pots as reverse PDs is standard in multiple volume control configuration such as a j bass where you want each vloume to work independently. Although a standard PD offers a better control taper on its own, it wil short out any other control connected to it when its slider reaches ground potential.

You'll get volume control from whichever pickup the middle pickups is linked to.

You won't get anything in series mode with the on/off/on switch in the middle position as the middle pickup has been re-routed through the two outer ones.

You might want to think about a superswitch or something which will give you your most commonly used sounds with the need for complicated double switching. Maybe a modular rotary...

If you're on a windows PC and my drawing doesn't show at full size (i've had some issues with this) try right click > save image/target as and pull the original high res image off the server and open it in your favourite image viewer, whatever.

 

[Artie]

Re: series/parallel w/3 way switch

That drawing shows up great, and looks good too. Nice work.

Artie

 

[octavedoctor]

Re: series/parallel w/3 way switch

Thanks, there is one flaw, where one of my line breaks got displaced to the left under the red line from the selector switch.

 

[fender_mod]

Re: series/parallel w/3 way switch

wow thanks! i appreciate the posts, i try to do as much research as possible on a subject before posting but when in doubt im glad the folks on these forums are able to help me out. thanks again guys!

ps. on my schematic i had a line comming out of the middle pot to the volume jack, in octavedoctor's its comming out of the bridge (far right) volume pot, will this make a difference?

 

[octavedoctor]

Re: series/parallel w/3 way switch

wow thanks! i appreciate the posts, i try to do as much research as possible on a subject before posting but when in doubt im glad the folks on these forums are able to help me out. thanks again guys!

Thanks!

The invoice is in the mail...

on my schematic i had a line comming out of the middle pot to the volume jack, in octavedoctor's its comming out of the bridge (far right) volume pot, will this make a difference?

It doesn't make any difference because all those terminals are connected together, so it doesn't matter if the wire going to the output goes from the relevant terminal on the bridge, middle or neck pot. It's good practice however to take it from the point nearest to the output jack as this reduces the length of the cable run, particularly important if you aren't using screened
wire.

I haven't shown the actual socket on the diagram because it isn't necessary to understanding of the circuit, just as it isn't necessary to show the black wire from the middle pickup actually connecting to the ground wire or a pot, although in practice, that is what you would do, so i simply show this as going to an earth point, represented by the green block with the cross hatched base. I could have shown it going to a pot casing and it would have meant the same thing but involved me in a lot more drawing of lines and line breaks which would have made it more confusing.

A basic principle of schematic drawing is to show only those wires with connections which need to be traced. If all black wires go to ground, for example, it isn't really necessary to show them and only clouds the issue if you do. You can just say "all black wires to ground" and leave them off the diagram. I suppose I could have left off the the green earth wire but I thought it would imply that I had forgotten it, or worse, that I thought it shouldn't be there...

Would it help to upload some of these graphic elements (pots, switches, pickups etc.) to image shack so that anyone who wants to use them to assemble their own ad-hoc circuit schematics can pull them down at will?

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: series/parallel w/3 way switch

What kind of pickups are in the three positions? I think that jazz/pbass/Ebo would be a cool combo and very versatile.

 

[fender_mod]

Re: series/parallel w/3 way switch

What kind of pickups are in the three positions? I think that jazz/pbass/Ebo would be a cool combo and very versatile.

neck: SD quarter pound single coil
middle: dimarzio model P
bridge: dimarzio mode J

i find them to be very versitile w/the 3 way switch i have now, also ill be doing a full sheilding and star grounding too. this series/parallel mod is going to be in conjunction with a preamp ill be installing soon. in the end ill have 3 toggle switches and 10 knobs;

3 way on/off/on pup switch
on/on series parallel switch
on/off preamp bypass switch
3 stacked dual cocentric knobs for volume/tone for each pup, so 6 total
4 mini knobs for 4 band Noll preamp controls

ill post some pics in a few weeks when i get this sucker wired up, ill make sure to include the guts of the bass so everyone can see how crazy me and my guitar are.

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: series/parallel w/3 way switch

HMMMMMMMMMMMMM???? If it was up to me I would just use three concentric pots and three on/off switches.

 

[1ManGarageBand]

Re: series/parallel w/3 way switch

"Would it help to upload some of these graphic elements (pots, switches, pickups etc.) to image shack so that anyone who wants to use them to assemble their own ad-hoc circuit schematics can pull them down at will?"

octavedoctor: YES please!! (whats an "image shack"??)

(Sorry for the diversion, fender mod)

 

[octavedoctor]

Re: series/parallel w/3 way switch

Image Shack provides free online image hosting.

If you want to post an image, you upload it to image shack and post a link to the image.
http://www.imageshack.us/

I'll start uploading some of this stuff tonight then...