Spin-a-somethin-ruther

C

Cenulab

New member
Hi all,

Haven't posted in a while, but I do visit frequently and experiment when I can. I recently concocted this variation on the spin-a-split with (IMHO) very cool results! (see link)

http://groups.msn.com/Cenulab/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=2

My favorite spot is at about halfway between full HB and full split; from my PG+ bridge (Strat) I get a very warm, cutting-but-not-harsh tone, maybe p-90-ish. I like the variability for recording, but I could definitely see replacing the pot with a fixed resistor/switch combo for live work.

Hope some of you regulars give this one a try (if you haven't already); I'd love to get some more opinions/suggestions on this little bucker tweaker.

I think what happens is that the second coil is partially routed through the cap as a high-pass filter, but I'm no expert.

Any experts out there?

-Cen
 
Re: Spin-a-somethin-ruther

I think its very cool. I love playing with ideas like this. ;)

Artie
 
Re: Spin-a-somethin-ruther

I see the red and white (coil junction) wires are on two separate lugs instead of together on the middle lug, plus a .001 mf cap across the two non-ground lugs.

That's obviously a different set-up but what does it do different from a regular Spin-A-Split?

And Artie, I'm still waiting for that Adjust-A-Mud diagram...(arms folded, foot tapping)...
 
Re: Spin-a-somethin-ruther

Actually, that's supposed to be a .01 mf cap...(roughly half as thick a "slice" of treble as the commonly used .022mf)

Maybe I mis-labled it? I'm not educated enough to know! :dunce:

...Artie?:notworthy
 
Re: Spin-a-somethin-ruther

It's a spin-a-something...and it is interesting! As you turn the volume from 0 (HB) to 10 (SC), the black/white coil goes closer to ground and is ultimately grounded, and the green/red coil feeds through the high pass into the black/white coil in series and eventually loses signal to ground.

How would you describe the sound as you go through the taper from 0 to 10?
 
Re: Spin-a-somethin-ruther

Actually, I think I drew it backwards, as "10" is full HB, "0" is full split, but anyway...

When rotating from full HB toward split, for the first third of the rotation you can hear the the "girth" of the HB start to decrease; you start to lose some of the lows and low mids. As you turn a little further, you hear a sort of "swell" of the treble/high mids (an increase, that is), but it's not at all harsh or brittle sounding; it's extemely warm and "buttery", for lack of a better term. This effect peaks at about the halfway point in the pot's travel, and as you progress down from there the treble decreases again and you move sonically into more traditional Stratty SC sound (more or less) and finally end up at full split, which although I use ocassionally, is a little too cold/brittle sounding to me (which is what lead to this experiment in the first place). Keep in mind that I'm using a PG+ at the bridge, in this case.

I'm sure you could tailor the effects of this circuit using various caps & resistors; I originally had a .022 cap in series with a 100k resistor, but it just so happens that I'm really happy with the effects of this current set up, and luckily enough it was only my second tweak! I have to attribute the result first and foremost to **** luck!

I'd really like to hear about results from some variations in design and PU choices...I barely have time to PLAY these days, much less tinker!
 
Re: Spin-a-somethin-ruther

Zhangliqun said:
And Artie, I'm still waiting for that Adjust-A-Mud diagram...(arms folded, foot tapping)...
Click to expand...

You need to follow-up on your own posts closer. ;)
I answered this where you last asked. Check post #31:

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=52396&page=2

But to summarize, the "adjustable" part wasn't worth doing. Replacing the pot with a fixed resistor was. Check that thread for the final diagram. :)

Artie
 
Re: Spin-a-somethin-ruther

Cenulab said:
When rotating from full HB toward split, for the first third of the rotation you can hear the the "girth" of the HB start to decrease; you start to lose some of the lows and low mids. As you turn a little further, you hear a sort of "swell" of the treble/high mids (an increase, that is), but it's not at all harsh or brittle sounding; it's extemely warm and "buttery", for lack of a better term. This effect peaks at about the halfway point in the pot's travel, and as you progress down from there the treble decreases again and you move sonically into more traditional Stratty SC sound (more or less) and finally end up at full split . . .
Click to expand...

As I analyzed this a bit more, this makes perfect sense. With the pot at full clockwise and counter-clockwise rotation, you have this:

cenulab01.png


CCW bypasses the cap and gives you full humbucker mode. The resistor is there, but of such a high value as to be negligable. CW gives you full "split" mode. The cap and the adjustable coil are bypassed.

Midway on the pot gets interesting. It would look like this:

cenulab02.png


But thats a little hard to decipher, so lets redraw it as this:

cenulab03.png


Its the exact same thing, just drawn differently. As we can see, we have the parallel combination of R1 and C1 in series with the adjustable coil. That RLC network is in parallel with R2, and that whole mess is in series with the stud coil. So . . . we have the adjustable coil attenuated by R1, but the highs bypass that attenuation via C1, giving us a "portion" of its highs. Those highs are mixed, in series, with the slightly attenuated signal from the stud coil.

As you rotate the pot, R1 increases while R2 decreases . . . and vice-versa.

Artie

(There'll be a test later.) :D
 
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Re: Spin-a-somethin-ruther

Ya know, I like this idea. Just may have to try it out some time.
 
Re: Spin-a-somethin-ruther

As a longe time wiring modder/tweaker, I LOVE stuff like this. Don't know why I haven't tried it yet. Is this similar to the wiring Peavey did in the old T-60? IIRC, ( I'm old and on my way to dementia ) full open on the tone pot was single coil and as you decreased the tone control, it brought it into various degrees of bucking mode. I always thought that was an ingenious design. Wonder why more compaines don't offer this option?

Zhangligun....don't you use this ) or something similar ) with your custom wound Jon Moore humbucker? My Moores are two conductor, ( and staying that way as they sound incredible ) so i'd have to have him wind me some new ones ( aw shucks! ) for the spin-o.

Anyway...sound like a lot of very cool tonal options are available with this wiring.
 
Re: Spin-a-somethin-ruther

Your awesomosity is surpassed only by your Peaveyology.
Click to expand...

:notworthy :yeah:

Artie, your nice-to-newbies :baby: replies to some of my earlier posts (and to the many posts of others) are what got me interested, and ultimately addicted, to all of this fantastic foolishness!

(That's a good thing!):laugh2:

Thanks!

I'm floored that a goofy little circuit I stumbled upon had the privilage of being disected by the one-and-only Artie. And I'm glad that a few of you are inspired by it, as so many of you have inspired me.

OK; enough of that sappy s***! Rock on!!!:D
 
Re: Spin-a-somethin-ruther

One of these days I'll get a life, and then it will all be over. :D

Artie
 
Re: Spin-a-somethin-ruther

teleblooz said:
Zhangligun....don't you use this ) or something similar ) with your custom wound Jon Moore humbucker? My Moores are two conductor, ( and staying that way as they sound incredible ) so i'd have to have him wind me some new ones ( aw shucks! ) for the spin-o.
Click to expand...

Jon Moore's are the best Canadian import there is.

Mine is just wired up to your garden variety Spin-A-Split. Works wonders, though I am very curious about this mod.

You can convert your 2-conductors to 4-conductors if you like, but then again, I want Jon to get plenty of business so go ahead and get another set...
 
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