Spin-a-Split questions

G

GreatGreen

New member
Hey guys, I'm thinking about wiring my Les Paul so that I'll sacrifice two volume controls for a single master volume for both pickups, and a Spin-a-Split control for my Neck humbucker. I'm still planning on giving each humbucker its own tone control. Here's the final plan.

Bridge Pickup controls:
---Master Volume (push pull pot to switch from bridge humbucker to bridge single coil)
---Bridge Tone

Neck Pickup controls:
---Master Volume (push pull pot to switch from bridge humbucker to bridge single coil)
---Neck Spin-a-Split
---Neck Tone


So, I have a few questions about this:

1a. Is it possible to wire in both a Spin-a-Split and a Tone control to a single humbucker?
1b. Is it possible to do this with no loss in tone, assuming the Spin-a-Split pot is a no-load tone control that completely removes itself from the circuit?

2a. Is it possible to wire the Neck pickup Spin-a-Split mod so that the screw coil is always on, and the slug coil is the coil that slowly blends in and out?
2b. Is it possible to wire the Neck pickup Spin-a-Split mod like this and keep the humbucker in phase with the bridge humbucker?
 
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Re: Spin-a-Split questions

Thanks for the quick reply. :)

I guess to be more clear, what I meant to ask was if the Seymour Duncan spin-a-split wiring schematic posted on the website was already setup to fade the slug coil in and out while the screw coil stays fully engaged.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/the-tone-garage/guitar-wiring-explored-the-spin-a-split-mod

As far as splitting humbuckers goes, I’ve always preferred the sound of the outer coil over the inner coil so as long as the existing schematic is setup that way, I should be able to pretty much follow it to the letter.
 
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Re: Spin-a-Split questions

Thanks!

So, for bridge pickups, pairing the green and black wires in the middle activates the screw coil.


What about for neck pickups though? Is it the same or is it backwards? What wire combo needs to be connected to the middle peg of the push pull pot to activate the screw coil of the neck pickup?
 
Re: Spin-a-Split questions

It's the same.

I also recommend a 50k no load pot for the spin a split because it tapers well. 250k or 500k don't split much until down to 2 on the dial.
 
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Re: Spin-a-Split questions

Thanks for the tip about the 50K pot, didn’t know that.

Sorry, when you say it’s the same, do you mean that routing [black to hot, white to ground] will always activate the *screw* coil on both bridge and neck pickups, or will it always activate the the *north* coil?
 
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Re: Spin-a-Split questions

Red to hot, white to ground, and green and black to the spin a split will leave the screw/outside coil active for a neck or bridge pup.
 
Re: Spin-a-Split questions

GreatGreen said:
Hey guys, I'm thinking about wiring my Les Paul so that I'll sacrifice two volume controls for a single master volume for both pickups, and a Spin-a-Split control for my Neck humbucker. I'm still planning on giving each humbucker its own tone control. Here's the final plan.

Bridge Pickup controls:
---Master Volume (push pull pot to switch from bridge humbucker to bridge single coil)
---Bridge Tone

Neck Pickup controls:
---Master Volume (push pull pot to switch from bridge humbucker to bridge single coil)
---Neck Spin-a-Split
---Neck Tone


So, I have a few questions about this:

1a. Is it possible to wire in both a Spin-a-Split and a Tone control to a single humbucker?
1b. Is it possible to do this with no loss in tone, assuming the Spin-a-Split pot is a no-load tone control that completely removes itself from the circuit?

2a. Is it possible to wire the Neck pickup Spin-a-Split mod so that the screw coil is always on, and the slug coil is the coil that slowly blends in and out?
2b. Is it possible to wire the Neck pickup Spin-a-Split mod like this and keep the humbucker in phase with the bridge humbucker?
Click to expand...


In the diagram I use for spin-a-split, it replaces the tone control. I only use spin-a-split for the neck slot, as I have never had a need in my life to reduce treble on a neck pickup. Spin-a-split gets you all the way down to one coil, so there's no need for a coil split push-pull too.

I wanted to do something similar to what you're proposing, with the goal of adding a lot of tone options at a low cost with simple wiring, and came up with this combination of mods:

Blueman 5 Mod Combo

1 – Both volume pots – Independent volume controls. Switch the lugs on the volume pots for where the hot pickup wire and the hot toggle wire go to. This allows for blending any increment of both pickups. Gives many more tone options. No cost.

2 - Bridge Volume Pot – Kinman Treble Bleed Mod. Preserves high-end when rolling down the volume pot. It’s a cap & resistor wired in series; an improved treble bleed because it doesn’t get too bright and thin at low volumes, nor does it change the pot’s sweep. Cost in parts $1.

3 – Bridge Tone Pot – Push-pull for coil split. This leaves the slug coil on during coil split. Duncan wire color codes: black is hot, green and bare are ground, and red & white are paired together for the push-pull. Cost: under $10.

4 – Neck Tone Pot – Spin-a-Split – This turns the tone pot into a 2nd neck volume pot, but for one coil only. This allows you to dial from full humbucker down to coil split, and everything in between, which is where the magic is. By dialing down the volume of the one coil, treble is added and mids are thinned out, giving a clearer, cleaner tone and eliminates any mud. You can get any increment of unbalanced coils. No cost.

5 – Neck Volume Pot – Change hot wire. When Spin-a-Split is dialed all the way down, this will leave the neck screw coil on. When combined with slug coil of the bridge pickup, in the middle position this creates a ‘virtual humbucker’ (bridge slug coil + neck screw coil) like a Strat in positions 2 & 4. Softer and not as loud as full humbucker, and not as harsh and thin as coil split. Duncan wire color codes: red is hot, white and bare are ground, and black & green are paired together for the Spin-a-Split pot. No cost.

Diagrams for each can be found separately online.
 
Re: Spin-a-Split questions

Ok, I've come up with a wiring diagram. Anybody want to help me proof it to make sure I didn't make any horrible mistakes... and that it's actually going to do what it's intended to do?

Ok here's the plan...

- 1 Master Volume control, with push / pull that splits the bridge coil (activates slug, turns off outer screw coil)
- 1 Spin-a-Split for the neck pickup that leaves the screw coil on and slowly fades out the slug coil
- 2 Tone controls


Components in order of signal chain for each pickup:

- Bridge Controls:
1a. Push Pull coil split selector (splits to slug coil active)
1b. Bridge Tone
2. Pickup Selector
3. Master Volume
4. Output

- Neck Controls:
1a. Spin-a-Split (splits to screw coil active)
1b. Neck Tone
2. Pickup Selector
3. Master Volume
4. Output


jnPE97I.png


edit: forgot the neck pickup ground wire, woops. Corrected.
 
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Re: Spin-a-Split questions

You only need a master volume and master tone. Two tone controls on a two pickup guitar are redundant since they both affect both pickups (assuming you have both pickups selected). That’s now my LP was setup. I also rewired the volumes to be independent.

I never split humbuckers. I prefer series/parallel switches.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: Spin-a-Split questions

Each humbucker has only a single dedicated tone control. I like the idea of a single master volume with a dedicated tone control for each pickup.

If you look at the schematic, you can see that the tone controls are wired between the pickups and pickup selector switches, which means each tone control only affects one pickup.

The neck humbucker has a spin-a-split and tone control, but those pots do two separate things. The spin-a-split is effectively a volume knob for one of the two coils, and the tone pot is a high cut control for everything coming out of the neck humbucker.


Also, hey Clint 55... I'm curious about that 50K pot you mentioned. I'm having a hard time finding a 50K long shaft pot that will fit a Les Paul. Do you know where I might be able to get one? Also, you mentioned going with a 50K pot due to a more gradual sweep between the pickups. I'm having trouble finding a 50K pot but I can find 25K pots.

This might be a weird question, but do you know at what "K" value the single coil will start to fade out on the control? In other words, what will the fade from humbucker to single coil be like if I use a 25K pot?
 
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Re: Spin-a-Split questions

So I'm still just a bit confused about the math here. Does the "K" value affect the volume or the highest frequencies the pickup can output? Because it seems like it affects both, seeing how moving from a 500K to a 250K pot will reduce highs.

This logic implies that using a 50K or 25K pot then would attenuate a ton of highs from the coil it's rolling in and out of the signal. Does this happen?
 
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Re: Spin-a-Split questions

I'm not sure. It's the only way for a spin o split to actually function tho.
 
Re: Spin-a-Split questions

This may not answer your question, but I can confirm from experience that a regular 500k pot doesn't really "split" the pickup until it is almost all the way off.
 
Re: Spin-a-Split questions

Ok thanks for confirming that then.

Last question. Spin-a-split pot... 50K linear or audio taper. Which will sound the smoothest?
 
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