Two humbuckers: out of phase and in series?

A

Ace Flibble

New member
I've got a Firebird that I'm pretty much entirely rebuilding, and I've come to switching out the pickups. I never use the normal middle position sound of two humbuckers, it does nothing for me; what I usually do is either wire them out of phase or I install a push-push and wire that to make them parallel/series with each other.
What I want to do with this one is have both at once: wire the two pickups out of phase with each other and perminantly in series with each other on the middle selection (it's a standard Gibson 3-way toggle switch; no push-pull or push-push available since the control cavity is already full with a piezo system I've put in). So the bridge selection is the same normal two coils in series,t he neck is the same normal two coils in series, but the middle position has both pickups with everything in series but also the neck out of phase with the bridge.

I'm crap at working out wiring though and can't find any diagrams to follow for this. Does anyone either have a diagram for doing this or can explain in plain, simple English how to do it?
 
Re: Two humbuckers: out of phase and in series?

Sounds like a variation on the Brian May Red Special idea. (Check out the specialist BM Red Special web sites for ideas.)

WARNING: Permanent series connection of the two FB buckers is not compatible with the traditional three-way toggle selector. That new six-way selector that looks like a three-way might do the job.

Personally, I would wire up the passive/magnetic pickups according to the so-called Jimmy Page signature LP circuit.
 
Re: Two humbuckers: out of phase and in series?

I thought about that sort of thing, but my problem is the control cavity is already full - no room for the push-pulls that are needed for Page or May wiring. I'll look into this 6-way switch though.
 
Re: Two humbuckers: out of phase and in series?

Two HB's in series is dark and muddy, and not really usable. To make it work, the neck HB needs to be in coil cut, then what you get is a louder, warmer version of your bridge HB, which is great for solos. Out-of-phase works best when two HB's are in series, as it makes up for the volume drop. All of this is part of the JP system.
 
Re: Two humbuckers: out of phase and in series?

Well yeah, that's exactly what I'm after - two humbuckers out of phase and in series. Seems I can't get it without using extra switches... shame. Think I'll just go for out of phase for now and try series if I ever find that 6-way toggle.

Either way, I don't find that two humbuckers in phase and in series is muddy or unusable. Half my guitars are wired that way already (the other half are wired out of phase & parallel - I've never found any use for the standard in phase and parallel middle position).
 
Re: Two humbuckers: out of phase and in series?

You need a On-off-On switch instead the gibson one. I have a guitar wired as you want, for the same reason.
 
Re: Two humbuckers: out of phase and in series?

I did that exactly with my RG2

upgraded to the Jazz/JB set with Triple-Shots
and a 5way 4 pole superswitch

ended up with

bridge
bridge and neck in series phase reversed
bridge and neck in parallel
bridge and neck in series
neck

as blueman says
the "in series" is like one big muddy pickup
if your doing some really heavy stuff this may be the ticket
and it does clean up a bit when one pickup is split

the in series out of phase is ... well nasal is the best description
if you are looking to stand out in a multi guitar setup then this may be the ticket
it regains its bass and mids if you split one of the pickups

if you would like to view the thread
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=174470

there are pictures and sound clips on page 2
 
Re: Two humbuckers: out of phase and in series?

Ace Flibble said:
I've got a Firebird that I'm pretty much entirely rebuilding, and I've come to switching out the pickups. I never use the normal middle position sound of two humbuckers, it does nothing for me; what I usually do is either wire them out of phase or I install a push-push and wire that to make them parallel/series with each other.
What I want to do with this one is have both at once: wire the two pickups out of phase with each other and perminantly in series with each other on the middle selection (it's a standard Gibson 3-way toggle switch; no push-pull or push-push available since the control cavity is already full with a piezo system I've put in). So the bridge selection is the same normal two coils in series,t he neck is the same normal two coils in series, but the middle position has both pickups with everything in series but also the neck out of phase with the bridge.

I'm crap at working out wiring though and can't find any diagrams to follow for this. Does anyone either have a diagram for doing this or can explain in plain, simple English how to do it?
Click to expand...

You cannot use a standard Gibson 3-way to do series.

You might be able to do it with the 6-way "Free-Way" that Stewmac sells but unfortunately it doesn't come with proper documentation. And it doesn't fit the switch cavity of a LP.
 
Re: Two humbuckers: out of phase and in series?

uOpt said:
You might be able to do it with the 6-way "Free-Way" that Stewmac sells but unfortunately it doesn't come with proper documentation. And it doesn't fit the switch cavity of a LP.
Click to expand...

+1. Rotary switches take up a lot of room, and very few guys know how to wire them up, hence the popularity of push-pulls.
 
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