umpteenth wiring question

D

dazzlindino

New member
Have a typical strat with 5 way sw 250 pots
putting a hot rail in the bridge position
split the pickup sounds best w a 250K pot
in humbucking mode it sounds best with a 500K
how could one go about this
 
Re: umpteenth wiring question

Here's one way:

To start, the "other" side of a standard 5-way, is used for the tone control connections only for soldering convenience. They will work equally well on the "pickup" side of the switch. So move those connections over, freeing up one side of the 5-way. Now, use a 500k pot, but use the switch to switch in a 500k resistor across the output when in the bridge position. Voila . . . auto-250k.

Let me know if you want a diagram. I know this idea is a bit unconventional, but that's how I roll. :)
 
Re: umpteenth wiring question

ArtieToo said:
Here's one way:

To start, the "other" side of a standard 5-way, is used for the tone control connections only for soldering convenience. They will work equally well on the "pickup" side of the switch. So move those connections over, freeing up one side of the 5-way. Now, use a 500k pot, but use the switch to switch in a 500k resistor across the output when in the bridge position. Voila . . . auto-250k.

Let me know if you want a diagram. I know this idea is a bit unconventional, but that's how I roll. :)
Click to expand...

sounds simple enough, haha, but I likey de pictures!
a diagram would be sweet
so this will make all single coil positions 250K
split the humbucker at 250K
and humbucker at 500K
 
Last edited:
Re: umpteenth wiring question

U leave it 250k, or wire a switch, add an addl. 500k v pot, straight to the jack, bypass the tone pot, and get all that. I get no likes, wtf lazy bastards.

U better like it or not:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=1h_2s_1v_2t_5w

Remove bottom tone pot, move the volume and center tone pot down one space, put a 500k linear taper v pot in top space.
Wire a mini switch to select the split, wire the 250k to the red and white, the 500k to the green, and probably reverse the fender single coil wires in the wiring if necessary, experiment with that, eh?

Wire a second mini switch to select the volume pot u want, positioning the switches and wiring so you can toggle both between single/250k and humbucker/500k by toggling the switches together.
U can also get new sounds by switching in opposite directions. Unparalled sounds with never before heard tonal options, to paraphrase every diploma mill idiot I've ever heard. The 500k load mentioned earlier looks attractive on paper, and would be the choice of most college electronics guys and electricians, but u seem to me to be more like a musician searching for power and flexibility. Thats why u should go through the minor inconvenience, no pain, no gain, lol. In the real world it's not that simple due to tons of variables. You will successfully load your circuit, but it won't work quite the way you want it to... trust me...
It also does not provide a split, nor a means for 250k even if u did split it, Capice? It gives u a load on your humbucker, but not what you're lookin for.
 
Last edited:
Re: umpteenth wiring question

U r assuming that it sounds better w 500k, but that generally applies to full sized humbuckers, no? But I think it is an idea worth trying, let me know what u did and how it turns out.
To demystify this, the tone deals more with the physical magnetic field layout than the magnetic strength, or lack of hum/presence of hum. So even if it's a powerful humbucker as long as it's roughly single coil layout, 250k is good with alnico V hot rails. But its definitely worth a try as I proposed above with the switches. Now does that make f'n sense?
 
Last edited:
Re: umpteenth wiring question

haha, gave u a like
I have tried it with a 500K and 250K vols, on the hotrail, 500K is the way to go humbucking, 250K split
have guitar set up in test mode, so its super ez to change pickups and clip in pots
how about using a push pull 500K pot instead of a sw?
 
Re: umpteenth wiring question

not to highjack this thread but i have a question. i recently bought a beater epiphone junior for $50 and threw in a duncan designed hb105n in it (yes i know its the neck pickup). i removed the pole screws to get a fat single coil sound (it sounds amazing) but that got me to thinking, can i use a separate volume pot for each coil in the humbucker to blend the single coil and humbucker sounds (like the middle position of a les paul)? its a 4 wire pickup. thanks for any input.
 
Re: umpteenth wiring question

Push pulls make a kind of bang when pushing them in, at least the heavier ones. Also u r looking for two functions, one is activate humbucker, the other is to activate the 500k pot. I put them in that order because it's my own thinking in terms of use.
Now hitting two mini switches together is easy, compared to pulling or pushing two knobs, of course u could wire to slam both for 500 and humbucker, with double the clunk on your sound. Or have the drummer hit a kerchak at those times. Its really a matter of preference. Wiring them so that one switch of any kind activates both functions would be too complex for me, and introduces other issues, such as cap values, etc. That's also why I think you're best off wiring humbucker 500k volume direct to jack output, bypassing the tone, try that sound and let me and everyone know how u like it. Hmm, will the combination settings of HB with the singles still work, or will they ground out, if not, how do they sound?
When performing switches are probably easier to operate than rotary switches, in the real world.
 
Last edited:
Re: umpteenth wiring question

The german diagram is good except for one important thing. The bridge pup only in single 250k signature strat mode is missing, no? I think other combinations/options are also lost. Adding another switch to get those features puts the ball back in the other court.

Anyway I didn't say afforded so I didn't puke due to a collegiate marketing reference.

Again, the resistor trick does things in math theory, but we're looking at an entire system here and I don't think weakened output (vs. Switch alt.), tone coloration, and a plethora of other undesirable and potentially life threatening side effects is the goal. Listen to reason, mini switches especially non paddle, are the only sane course of action. You can even hand carve a neon plastic retainer to make them toggle in unison!!!! :)
 
Re: umpteenth wiring question

dazzlindino said:
Have a typical strat with 5 way sw 250 pots
putting a hot rail in the bridge position
split the pickup sounds best w a 250K pot
in humbucking mode it sounds best with a 500K
how could one go about this
Click to expand...

Clear case. You need another Strat.
 
Re: umpteenth wiring question

hamerfan said:
Artie, is that your wiring scheme?

http://www.acys-lounge.de/hss-schaltung.html
Click to expand...

hamer; That looks very close, but it doesn't look quite right. I'm studying it right now, then I'll post my diagram shortly. (If its significantly different.)

Edit: Ok, here's what's odd with that diagram. It's probably not a big deal. I don't read German, but I'm guessing that person has tried this and it works fine. When the humbucker is selected, by itself, the 470k resistor is still in the circuit across the stud coil. Like this:

Odd-HB-split-vol-load.png

Again, probably no big deal, but I'd like to experiment with it.

I found my own diagram of this mod, but I have two versions. Both are untested. Oddly enough, I just acquired my first HSS Strat last week when a customer gave me a brand new Affinity Squier Strat in payment for a wiring job. It's one of these. It's the "upscale" Affinity. Seems to have better tuners than most.

I want to actually try my mods out before I post the diagram. No sense in posting something that may not work as expected. I should have this done this week.

Stay tuna-ed. ;)

Artie
 
Last edited:
Re: umpteenth wiring question

Here is what I am thinking on this:
5 way rotary sw for series / parallel / split on the humbucker
push / pull pot for 500K / 250K
5 way strat style selec sw
so this would give:
position 1: humbucker in series or parallel or split in 500K or 250K
position 2: humbucker in series or parallel or split and middle single coil in 500K or 250K
position 3: middle single coil in 500K or 250K
position 4: middle single coil and neck single coil in 500K or 250K
position 5: neck single coil in 500K or 250K
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top