Useful HHH setup

TVFV

Well-known member
Any ideas for a useful switching system with a blade switch and three pots? The switch can be a three way or a five way.

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Re: Useful HHH setup

I used a 5 way switch with a volume, tone, and neck/bridge blender. Then tried a master spin a split instead of the tone.
 
Re: Useful HHH setup

I'd just go with original Strat wiring, myself:

- 3-way switch
- master volume
- tone knob for two pickups, no tone knob for one pickup

I might add neck-on and bridge-on push-push pots as well...but probably not, as I don't generally use pickups in parallel for anything.
 
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Re: Useful HHH setup

Here's what I say from my own experience:

1-Ditch the middle humbucker, in my experience the middle position tends to sound better with a P90. That doesn't mean a middle humbucker sounds bad, I just prefer a P90 for all the sounds I would be looking for in the middle position.

A 3-way switch is better than a 5-way switch for these applications. The 2 and 4 positions don't sound so great with humbuckers. They are darker and middier than most single coils, so they don't quite have the chime/quack.

G&L PTB wiring is much more effective than standard Strat wiring for the tone controls. A master bass cut and master tone will get any sound you want out of those humbuckers, especially if used in tandem with the volume as a gain control.
 
Re: Useful HHH setup

My suggestion is to use a standard 5-way blade switch with the addition of a push-pull pot to provide an DPDT switch as mode selector. Its a variation on Steve Vai's JEM HSH wiring.


Pot-Down MODE. (All Humbuckers)
1. Bridge HB
2. Bridge HB + Middle HB
3. Middle HB
4. Middle HB + Neck HB
5. Neck HB

Pot-Up MODE. (JEM HSH)
1. Bridge HB
2. Bridge Split(N) + Middle Split(S)
3. Middle Split(S)
4. Middle Split(S) + Neck Split(N)
5. Neck HB
 
Re: Useful HHH setup

I wire three hums with a 3 way. The bridge and neck fuction just normal with a MV and a MT. The middle is on it’s own volume that can blend in at any position.
 
Re: Useful HHH setup

I wire three hums with a 3 way. The bridge and neck fuction just normal with a MV and a MT. The middle is on it’s own volume that can blend in at any position.

Does the middle pickup work alone if its volume is up, and the volume for the other two pickups is down?
 
Re: Useful HHH setup

The pickups are two Cool Rails in the neck and middle and a 59/Custom in the bridge.
 
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