Clover3810
New member
I am going to try this anyway. Could be fun. I need a experimental guitar though. I'll work on that for now.
Variable Series/Parallel with a Pot?
- Thread starter strangeloop
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Artie
Peaveyologist
Cool. Let us know how it comes out. All my "attempts" were purely on paper.
Gstring
New member
The Washburn VCC (Voice Contour Control) on the Washburn WI66 PRO has 2 dual 500k linear pots which varies the linkage from series HB to parallel HB. These are Instead of tone controls.
I own 2 of these excellent guitars but found the blend too subtle to be of use ,The tendency was to have it full on one or the other .
The dual pots were replaced as were the vol pots with push pulls
I have the Washburn VCC wring diagram somewhere which I will post if there is any interest
I own 2 of these excellent guitars but found the blend too subtle to be of use ,The tendency was to have it full on one or the other .
The dual pots were replaced as were the vol pots with push pulls
I have the Washburn VCC wring diagram somewhere which I will post if there is any interest
Yes this is true, one of my best friends has that Washburn and it works as advertised. As g-string notes, the effect is very subtle, and I think that has a lot to do with the Washburn pickups.. I've always wanted to try this with pickups that are heavily changed when they move from series to parallel and I would very much like to see that diagram!
Artie
Peaveyologist
Me too.
freefrog
Well-known member
I had the VCC schematic as a .jpg file but it seems to be corrupted... :-/ [AND the pic loader doesn't work no more for me here anyway : when I try to upload a .jpg, the box tells me that an URL link is missing! The "Upload attachments" doesn't work either: I receive an ERROR message...]
There's some info here, though: https://music-electronics-forum.com/...es-to-parallel
There's some info here, though: https://music-electronics-forum.com/...es-to-parallel
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Gstring
New member
"Yes this is true, one of my best friends has that Washburn and it works as advertised. As g-string notes, the effect is very subtle, and I think that has a lot to do with the Washburn pickups.. I've always wanted to try this with pickups that are heavily changed when they move from series to parallel "
zionstrat
Stock pick ups on the W166PRO and similar Korean made models were SDs A 59 in the neck and a Custom Custom in the bridge.
Rightly or wrongly (as I had 2) I (literally) swapped those on one guitar for a JB and an Al pro 2 (original not the Slash)
Both guitars are also wired different.
zionstrat
Stock pick ups on the W166PRO and similar Korean made models were SDs A 59 in the neck and a Custom Custom in the bridge.
Rightly or wrongly (as I had 2) I (literally) swapped those on one guitar for a JB and an Al pro 2 (original not the Slash)
Both guitars are also wired different.
That's an interesting diagram and on-paper and theoretically it looks like it should work. I don't know enough about circuit electronics to know why some things work or don't work, but I know from experience that sometimes a simple diagram that should work just doesn't, or it doesn't work very well or efficiently. I'd love to actually see/hear this circuit in action (I'm too busy with so many other things right now that I can't do this myself). Some people who have a guitar wired this way have said that the effect is very subtle. It shouldn't be! There is a big difference between pups in series or parallel. Therefore there must be something else going on that I don't personally understand.
Gstring
New member
Guitar Doc
Thanks for that post. Just to clarify the difference between series and parallel is distinct . Its just that the 'blends' in between were not IMO that usable . I experimented with the VCC and having no tone controls for around 18 months and concluded there were better configurations .
Thanks for that post. Just to clarify the difference between series and parallel is distinct . Its just that the 'blends' in between were not IMO that usable . I experimented with the VCC and having no tone controls for around 18 months and concluded there were better configurations .
Artie
Peaveyologist
The Washburn VCC isn't bad. It's probably the best version of this scheme that I've seen or drawn. But it still has issues that must be considered.
In parallel mode, there's 500k in parallel with the humbucker, which would make a 500k volume pot sound like a 250k.
In series there's 500k in parallel with each coil and in series with each other, which is equivalent to 1 meg in parallel with the whole pickup. This will make a 500k volume pot act like a 333k pot.
The "in-between" configuration . . . I don't feel like doing the math for.
This probably wouldn't be too bad with a high output, bright humbucker.
In parallel mode, there's 500k in parallel with the humbucker, which would make a 500k volume pot sound like a 250k.
In series there's 500k in parallel with each coil and in series with each other, which is equivalent to 1 meg in parallel with the whole pickup. This will make a 500k volume pot act like a 333k pot.
The "in-between" configuration . . . I don't feel like doing the math for.
This probably wouldn't be too bad with a high output, bright humbucker.
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freefrog
Well-known member
Here is a rough (simplified) 5spice sim of how a Washburn VCC control would affect the resonant frequency of two guitar pickup coils from 1 to 10. Red & first vertical line = series wiring. Other vertical line = parallel wiring.
Beside the predictible volume drop, it would apparently make the sound duller (as a tone pot slightly lowered would do) but il would also generate several "tonal shades" explaining why the system has been implemented by Washburn...
FWIW (a simple simulation).
Beside the predictible volume drop, it would apparently make the sound duller (as a tone pot slightly lowered would do) but il would also generate several "tonal shades" explaining why the system has been implemented by Washburn...
FWIW (a simple simulation).
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Gstring
New member
WOW Artie That is pretty cool. Sadly it's still something I would not use Another down side of the VCC is that it precludes coil cut . My basic wiring preference in later years has been for a parallel option on the bridge (especially if its a JB) with another PP cutting both outer coils ..when bridge is in series . This of course can be added to e. g coil swap and a combined series /OOP . My 2 washburns finished up wired the basic way and the more complex.
Well that's really interesting!... he had the original washburns and you're using hotter pups, so maybe the subtle shift is a result of the circuit itself.. as others have noted a full shift from parallel to series is usually very obvious.
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