Wiring for one HB with splitting, one without

[RichardG]

I Need to do the wiring for "2 humbuckers, 1 volume, 1 tone, 5-way switch, w/coil splitting" BUT my neck pickup doesn't have a splitting option (ie it's a simple two-wire one).

Can anyone point me to the right mod for the schematic that gives me the five possible cominations with two HBs, one splittable and one not?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Artie]

Re: Wiring for one HB with splitting, one without

That combo, with a standard 5-way, is going to give you an oddball sequence. Its not too bad if you think of it like this:

With the switch in the middle, you have the neck. Moving forward adds the bridge "split". Moving backwards adds the bridge full.

If that will work for you I'll post the diagram in a moment.

Artie

 

[Artie]

Re: Wiring for one HB with splitting, one without

This will give you, starting from the "top":

1. Bridge (split)
2. Neck & bridge (split)
3. Neck
4. Neck & bridge
5. Bridge

Another way to think of this is, starting from the "bridge" position, the first 3 "clicks" are like a normal 3-way. Then you continue coming forward into the "split" options.

 

[RichardG]

Re: Wiring for one HB with splitting, one without

Thanks so much - this is exactly what I wanted. The order doesn't matter: only five combinations to remember. I'll wire this up tomorrow and report back.

 

[RichardG]

Re: Wiring for one HB with splitting, one without

Thanks again Artie - this wiring worked well. Needed a little trial and error to work out some things, then realised that the switch wasn't quite making contact in one position. Two HBs on a strat really is a great combination for me - clarity yet power.

One thing that confuses me though. In the previous wiring I had (basically standard strat three pickup but with the last pot used as a neck pickup blend) the capacitor on the tone was wired between a lug of the pot and that pot's body. Now it's wired between the tone and volume pots. So - dumb question alert - I was just wondering what is the rationale behind deciding between these two methods?

Also, since the rewiring both the volume and tone pots behave quite differently - much more of an on/off action now rather than a smooth transition. No big problem, but I would like to get back to the smoother more gradual action at some point. Anyone got any clues on this subject?