Wiring Guidance

[Maxxpower3]

I am an experienced player just getting into my first project doing my own wiring. I have a somewhat different (for me, maybe not for the aficionados here) pickup/controls/switch setup that I would really like to try. However, while I know how I want it to work.....I also know I have no hope of creating the wiring diagram from scratch. So, any help anyone is willing to give will make a huge difference.

I have 3 pickups, and I want each to have their own volume and tone control. I also want each pickup to have its own 3 position mini toggle switch: ON | Phase | OFF

To be clear, the final setup will have 3 pickups, 3 volumes, 3 tones, and 3 switches. So, I could independently adjust the volume and tone for each pickup and turn them on/off at will. Also, more for fun than anything, I could have the ability to alter the phasing between them.

To be honest, I think this should be possible, but I do not know for sure. I have the pickups and pots, I just need to figure out what switches to purchase and how to wire them all together.

Any help or suggestions on how/where to begin would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Wiring Guidance

Welcome to the forum!

That is a lot of knobs and switches! You might consider push/pull pots for phasing, or else you'd need more switches. The only thing that could be a problem here is that it could be 2 reasons that you don't get sound- all pickups are off, and the volumes can be down. We do have some wiring gurus here who might be able to come up with an elegant way to do this.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Wiring Guidance

Sounds like a Brian May wiring scheme just extended. I have a Brian May guitar and you really only need phase on one, no more than two, of the pickups because it really only makes a difference when two+ are combined. I also wouldn't want three tone controls in circuit if I had all three pickups on. It would be mud.

 

[Maxxpower3]

Re: Wiring Guidance

Thanks for both the replies. Gives me more to think about, but for some reason I have this idea in my head and would really like to try it out.

Sounds like a Brian May wiring scheme just extended. I have a Brian May guitar and you really only need phase on one, no more than two, of the pickups because it really only makes a difference when two+ are combined. I also wouldn't want three tone controls in circuit if I had all three pickups on. It would be mud.

I agree that this is similar to a Brian May style configuration. Though, from what I have read, I think his pickups are in series while I think I want parallel (my only reasoning for this is that most guitars I am familiar with are wired in parallel).

Again, my ignorance about electronics will show through here....three tone controls in a circuit will make the guitar sound muddy? Is this because for every tone pot, you bleed off some high frequencies (no matter if the dial in on 10) ?