Wiring help - Ibanez 5 way switch

[Jack_TriPpEr]

Re: Wiring help - Ibanez 5 way switch

Okay... the news just got a little better! I still can't make the Ibanez 5-way work, but I figured out how to do it with a normal Strat-style switch (which is half the price).

What do you think?

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I was wondering if someone could explain part of this diagram for me. That is, i would expect the two Series Links from the Bridge pickup and the Neck pickup to be connected to ground in Positions 2 and 4 in order to split the two humbuckers to just 1 coil each, but that is not happening in this diagram. So it appears to me that in Positions 2 and 4, that both coils of each pickup are being combined with the middle pickup. Alternatively - if the intent was to keep the South coil active during the split, then i would expect to see eithet the North Start wires either not selected in Positions 2 and 4 *or* sent to ground, but i don't see that either

What am i missing here?

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Wiring help - Ibanez 5 way switch

I was wondering if someone could explain part of this diagram for me. That is, i would expect the two Series Links from the Bridge pickup and the Neck pickup to be connected to ground in Positions 2 and 4 in order to split the two humbuckers to just 1 coil each, but that is not happening in this diagram. So it appears to me that in Positions 2 and 4, that both coils of each pickup are being combined with the middle pickup. Alternatively - if the intent was to keep the South coil active during the split, then i would expect to see eithet the North Start wires either not selected in Positions 2 and 4 *or* sent to ground, but i don't see that either

What am i missing here?

While connecting the series link to ground is probably the most common way of splitting coils, it isn't the only way. Connecting to ground causes the SOUTH coil to shut off because ground is introduced to the circuit before it... it's simply never given a chance.

Similarly, when you connect the series link to HOT, the circuit has effectively passed by the NORTH coil, connecting instead directly to the start of the South coil... the North coil then goes silent.

So, to sum it up, connecting the series link to GROUND gives you just the NORTH coil and connecting it to HOT gives you just the SOUTH coil.OK

Does that help? [emoji41]

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[Jack_TriPpEr]

Re: Wiring help - Ibanez 5 way switch

... when you connect the series link to HOT, the circuit has effectively passed by the NORTH coil, connecting instead directly to the start of the South coil... the North coil then goes silent....

Ok, but doesn't seem intuitive... could you explain why no signal flows into the North Finish that is linked to at the same time that the same "contact point" that the South Start is being "activated"? Especially when the North Finish wires are also being activated at the same time via separate lugs.

I don't disbelieve you... it's more that i am trying to understand how current flows in a circuit ... as someone who does not have a background in electronics but trying to learn.

Thanks in advance.

 

[beaubrummels]

Wiring help - Ibanez 5 way switch

When you connect both start and finish of a coil to hot, no current flows. Current can only flow from ground to positive (technically, since electrons are negatively charged and move from negative to positive); though common convention is to think of electricity flowing from positive to ground. But the direction is irrelevant. If both leads of a coil are connected to positive, no current will flow. One lead would have to be moved to ground for current to start flowing.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Wiring help - Ibanez 5 way switch

Think of it this way: each coil has two ends to the wire — one to be connected to hot and the other to be connected to ground. Then think of the signal path moving in just one direction (hot to ground). EDIT: I started this post before beaubrummels made his post about directionality above. He is, of course, correct about it actually flowing the opposite way but like he also said, the direction doesn't really matter.

In standard humbucker configuration, with the series link established between the coils, the signal path enters the North coil (hot wire) then exits it and goes directly into the South coil via the series link, finally exiting to ground.

Typical coil splitting introduces ground earlier in the path by connecting it to the series link. The signal path enters the North coil (hot wire) then exits it and goes directly to ground, skipping the South coil altogether. This part you already understand.

When we introduce hot to the series link instead of ground, though, the signal path no longer flows through the North coil because we are denying it ground... both ends are connected to HOT instead.



Another way to think of it is to pretend that the wires are actually channels for water and the pickups are water wheels. Hot is the water's source and ground is a drain.

In series the water flows past the North water wheel and then past the South one, turning both, before going down the drain.

Coil splitting by introducing ground to the series link would be like putting a drain in between the two water wheels... the water would flow past the North wheel, turning it, and then go down the drain before reaching the South water wheel, leaving it high, dry, and motionless.

Introducing hot to the series link, though, works differently. The easy part is the South water wheel, right? The water flows into its channel from the series link water source, past the wheel, causing it to turn, and then down the drain. But what happens at the other end? The North wheel's channel now has TWO sources and no drain, so the water ends up simply filling the channel but no longer has a direction of flow.. A water wheel sitting on a river will turn, but one sitting on standing water, like a lake, will NOT turn. Our North coil, while still connected to the signal path, remains silent because the "signal" it's connected to Is essentially trapped and can't go anywhere.



Is that any better, or did I make matters worse? [emoji39]

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[Jack_TriPpEr]

Re: Wiring help - Ibanez 5 way switch

... But what happens at the other end? The North wheel's channel now has TWO sources and no drain, so the water ends up simply filling the channel but no longer has a direction of flow..

Wow! Great explanation! - thank you!

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

Re: Wiring help - Ibanez 5 way switch

Resurrecting an OLD thread here
How could this be setup to use the inside coils vs the outside coils.
Like a "standard" JEM/RG etc setup

Think of it this way: each coil has two ends to the wire — one to be connected to hot and the other to be connected to ground. Then think of the signal path moving in just one direction (hot to ground). EDIT: I started this post before beaubrummels made his post about directionality above. He is, of course, correct about it actually flowing the opposite way but like he also said, the direction doesn't really matter.

In standard humbucker configuration, with the series link established between the coils, the signal path enters the North coil (hot wire) then exits it and goes directly into the South coil via the series link, finally exiting to ground.

Typical coil splitting introduces ground earlier in the path by connecting it to the series link. The signal path enters the North coil (hot wire) then exits it and goes directly to ground, skipping the South coil altogether. This part you already understand.

When we introduce hot to the series link instead of ground, though, the signal path no longer flows through the North coil because we are denying it ground... both ends are connected to HOT instead.



Another way to think of it is to pretend that the wires are actually channels for water and the pickups are water wheels. Hot is the water's source and ground is a drain.

In series the water flows past the North water wheel and then past the South one, turning both, before going down the drain.

Coil splitting by introducing ground to the series link would be like putting a drain in between the two water wheels... the water would flow past the North wheel, turning it, and then go down the drain before reaching the South water wheel, leaving it high, dry, and motionless.

Introducing hot to the series link, though, works differently. The easy part is the South water wheel, right? The water flows into its channel from the series link water source, past the wheel, causing it to turn, and then down the drain. But what happens at the other end? The North wheel's channel now has TWO sources and no drain, so the water ends up simply filling the channel but no longer has a direction of flow.. A water wheel sitting on a river will turn, but one sitting on standing water, like a lake, will NOT turn. Our North coil, while still connected to the signal path, remains silent because the "signal" it's connected to Is essentially trapped and can't go anywhere.



Is that any better, or did I make matters worse? [emoji39]

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So BriGuy1968: i am now curious if there is an alternate way to accomplish member AaronL's request (see quote above) to wire a standard 5-way switch to make the South coil's active in Positions 2 & 4 instead of the North coils - besides altering lug B2 in your earlier diagram to go to ground instead of to Volume Pot In?

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Wiring help - Ibanez 5 way switch

That’s exactly what you’d do. Simply disconnect B2 from A-Common and connect it to ground instead. [emoji41][emoji1303]


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[GhostGuitar]

Re: Wiring help - Ibanez 5 way switch

I figured out how to do it with a normal Strat-style switch (which is half the price).

Aloha, thank ye VERY much! Was looking for something like this for my current Ibanez project. A HSH 2012 Ibanez S570DXQM-TGB in which I wanted to coil split the OUTER coils to the middle when in positions 2 & 3. I suspect that one of the positions would not be noiseless if a normal single-coil is used in middle, so will opt for a single-coil sized humbucker or a stack for noise-cancelling in both 2 & 4.

If possible, I'm going to add a push-pull master volume to split the humbuckers for use in positions 1 and 5. I plan using the Liberator as master tone. I will not be using the Triple-Shot because I want to retain the OE metal humbucker pup rings.

The pups are the Jazz/JB Trem (SH-2N/TB-4) set along with either a Little 59 Bridge (SL59-1B) OR a Hot Stack Strat Neck (no P/N was written down on website, the one with the single rail, dcr 13.0) for the middle. Haven't decided as yet. Maybe I'll just try both and decide which I think sounds better. I can always use the other pup in another guitar project.

Was going to do a similar setup on a 2000 Squier Stagemaster HSH Deluxe with a set of Parallel Axis: P.A.Original Neck (PATB-1N) + P.A.Stack Middle (PA-STK1N) + P.A.Distortion Bridge (PATB-2B). BUT the Stagemaster don't have s pickguard which will make it a bit more tedious to wire the guitar.

So I will keep it more simpler by using the standard strat wiring and add the Triple-Shot on both humbuckers and maybe a Liberator as the master tone pot.

Mahalo
-GG

 

[fprado]

Re: Wiring help - Ibanez 5 way switch

Man am I glad I found your wiring diagram, I'm about to do an HSH configuration but almost all diagrams do the inner coils, I did notice you used a 250k pot for the tone instead of 500k, why was this?

 

[amuri]

Re: Wiring help - Ibanez 5 way switch

Man am I glad I found your wiring diagram, I'm about to do an HSH configuration but almost all diagrams do the inner coils, I did notice you used a 250k pot for the tone instead of 500k, why was this?

hello , just experimentation , I realized overtime that 500K Pots sound (ehem!) "better" ( to my ears!) for both tone and volume .
At the time I was using a treble bleed mod , and I wanted to darken the sound (EHEM!) naturally !!! to compensate for the treble bleed.

overall Im very happy with my guitar .
but ... this upgrade however takes it to a whole new level :

I have bought a super 5 way switch and a Push Push linear potentiometer that Im intending to use as my tone knob. Im not sure if this is the write place to discuss this but Im planning to execute a wiring to achieve ...well, THIS :

​

I have also happily purchased a Whole Lotta™ Humbucker neck pickup , which has OH SUCH A GREAT SOUND
and as I mentioned earlier I also use a : Vintage Hot Stack Plus Strat STK-S7n as my middle pickup
and my bridge is the 59™ Custom Hybrid - SH-16 for my bridge pickup

Any wiring guides are appreciated!