My Pickup Irony

ibmorjamn

ibmorjamn

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So many of you know I started working on the pickgaurd / angle humbucker for my Contemporary Squire.

I am embarrassed to say I can not get my head around wiring the H/H to a import 5 way switch. 1 Vol. 1 tone.

I am tempted to just get a Tele 3 way switch.

I did use my meter to determine the switch lug arrangement.
The 3 main switch positions do 1. bridge series , 3. Both Humbuckers , 5. Neck only in series.

The issue I have is how to wire the pickups to coil split in position 2 & 4.
The irony is, I don't know if I will even use those positions.
 
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LiveeviL2000 said:
It’s not the one I was looking for.
But I think it should work.
If this diagram matches your switch lug set up let me know.
If not, I’ll keep digging for the other diagram.
View attachment 95080
Click to expand...
It is different. I have seen this schematic. I might be able to make that work.
My switch is rectangle with 8 eye's on the bottom. Not exposed, all enclosed.
I found lots of info.
Screenshot_20230929_040124_Chrome.jpg
 
LiveeviL2000 said:
It’s not the one I was looking for.
But I think it should work.
If this diagram matches your switch lug set up let me know.
If not, I’ll keep digging for the other diagram.
View attachment 95080
Click to expand...
Ya can’t spilt a 2 wire pickup. You’ll need a 4 wire pup, both bobbins, 2 wires each, coming out so you can ground the “center tap“.
 
Don O said:
Ya can’t spilt a 2 wire pickup. You’ll need a 4 wire pup, both bobbins, 2 wires each, coming out so you can ground the “center tap“.
Click to expand...
Yes Don , that's what I have. I have a GFS humbucker esssentialy 3 insulated wires but the 4th is a bare wire.
The neck I'm using is a Dimarzio Pro Tracker also 4 wire blade humbucker.
I have seen nearly every wiring configuration .
I would prefer to not buy another switch.

Actually , it's not the switch that is confusing. It's the way the pickup works.
I have always just used humbuckers in series mode.

Now I just read the Fralin pickup blog about this very subject a minute ago.
I have a much better understanding now.

I did not know that in order to to split the coils , 1 coil is sent to ground.
That helps a lot.
 
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Mr. Potato Head said:
In my experience, split humbuckers don't sound great. YMMV.
Click to expand...
Mr. Potato Head , you crack me up. I kind of figured that to. Kind of the irony part in the Tittle.
I get that. Like I said. I could just use a Telecaster 3 way switch and be done but I might well try and then I too will probably determine the same thing.
 
ibmorjamn said:
Yes Don , that's what I have. I have a GFS humbucker esssentialy 3 insulated wires but the 4th is a bare with.
The neck I'm using is a Dimarzio Pro Tracker also 4 wire blade humbucker.
I have seen nearly every wiring configuration .
I would prefer to not buy another switch.

Actually , it's not the switch that is confusing. It's the way the pickup works.
I have always just used humbuckers in series mode.

Now I just read the Fralin pickup blog about this very subject a minute ago.
I have a much better understanding now.

I did not know that in order to to split the coils they , 1 coil is sent to ground.
That helps a lot.
Click to expand...
Yea, it’s not so much a coil split, as it is really just shorting to ground the center tap. That results in a single bobbin putting out the electrical signal and the other bobbin is connected to ground on both ends.
 
ibmorjamn said:
Yes Don , that's what I have. I have a GFS humbucker esssentialy 3 insulated wires but the 4th is a bare with.
The neck I'm using is a Dimarzio Pro Tracker also 4 wire blade humbucker.
I have seen nearly every wiring configuration .
I would prefer to not buy another switch.

Actually , it's not the switch that is confusing. It's the way the pickup works.
I have always just used humbuckers in series mode.

Now I just read the Fralin pickup blog about this very subject a minute ago.
I have a much better understanding now.

I did not know that in order to to split the coils , 1 coil is sent to ground.
That helps a lot.
Click to expand...
Alright, so to better understand the situation help me go over it for a bit here on what you currently have:

You have 2 humbuckers that have 4 wires ( well one is 3 with a bare ground but that's the same difference ). You have a single Volume and single Tone. You want to rig it with a standard 5 way switch that can go:
1: Bridge Humbucker
2: Bridge Single Coil
3: Parallel Bridge and Neck Humbucker
4: Neck Single coil
5: Neck Humbucker
Correct?

Basically, the setup you're using will be best described as a Tele layout with 5 way switching.

Only way I can possibly come up with a solution is 3 ways to get that exact set up you're after:
1) Use the standard 5 way you got but you are gonna need a push pull pot on the tone
2) Use a Super Switch/Oak Grigsby but standard pots
Or if you're frisky?
3) Use a Superswitch AND push pull pot on the tone and open up an entire array of options ( about 8 different tones), worth a look right? This would be something that I would personally love to try myself

jV17UOr.jpg
 
When splitting humbuckers, using a resistor on the connection from the series link to ground really can make a big difference.
That way you're not grounding all of the coil's signal, so you get beefier tone and less of a volume drop.
Works very well for vintage-output humbuckers (stronger ones don't generally need it).
1.1K for the neck pickup and a 2.2K for the bridge pickup are good values, as in Clockworkmike's diagram from the last post.

While that diagram uses a Superswitch, the earlier one (post #7) shows the configuration for doing it with a standard 5-way, no push-pull needed.
All you need to do is determine the lug number for each connection using the Fender-to-import table you already found.

You also need to account for the wire color codes, which aren't always the same on different brands.
It sounds more complicated than it really is.
Just sit down with a pencil and get it all straight on paper before you begin.
 
eclecticsynergy said:
When splitting humbuckers, using a resistor on the connection from the series link to ground really can make a big difference.
That way you're not grounding all of the coil's signal, so you get beefier tone and less of a volume drop.
Works very well for vintage-output humbuckers (stronger ones don't generally need it).
1.1K for the neck pickup and a 2.2K for the bridge pickup are good values, as in Clockworkmike's diagram from the last post.

While that diagram uses a Superswitch, the earlier one (post #7) shows the configuration for doing it with a standard 5-way, no push-pull needed.
All you need to do is determine the lug number for each connection using the Fender-to-import table you already found.

You also need to account for the wire color codes, which aren't always the same on different brands.
It sounds more complicated than it really is.
Just sit down with a pencil and get it all straight on paper before you begin.
Click to expand...
Thanks electricsynergy, I have started doing a schematic but I wanted to make sure before I actually put it together.
This picture I got from pintrest is the exact switch layout.
7b4e137b-99fd-4077-b46f-3a253fa01f55.jpeg
 
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