H-H Coil Split with Mini-Toggles (NOT push-push)

[tkmclaughlin]

Hi all. Hopefully Tele Home Depo is the right subforum. Guitar wiring is my kryptonite. I'm making an H-H telecaster for/with a friend. It will have the usual 2 humbuckers, 1 volume, 1 tone, and 3-way blade switch. He wants independent coil splitting for each humbucker. I've done this before by using push-push puts in the volume (turns off the neck HB south pole) and tone (turns off the bridge HB north pole).

He does NOT want push-push pots. He wants 2 mini-toggle "on-on" switches , one for each humbucker. I am floundering about trying to find a suitable wiring diagram. I usually go to the SD website and enter the info (what type of PuPs, how many vol, etc) and then scroll through the wiring diagrams, but all of them involve push-push (or some variant) and none of them involve separate mini-toggle switches.

The closest I got was this - which is an "on-ON-on" mini-toggle that allows for both splitting, and switching to parallel. For me, I'd go with it. But I'm pretty sure this guy just wants 2 choices - "switch this way, and it's a humbucker, switch the other way, it's a single coil". He doesn't want the third option.

By any chance does anyone know where I might find a suitable wiring diagram?

(To reveal my cluelessness on all things wiring, I frankly have no idea whether the wiring diagram I used form my push-push volume/tone guitar would be identical to the wiring for two on-on mini-toggles. I do understand that a push-push pot is just a pot combined with an on-on mini switch. But they are combined, and I have no idea how that might affect what wires go where if the mini-toggle part is separated from the pot as this guy wants....

Can anyone help?

 

[peterg]

Think of a push-pull pot switch and pot as 2 separate components. The switch does one thing (in this case isolates one coil of one humbucker) and the pot does another thing (volume or tone control). They just happen to be attached to each other. Since you have 2 humbuckers you need 4 components - 2 (SPST) toggle switches, a volume pot and a tone pot.

Just wire the toggle switches the way the push pull switches are shown on the diagram you have found.

 

[tkmclaughlin]

Think of a push-pull pot switch and pot as 2 separate components. The switch does one thing (in this case isolates one coil of one humbucker) and the pot does another thing (volume or tone control). They just happen to be attached to each other. Since you have 2 humbuckers you need 4 components - 2 (SPST) toggle switches, a volume pot and a tone pot.

Just wire the toggle switches the way the push pull switches are shown on the diagram you have found.

Thanks!

 

[NoTeleBob]

Did you buy the toggles yet?

If you really just want "humbucker or not", it doesn't have to be nearly as complicated as that diagram. The simplicity will shock you, LOL.

I could draw it for you if that's your goal.

 

[tkmclaughlin]

Did you buy the toggles yet?

If you really just want "humbucker or not", it doesn't have to be nearly as complicated as that diagram. The simplicity will shock you, LOL.

I could draw it for you if that's your goal.

Hi there - I haven’t bought anything other than the standard telecaster wiring components (2 500k pots, 1 3-way blade switch, 1 .022u cap). I definitely know how to do it if he would let me use push-push pots for the Vol and the Tone where the DPDT is integrated with the pot itself. I get lost when the pot and the DPDT are separate components and one has to be wired to the other, and grounded etc. (Having independent coil splits seems important to the guy. He wants, for example, the possibility of neck humbucker + bridge single coil in the second selector position, and vice versa with neck single and bridge humbucker).

 

[NoTeleBob]

If I understand that correctly, you just need the ability to make either humbucker into a single coil on demand, correct? Then the three way gives you the ability to choose neck, both, or bridge (with the neck or bridge as a single or a humbucker)?

 

[tkmclaughlin]

If I understand that correctly, you just need the ability to make either humbucker into a single coil on demand, correct? Then the three way gives you the ability to choose neck, both, or bridge (with the neck or bridge as a single or a humbucker)?

Want to be sure I’m tracking with you. When you say “three way” you’re referring to the blade switch or an “on-on-on” mini toggle? He wants a normal HH telecaster setup (position 1 on the blade switch neck pickup alone, position 2 neck + bridge, and position 3 bridge only). Then he wants the ability to have either humbucker perform as a humbucker as usual, or as a single coil, on demand. That’s what the two mini-toggles are for (one to split each of the two Humbuckers)

 

[Freeman Keller]

The two "coil split" switches can be part of the potentiometer assembly (push pull ) or they can be mini toggles mounted separartely,. Buy them from StewMac They simply ground the center connecion beteween the two coils in th humbucker. The on-on-on switch in you diagram give you the series and parallel connection of the coils ( normally they are in series). Be cautious that different manufacturers use different wire colors and not all 'buckers have all forur wires brought out lik the SD's

ps StewMac sells the on-on-on swtches if you would prefer that option

 

[tkmclaughlin]

View attachment 1088591

The two "coil split" switches can be part of the potentiometer assembly (push pull ) or they can be mini toggles mounted separartely,. Buy them from StewMac They simply ground the center connecion beteween the two coils in th humbucker. The on-on-on switch in you diagram give you the series and parallel connection of the coils ( normally they are in series). Be cautious that different manufacturers use different wire colors and not all 'buckers have all forur wires brought out lik the SD's

ps StewMac sells the on-on-on swtches if you would prefer that option

Ok thanks. I think I get it. The wiring is the same as in the diagram in your post regardless of whether the mini toggle switch is attached to the pot (like in your diagram) or separate (as in the mini toggle my guy is asking for).

 

[Freeman Keller]

Ok thanks. I think I get it. The wiring is the same as in the diagram in your post regardless of whether the mini toggle switch is attached to the pot (like in your diagram) or separate (as in the mini toggle my guy is asking for).

Exactly, just as Peterg said earlier. The switch and the pot fuction (tone, volume) are completely separate. The SD diagram is corrrect whethe the switch is mounted to the pot or the pick guard

 

[tkmclaughlin]

Exactly, just as Peterg said earlier. The switch and the pot fuction (tone, volume) are completely separate. The SD diagram is corrrect whethe the switch is mounted to the pot or the pick guard

I think what confused me is that the Guitar Electronics diagram in my original post shows the two mini-toggles wired between the pickups and the blade switch, but not connected directly to the pots. But the SD diagram indicates all I’d need to do is connect the two hot leads from a humbucker into the middle lug of a mini toggle, and then connect a ground wire from the mini toggle bottom lug to the ground on the back of the pot (where the humbucker is also grounded as well) and it should work (duplicated for each humbucker).

 

[peterg]

That’s it!

 

[NoTeleBob]

I think what confused me is that the Guitar Electronics diagram in my original post shows the two mini-toggles wired between the pickups and the blade switch, but not connected directly to the pots. But the SD diagram indicates all I’d need to do is connect the two hot leads from a humbucker into the middle lug of a mini toggle, and then connect a ground wire from the mini toggle bottom lug to the ground on the back of the pot (where the humbucker is also grounded as well) and it should work (duplicated for each humbucker).

Or another way to look at it... the signal in a humbucker normally flows from the start of the North coil to the end of the North coil, then to the start of the South coil to the end of the South coil. The North end of that train is hot output the other end goes to ground. Humbucker operation.

When you want it to be a just one coil, you ground the connection where North end already connects to South start. The hot / start end of the North coil is still the hot side. But now the chain grounds at the end of the North coil. The South coil is grounded at both ends. Single coil operation.

All the switch has to do is ground that connection between the North end / South start... or not.

 

[bholder]

Another option I'd highly recommend if you're going with a mini-toggle per pickup is to use 3 ways and do series - parallel - single coil switching. I tried that on a bass project and liked it so much I use it on guitars now too. Lots of tonal variation. Also choose the single coils so that you get humbucking when both are single coil and both on full.

Complicates the wiring but lots of tones...