Is this the place to discuss the WIRING of pickups???

[Newbcaster]

So lets say i have a single coil, well 3 single coils and each of them have the following specifications

1) each coil is tapped with values of 5.5k, 7.9k, 15k, 20k (yes I know these are incredibly overmade pickups) Steel slugs, alnico 3 bar underneath...

2) the bridge is reverse wound, reverse polarity for series and phase canceling ala Brian May

3) I want to preserve an on of switch for eachpickup

4) i want to have the ability to switch from series to parallel wiring.


Whats the most elegant way to wire these together? What switches would you use?

newbcaster

 

[radiocaster]

3 4-way switches for the taps (preferably rotary), 3 pickup switches (one for each pickup), series-parallel switch.

All 3 pickups on will not be hum-cancelling. Neither will neck and middle.

 

[Rob DiStefano]

So lets say i have a single coil, well 3 single coils and each of them have the following specifications

1) each coil is tapped with values of 5.5k, 7.9k, 15k, 20k (yes I know these are incredibly overmade pickups) Steel slugs, alnico 3 bar underneath...

2) the bridge is reverse wound, reverse polarity for series and phase canceling ala Brian May

3) I want to preserve an on of switch for eachpickup

4) i want to have the ability to switch from series to parallel wiring.


Whats the most elegant way to wire these together? What switches would you use?

newbcaster

A triple tapped single coil yields four voices, not three. You'll need a pair of switches, or a rotary switch to select each voice separately. This can be done with push-pull volume and tone pots, or a pair of SPDT mini switches, or that rotary 5-way select switch. Assuming a single coil neck pickup is used, couple the output of that/those tapped pickup switch(es) to a 4-way pickup switch and you'll have series and parallel noiseless humbucking connections for all voices. Add a DPDT mini switch to the neck pickup to flip the leads for phasing reversal of all tapped pickup voice combinations with the neck pickup.

 

[Newbcaster]

A triple tapped single coil yields four voices, not three. You'll need a pair of switches, or a rotary switch to select each voice separately. This can be done with push-pull volume and tone pots, or a pair of SPDT mini switches, or that rotary 5-way select switch. Assuming a single coil neck pickup is used, couple the output of that/those tapped pickup switch(es) to a 4-way pickup switch and you'll have series and parallel noiseless humbucking connections for all voices. Add a DPDT mini switch to the neck pickup to flip the leads for phasing reversal of all tapped pickup voice combinations with the neck pickup.

Is there a slide switch or something akin to a pickup selector switch on a strat that will allow me to wire: off, 5k, 7k, etc.?

What about series vs parallel?

 

[Rob DiStefano]

Is there a slide switch or something akin to a pickup selector switch on a strat that will allow me to wire: off, 5k, 7k, etc.?

What about series vs parallel?

Let's start from the beginning and get the whole story of exactly what you have and what you want to do, in as much detail as you can provide.

 

[Newbcaster]

Let's start from the beginning and get the whole story of exactly what you have and what you want to do, in as much detail as you can provide.

Ok so I have three single coil pickups for a strat I made.

I want to do series wiring like Brian May and I want parallel wiring like Fender.

Brian has 2 rows of switches, on off and phase

For my guitar I want that first row to be: off, on at 5.5k and have one position dedicated to each resistance value

The 2nd row is phase

I want a simple toggle switch for series/parallel.

I believe I have explained as best as I can. Do you think you can help me draw a wiring diagram for an idiot like me?

 

[Rob DiStefano]

Did you leave out the triple tapped pickup? If so, what position is it in?

What is the top magnetic polarity for each pickup position? If the pickups are Strats, wind direction will only matter if one or more of the pickups is tapped.

 

[Newbcaster]

Did you leave out the triple tapped pickup? If so, what position is it in?

What is the top magnetic polarity for each pickup position? If the pickups are Strats, wind direction will only matter if one or more of the pickups is tapped.

Did you leave out the triple tapped pickup? If so, what position is it in?

What is the top magnetic polarity for each pickup position? If the pickups are Strats, wind direction will only matter if one or more of the pickups is tapped.

All pickups are identical except for the fact that the bridge is RWRP, South top coming. The others are North Top Going. They ALL have taps. The taps are essentially the same values plus or minus a few cents.

 

[Rob DiStefano]

ALL three pickups have three taps, four voices? If so, and you want a plethora of control over each pickup, each tap, each combination of pickups, yer going to need a LOT of switches to accomplish all the tasks you have in mind ... and a cheat sheet to remember all the switch moves.

 

[wabashslim]

If these pickups are actually 20k I don't see why you're wanting to put them in series. Series is for beefing up thin pickups, I would imagine your 15k & 20k settings would provide more than enough beef already. Have you actually hooked these up at all & listened to each one with all the taps? You might find not all the tones are really usable. To do what you say you want - every possible combination from every pickup, every tap, is going to require a switch panel like a nuclear power plant. Series will complicate things enormously with no advantage.

 

[1stpitch]

Why?

 

[wabashslim]

Whats the most elegant way to wire these together? What switches would you use?

First off, "elegant" is off the table. To get started I would forget series and phase-switching. Instead I'd use three 5-position rotary switches (you might have to use 6-position, 5 might be hard to find) one for each pickup, for your 4 taps plus off. The switch commons would tie together and go to your...well, you didn't mention your pot setup but the switch commons would go to the volume & tone pots. With such a wide variance in pickup impedances would you go for 250k, 500k, 1 meg, 10 meg? Same with your tone caps. A given cap value will behave differently depending on the pickup impedence. What might sound great for your 5.5k tap could bury your 20k tap under a mile of mud. I suppose you'd want one pair of pots for each pickup?

As a self-professed noob you should do it this way first. Simple to install and wire up and will provide a s**tload of tones. Leave the really complex (and questionable) stuff for later if you decide you'd still want all that. Don't forget, Brian May holds a Doctorate in astrophysics. Probably came easy after figuring out the Red Special wiring.

 

[Newbcaster]

Yes. All p3 have taps. Do you think you can help me?

ALL three pickups have three taps, four voices? If so, and you want a plethora of control over each pickup, each tap, each combination of pickups, yer going to need a LOT of switches to accomplish all the tasks you have in mind ... and a cheat sheet to remember all the switch moves.

 

[Newbcaster]

ALL three pickups have three taps, four voices? If so, and you want a plethora of control over each pickup, each tap, each combination of pickups, yer going to need a LOT of switches to accomplish all the tasks you have in mind ... and a cheat sheet to remember all the switch moves.

I know I'm not Jerry Garcia but I'm hoping I can get someone to help.me do this.

I suspect i would never have 2 or 3 pickups in series and in phase at 20k...butnit would be really nice to get this to work.

 

[Rob DiStefano]

I know I'm not Jerry Garcia but I'm hoping I can get someone to help.me do this.

I suspect i would never have 2 or 3 pickups in series and in phase at 20k...butnit would be really nice to get this to work.

You're going to need a goodly amount of control cavity room for the number of switches required to make your dream pickup control scenario become a reality.

Rationally, it's either a single or dual coil - hooking three coils together in either parallel or series makes zero sense as only 2 coils can become noiseless.

If you had a circuit, and acquired the parts, would you be doing the build or farm it off to a tech?

 

[radiocaster]

Also, you cannot add a single switch for series/parallel if you want to sometimes use 2 in series/sometimes all 3 in series. You will need a whole lot of switches. Maybe a rotary, but this is so complicated you will likely need to pay someone to draw a schematic.

 

[Rob DiStefano]

Also, you cannot add a single switch for series/parallel if you want to sometimes use 2 in series/sometimes all 3 in series. You will need a whole lot of switches. Maybe a rotary, but this is so complicated you will likely need to pay someone to draw a schematic.

Exactly. Not at all to rain on the OP's parade, but there is a level of raw reality to be observed with such a complicated venture. Definitely doable, but .....

 

[Newbcaster]

Exactly. Not at all to rain on the OP's parade, but there is a level of raw reality to be observed with such a complicated venture. Definitely doable, but .....

ok so who would I pay for such a drawing?

 

[Newbcaster]

You're going to need a goodly amount of control cavity room for the number of switches required to make your dream pickup control scenario become a reality.

Rationally, it's either a single or dual coil - hooking three coils together in either parallel or series makes zero sense as only 2 coils can become noiseless.

If you had a circuit, and acquired the parts, would you be doing the build or farm it off to a tech?

i would be doing the build. I guess in my extreme naivete, i thought it would be possible to grow the brian may switching system into something I need.

for example, i had hoped that instead of a row of dpdt switcches for on off, it would be a row of 5 position strat switches for off, on, and the various voices.

the next row would be the phase switches, dpdts, and then hopefully a single on off for series parallel.

 

[Rob DiStefano]

You would probably be best to talk your project over with a local guitar tech.