Southpa Posted December 28, 2006 Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 (edited) I decided to make a few changes. My tele has a stacked humbucker (neck position) that I was using for coil splitting up to now. But those stacked HB's weren't really made for that kind of thing. The main idea is for hum cancelling a single coil sound. The single coils alone in my SD STK-S2 actually have a weak output. Since I already have a DPDT on/on switch installed I decided to go with this configuration. What it does is change the function of the middle position of your 3-way pickup selector switch. Rather than running both neck and bridge pickups simultaneously it hooks them up in either series or parallel with the aid of the DPDT. I have to say I am quite pleased with the results. There is a bit more spaghetti under the plate now, had a heck of a time getting it screwed back on. Edited December 28, 2006 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted December 28, 2006 Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 Nice one South... I did a similar thing with my sustainer guitar. I had 3 phase switches, one for each pickup on the strat. I changed the stacked humbucker to series parallel with one of the switches, but as you say these kind of stacked pickups were not made for splitting or this and I wasn't so impressed. What was impressive though was the way multiple pickups interacted when phased or paralleled...quite a range of sounds from one little switch... That's good to know as I may be modifying my new strat with a mid-driver sustainer and want to make some useful combinations of neck and bridge pickups on the five way switch in future if the new sustainer version works out... There is a bit more spaghetti under the plate now, had a heck of a time getting it screwed back on. I have to say, I can relate... pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted December 28, 2006 Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 It's surprising what life a good rewire and reconfig does to a guitar. For electrics it can have as much - if not more - importance than the actual build of the instrument in my opinion. Tele's are a great example of a basic straightforward no-frills guitar which come to life when done well. Any possibility of soundbites, Southpa? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted December 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 (edited) I got the schematic from SD Tech Tips (Right Sound for Tele Middle Position) and there are a few other goodies in there along the lines of what pete was doing. The best way I can describe the result of my wiring is a slight flanger sound with lots of depth. Soundbites? I haven't done much recording lately, but I was considering doing some samples. I also had good results with a Black Ice cap that I reconfigured with a DPDT in another guitar, instant distortion with the flick of a switch. I visited a buddy a while back with my mahogany guitar and was playing some. He was looking around for the distortion pedal! I'll see if I can make some sounds tomorrow. Know any good sites who can host sound files? Edited December 28, 2006 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted December 28, 2006 Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 Couldn't you achieve the same thing just by using a 4-way lever switch? 1. Bridge 2. Bridge/Neck parallel 3. Neck 4. Bridge Neck series ...is the typical scenario... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted December 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 I guess you could but it was just as easy to convert using all the existing hardware. Why bother getting a new switch? I had already drilled the hole in my cover plate for the DPDT, may as well use it for something, ie. switching between series and parallel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted December 28, 2006 Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 Agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted December 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2006 (edited) Okie dokie, you axed for some soundbites so I managed to cobble something together today, lots of time off until the new year. I've also started using personal webspace and now that I've figured it out I don't know why in the world I have been using online file hosts for so long. I realized I have 10G potential space just sitting there and already paid for! Anyway, I've recorded 4 MP3's with Blaze Media Pro, works ok and fairly idiot proof. I'm running everything thru my MusicMan 210-sixtyfive to a cheap plastic microphone about 5 ft away and being fed into my soundcard. Its actually not bad, you might have to raise the volume to get the full benefit. But BOTH guitars used are with NO effects except what is configured and built into them. Its just a wire going from the guitar to the amp. I've included a Black Ice clip so you can see what sort of potential these things have if wired up right. Files: http://www3.telus.net/Alsplace/Sounds/ Black_Ice1 - installed in all mahogany neckthru. Bridge pickup is DiMarzio Superdistortion about 16k Ω DC resistance. You will hear me say when I switch the distortion on. Tele files - ALL maple tele that I built last year. Bridge Pickup is a Seymour Duncan - Vintage '54, Neck pickup is Seymour Duncan STK-S2 aka "hotstack" 20 kΩ (its actually a bridge pickup but I'm using it for neck pos.) The 2 pickups are very different from each other and the result in series makes for an interesting change, sort of a watery sound. As far as the content of what I'm playing its just aimless noodling around the neck to give some variety. Edited December 30, 2006 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkcrabby Posted December 31, 2006 Report Share Posted December 31, 2006 Southpa, That's exactly what I was going to do to a Tele that I'm building,,,,,, are you using .022uf caps and 500K pots for the vol and tone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted December 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2006 I guess capacitance won't really matter, the usual for single coils is .022 uf and 250kΩ pots. I'm using a .047 cap because I found it brings out the best in that particular guitar. Its a solid 1-piece body (wrn maple) and eastern maple neck w/ maple fretboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted February 14, 2007 Report Share Posted February 14, 2007 Well, I happen to have an extra hole in my tele plate too ...but I'm using only single coils --this mod won't work for that, right? I only have two wires (hot and ground) coming from my pickups. Guess I'll have to find something else for the hole... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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