homtoare Posted July 2, 2007 Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 Hi everyone, this is my first post on the forum, so HI! I have a left handed Watkins Rapier 22. The body has been routed for a SC at the neck and a P90 at the bridge. This is going to be my first wiring attempt, and I guess I just need a bit of support and advice. I am going to put a Sey Dunc Stacked Tele Single Coil sized HB at the neck and maybe a Mighty Mite P90 at the bridge. I would like to coil tap the neck pup (probably with a flick switch) and then be able to have the combinations of: 1)P90 on own 2)Stacked single (HB) on own 3)Stacked single coil tapped on own 4)P90 + HB 5)P90 + coil tap 6)P90 out of phase with HB 7)P90 out of phase with coil tap From what I have been told (and please do correct me if I am wrong) when pickups are described as out of phase, they are out of phase with another pickup? - Hence the last 2 combinations... The Rapier has 2 x 2 way plastic switches + another 2 way metal flick switch = a total 8 possible combinations. I am going to try and get a friend to help with this as he has more experience with wiring than myself, however I guess I just want some comments of whether this actually sounds feasible or not? Also other than a soldering iron, vol + tone pots, jack plug, wire (any particular sort of wire?) and the already mentioned stuff, is there anything else i will need? Any comments will be kindly received. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted July 2, 2007 Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 From what I have been told (and please do correct me if I am wrong) when pickups are described as out of phase, they are out of phase with another pickup? - Hence the last 2 combinations... Also other than a soldering iron, vol + tone pots, jack plug, wire (any particular sort of wire?) and the already mentioned stuff, is there anything else i will need? Coils can be out of phase. So, two SC's can be out of phase, or the coils of a humbucker can be out of phase, or two humbuckers can be out of phase with each other... There is an electrical element and a magnetic element to "phase". It gets very confusing. For example, with a humbucker wired normally, the two coils are electrically out of phase, which cancels hum, and WOULD cancel signal too, except that the coils are also of opposite magnetic polarity. So, the "two-out-of-phase"s add up to in phase, loud output. You also need solder. If you have hum issues, you could use shielded cable, though it's a pain to prepare short pieces of shielded cable. If you're doing a tone pot, you need a capacitator. Personally, I wouldn't bother with all the out-of-phase sounds. It's a lot simpler to just wire them "normally". You'd probably end up using only two or three of the sounds. That's my guess, but whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homtoare Posted July 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 (edited) hi, yea you are probably right actually, probably getting a bit ambitious for my first try! can you buy 'shielded cable' or do you have to shield it yourself? also i've read stuff about people lining the routings with copper foil or adhesive copper? is this something i should look into? just a couple more things: what would be the most appropriate pot choice for my selection of pickups? + what value capacitor would be best to go with this? sorry for all the q's! i just need this done on a budget and don't want to COMPLETELY bodge it! again any feedback much appreciated. Edited July 2, 2007 by homtoare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 You can get shielded cable. I've never looked at Radio Shack, but any place online that supplies guitar parts should have shielded cable. It's also called "coaxial" cable because it has two conductors, one in the center (used as "signal") and a knitted conductor that surrounds the inner conductor. The center conductor is always insulated, and I think the outside conductor usually is too. The outer "braid" is grounded and grabs the electrical junk in the air, sending it to ground. Hence, less hum/buzz. I've never shielded an entire cavity. My first guitar had single coils and hummed a lot, so I just ignore it. If you shield the cavity, shielded cable is probably irrelevant. Plus it just sucks preparing pieces of shielded cable. I would use 500k pots since your pickups are probably a little on the darker side. Basically, 250k will be darker, 500k will be brighter. I imagine it's a very small difference. Usually you would use .022-.047 uF for a guitar tone cap. You might get several values and see which one you like best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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