Pyroiguana Posted September 8, 2007 Report Share Posted September 8, 2007 Lesse... I pretty much know nothing at all about guitar electronics. So, I need help with a diagram. My dad's leaving tomorrow for a while, and todays the last day he can help me with it. I've tried to look at all the tutorials and explainations for all the switches & wires and ways to configure different options, but my goal is a little complex for a first timer like me to set up myself. This is what I want: Two humbuckers, JB and '59, through a push pull volume pot & two push pull tone pots with coil tapping, reverse phase and a tap mode selector, with a three way switch for neck/both/bridge. Could anyone help me, maybe draw up a diagram? If you do, do you think you could explain some of the basics of how it works? I don't want to just copy someone's work and not learn anything about it for next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyroiguana Posted September 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2007 Ok, well I spent a whole day looking through diagrams and having my dad explain to me all the connections, so I have a idea of what to do. But I was wiring it up as I said before, cept with series/parallel instead of reverse, and realized that that's not even possible, right? And I am EXTREMELY confused as to one thing in the Guitar Electronics diagrams. Which pickups are what wires? Does the setup go Ground - SS/NF - SF/NS - Output in a normal series wiring? I was trying to figure out the series/parallel diagram in this sheet, but with that setup, one of the pickups is in a closed loop when the switch is up, and the other goes out. When down though, it's obviously in series. Is this actually a messed up diagram or am I just not getting something here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted September 8, 2007 Report Share Posted September 8, 2007 Go to the color code chart on his site, you will find out what colors are which coils, and were to hook your ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyroiguana Posted September 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 Well, it agrees with me, so it still doesn't explain the weird series/parallel diagram. Still in a closed loop. Anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeAArthur Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 Well, it agrees with me, so it still doesn't explain the weird series/parallel diagram. Still in a closed loop. Anyone? I don't know what you are looking at or how you are interpreting it, but I don't see a closed loop anywhere. That is the correct wiring for a series/parallel switch. When the switch is "up" (actually the toggle will be in the "down" position), the center and upper lugs are connected together - separately on both sides of the switch. The right side grounds the north-finish lead of one coil and the south-start of the other is always grounded. The left side then connects the south-finish to the north-start which is the output lead. This puts the coils in parallel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyroiguana Posted September 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 Oh wait... So in the diagrams, for a normal series wiring it goes Ground - SS/SF - NF/NS - Output? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeAArthur Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Oh wait... So in the diagrams, for a normal series wiring it goes Ground - SS/SF - NF/NS - Output? You got it... for this diagram. It could also be wired Ground - NF/NS - SS/SF - Output. In a series circuit, the order of the components (in this case the coils) doesn't matter. Good trick to know if you need a certain coil grounded for some reason or another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyroiguana Posted September 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Alright, thanks alot. I kept getting confused cause I was reading them as SS/NF and NS/SF, thinking it was labeled as each ends of the coil rather than the overall polarity of the coil. Which I thought was weird, but all the explainations I've found seemed to support that O_o Alright, I have a question. Is it at all possible to wire a coil tap and tap mode push pull for both pickups, then add in a series/parallel for a single pickup? I was trying to do this but for the tapping I need the SF and NS wires seperate from the NF. And that doesn't really work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeAArthur Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Alright, thanks alot. I kept getting confused cause I was reading them as SS/NF and NS/SF, thinking it was labeled as each ends of the coil rather than the overall polarity of the coil. Which I thought was weird, but all the explainations I've found seemed to support that O_o Alright, I have a question. Is it at all possible to wire a coil tap and tap mode push pull for both pickups, then add in a series/parallel for a single pickup? I was trying to do this but for the tapping I need the SF and NS wires seperate from the NF. And that doesn't really work. All the push-pull switches I've seen only have two positions. You can't really combine a coil tap (is the coil tap on or off) with a tap mode (am I tapping the north or south coil) onto the same push-pull - at the minimum, this is a choice of three things and you can only choose two. To add in a series/parallel with only two position switches now means you need at least three switches to choose between three options. When you start adding too many options you also run into conflicts. For example, while it is easy to say I want to "control tapping, which coil is tapped, and also have series/parallel", you now have a decision as to which takes precedence over the other. Do you want to coil tap regardless of series/parallel, or do you want series/parallel over coil tapping. You really can't have it both ways. If you really want all of these options, I suggest using a push pull for series/parallel wired according to the diagram and then use a three position on/off/on mini switch to do the coil tap and selection - having the coil tap options only work when the series/parallel switch is in the series mode. To wire the tap switch, the common center terminal would connect to the "bottom" two lugs on the series/parallel, and the two "on" lugs of the tap switch would have one connected to the hot output and the other connected to ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyroiguana Posted September 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Sorry I was unclear... I'm using three push pulls, one with coil tapping, one with tap mode selection, and the other I'm trying to figure out what to do with. If there really isnt any options using that setup, then I'd just go for only two push/pulls and leave the other knob normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeAArthur Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Sorry I was unclear... I'm using three push pulls, one with coil tapping, one with tap mode selection, and the other I'm trying to figure out what to do with. If there really isnt any options using that setup, then I'd just go for only two push/pulls and leave the other knob normal. Don't underestimate my ability to be easily confused!! This is what I think you are thinking about so far. The red wire is the series link, which for Duncan pickups would be the red and white wire twisted together. It's drawn with the top of the switch boxes being the side where the pot is... so that pulling out on the split on/off turns it on. I'm guessing about the split mode and the way it is wired, it will switch between opposite polarity coils to keep the combination humbucking. You can still use a third switch. Could be a phase switch, or a series/parallel (pickups in series or parallel with each other).... a "blaster switch"... Are you sure about two tone controls instead of two volume controls? With both pickups on, the tone control for one pickup will affect the tone of the other pickup, although you could set them separately for one pickup at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyroiguana Posted September 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 (edited) It looks like your diagram does the same thing as the guitar electronics diagram I was working with ; ) I appreciate the help alot though! Especially the comment about pickups in series/parallel. I think I got what I want. I took the diagram from guitar electronics here, and modified it. First I took the tone out of the circuit affecting both pickups and put the two tone on either sides of the toggle switch to affect each pickup seperately. Then I took the bridge pickup hot output and hooked it up the new bare push/pull and adjusted it so one way it goes (like normally) straight to the toggle switch, and the other way it goes to the south start of the neck pickup. If it's going straight to the toggle, then the south start of the neck pickup is grounded like normal. So (Im pretty sure) this means I have the ability to with coil tap and select what coil to tap with both of the pickups, and then I have the ability to run the two whole humbuckers in series, or in parallel. I never really realized that you could actually do this, I always tried to series/parallel coils, not humbuckers... Thanks, Joe Please tell me this works! I feel so smart right now : P Edited September 14, 2007 by Pyroiguana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeAArthur Posted September 14, 2007 Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 It looks like your diagram does the same thing as the guitar electronics diagram I was working with ; ) I appreciate the help alot though! Especially the comment about pickups in series/parallel. I think I got what I want. I took the diagram from guitar electronics here, and modified it. First I took the tone out of the circuit affecting both pickups and put the two tone on either sides of the toggle switch to affect each pickup seperately. Then I took the bridge pickup hot output and hooked it up the new bare push/pull and adjusted it so one way it goes (like normally) straight to the toggle switch, and the other way it goes to the south start of the neck pickup. If it's going straight to the toggle, then the south start of the neck pickup is grounded like normal. So (Im pretty sure) this means I have the ability to with coil tap and select what coil to tap with both of the pickups, and then I have the ability to run the two whole humbuckers in series, or in parallel. I never really realized that you could actually do this, I always tried to series/parallel coils, not humbuckers... Thanks, Joe Please tell me this works! I feel so smart right now : P Actually I think it has problems. Both of the tone control caps are ground referenced and so is the tap mode. This will probably cause you some problems, unless this is the way you want it. The neck tone will be a master tone in series mode. Series and tap is not exactly independent and it looks like it might result in a parallel out of phase in series mode. The series mode will not work independently of the pickup selector - you must have the neck or both pickups selected to get a series of both pickups. This is how I would wire it. Independent tone control operation in series, no conflicts between series/parallel and tapping, and both pickups will always be on when series mode is selected regardless of selector switch position. I suggest putting the series/parallel on the volume pot - you'll probably wind up adjusting volume during a series/parallel switch more than any tone knob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyroiguana Posted September 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 Thanks soo much for those corrections! I soldered it all up and it works perfectly! There is one odd thing though, when it's in parallel and either both or the bridge pickup is selected, then something weird happens on one of the tone knobs. Picture the tone knob in increments of ten - the 8 highest are the normal tone knob, but the low two act as a full volume knob. It's nothing that I would have any problems with though. Again, thanks alot! Here's how the control cavity ended up. It's a very haphazardly made cavity... Aluminum sheilding tape, duct tape, and screw to shield it, and a really tiny space to stuff all those wires in. It ended up perfect, though... Absolutely no noise coming through, and no crossed wires ending with electrical screw-ups. I seem to be pretty damn lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeAArthur Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 Check your bridge pickup tone control. The lug where the capacitor is connected. You'll probably find that lug has a direct path to ground - like maybe the lead of the cap is pressed up against either the shielding or the body of the tone control. Glad it worked out!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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