Specialty Switch Wiring Help?

[goatgoat]

Hi guys, noob guitar tech wanabee here. I've lurked around this forum for a while, always learning something new, and I finally got around to making a profile. Anyway, I just bought a Lace Alumitone Humbucker pickup for my Ibanez Artcore and have been thinking of doing the refit (in the neck position) myself instead of paying a tech to do it. But I also want the switch wired so that in the neck position you can hear the neck pickup, in the middle you can hear the outer coil of the neck pickup, and in the bridge you can hear the inner coil of the neck + the whole of the bridge. I'm still very new to the logic of switch wiring so I can't come up with a schematic, but I'm hoping one of you guys can, if it's at all possible.

A bit about the guitar's electronics:

-The switch is a 3 way single pole switch. On/On/On or On/Off/On, I don't really know.

-There are two volume and two tone pots.

-2 pickups, both are humbuckers.

I want to be able to accomplish this without too many changes, but I realize I may have to replace the switch with a double or triple pole and maybe disconnect some of the pots or wire them differently, and I'd be willing to do those things. I want to avoid drilling holes and such to add new hardware, plus I don't really want to have multiple switches for extra combinations, since those are the only 3 I would use if I had them. So if you guys think this is doable and can make a schematic, I'd appreciate the input. Thanks.

[curtisa]

The switch will have to be replaced, as the functions you are after from it exceeds the number of switchable elements.

Artcore uses a Gibson-style toggle switch (I think?). I don't think you can achieve the three functions for the neck pickup plus adding the bridge with an off-the-shelf product that will drop in the place of the existing three position switch. If you don't want to add any more controls (what about push/pull pots?) the only thing I can think of is replacing the lever switch with a rotary switch, which you may not find visually or practically desirable.

The other problem will be trying to get inside the guitar to do these mods. Are there access points on the Artcore big enough to get your hands into?

[Jude]

I'm not familiar with the guitar, so I don't know if this switch would fit:

http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/SWT36-17/3-Way-4-Pole-Guitar-Toggle-Switch-Chrome.html

I think this wiring should work, although haven't tested it. Color codes are Seymour Duncan.

[goatgoat]

Thanks for the replies guys, and sorry for responding so late.

Apparently the pickup I bought wasn't coil tappable (somehow I was under the impression that all Lace humbuckers were), so I just ended up installing it the normal way. Not disappointed with the outcome, it's still a great sounding pickup. Dealing with the f holes was a bitch though, they make really frustrating access point. I had to use forks and twist ties to get the switch and pots (the wiring was so short I also had totake them out to get access to switch) back in their places.

I'm gonna give that switch and wiring a try on another guitar sometime in the future. Thanks for drawing up a schematic for me Jude. Do you have a link to something that'll explain to me the actual logic behind such switch connections so I can learn to make my own combinations? The sites I've looked at mostly explain the wiring and not as much of the reasoning to get it.

[Jude]

Seymour Duncan has some basic stuff on their site. An electric guitar building or repair book will have some as well, but you can probably find most of it with an internet search.

[Ripthorn]

Alumitones are not a normal pickup. Their construction is totally different, and the humbuckers don't really have the separate coils like we traditionally think of them. This is why you can't split the coils. I've been wanting to try one for a while, maybe I'll get one at some point.