Peculiar Wiring: HH 5-Way Switch 1 Vol 2 Tone (Looking for a diagram)

[TKGrey]

Hello all!

I'm looking for help on a specific split humbucker wiring. I have experience building and modifying guitars, but I've always used a pickup diagram. I've searched on all of the common guitar wiring diagram sites and several forums, to little avail. I am converting an SSS stratocaster to HH. I would like to keep the three stratocaster pots, having a master volume, tone for the neck pickup, and tone for the bridge pickup. The pickup combinations I'm looking to wire are as follows:

1: Bridge Humbucker (In series with its own north and south coil, out of phase, a normal humbucker)
2: Outer Coils (Bridge South Out of Phase with Neck North, wired in parallel, similar to middle position of a telecaster)
3: Bridge Humbucker (Series) and Neck Humbucker (Series) (wired in parallel)
4. Neck Humbucker (in parallel with its own north and south coils, out of phase, similar to position 4 on a stratocaster)
5. Neck Humbucker (in series with its own north and south coil, out of phase, a normal humbucker)

GuitarElectronics.com has two diagrams that are very close to my ideal setup, but not quite. There's one with both the bridge parallel and neck parallel in positions 2 and 4 respectively. There's another with outer coils parallel and inner coils parallel in positions 2 and 4 respectively. However, there isn't one with outer coils parallel and neck parallel in positions 2 and 4 respectively.

I plan to use this 5 way, 24 leg super switch and the original pots that came with the strat.

If anyone has insight on how to wire this setup, I'd be very grateful.

[curtisa]

Sounds a lot like the switching pattern for an Ibanez RG7620. Only exception might be position 2 which used the two inner coils in parallel, but I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to modify for outer coils (physically rotating both pickups by 180 degrees would even do it). You wouldn't consider using the Ibanez 5-way switch instead?

What humbuckers are you using? Wiring colour codes will be important in suggesting a diagram.

[TKGrey]

I'm using GFS Dream 180s, with the kwikplug. I read your post here and it seems I'm in the same boat as Dougfir.

I think I may buy a push pull pot for the split, as it'll provide me with the middle position tele-like tone I'm after, but it seems the 4th position strat is out of reach.

Thank you for your help, "What humbuckers are you using?" was certainly the question to ask. So silly GFS doesn't offer 5-lead by default in my opinion.

[curtisa]

4 hours ago, TKGrey said:

but it seems the 4th position strat is out of reach.

Yes, to my understanding the Kwikplug system doesn't allow you to split-and-parallel a humbucker with itself. You need to get access to all four conductors of the humbucker to do a series/parallel humbucker configuration, and even the version of Kwikplug cable that provides the most connections only gives you access to three (the junction between the two coils in the humbucker is frustratingly hardwired out to only one conductor).

You could potentially wire it similar to an Ibanez RG620, which is very nearly the same as what you're after:

1. Bridge humbucker
2. Bridge inner single + neck outer single
3. Bridge humbucker + neck humbucker
4. Neck outer single
5. Neck humbucker

If you were hell-bent on making position 2 'both outer singles' you could physically spin the bridge humbucker around 180 degrees in the guitar for a quick fix. That just leaves position 4 as being not quite what you were originally after, namely a split humbucker rather than a parallel-wired humbucker.