AXofBSR

Yeah, the pickups will switch between in series and in parallell with each other, but the coils will still be in series with each other internally. It will not get you the HB in parallell sound people usually reffer to when discussing alternatives to coil cutting to get a more single coi-lish sound from a HB.

It's done! Thanks for the advice... the guitar does exactly what I want it to and that is sing like a bird and growl like a behemoth whenever I so please, all with the flip of a switch...

Yeah, the pickups will switch between in series and in parallell with each other, but the coils will still be in series with each other internally. It will not get you the HB in parallell sound people usually reffer to when discussing alternatives to coil cutting to get a more single coi-lish sound from a HB.

That's fine. That's what I'm going for. I want to have the top coil of the humbucker tapped and in series and out of phase with my single coil.

There's a mod down at the bottom of this page, a series/parallel switch for a humbucker...

http://alexplorer.net/guitar/mods/serpar.html

Well, in theory could I not, since I have only two pickups, replace "coil one" with "pickup one" and "coil two" with "pickup two" and have a diagram that would switch my two pickups between series and parallel?

I'm trying to finish wiring my guitar and here is my dilemma...

I have a single coil and a humbucker...

i'm trying to do this with two 3 way dpdt switches...

Wiring in series...

the single coil should be wired to on/off/parallel and the humbucker to on/off/single (north)

*EDIT*

I have two diagrams for wiring the selectors, would it work to wire the hot output from the neck pickup to the opposite pole of the hot output on the bridge pickup?

You could use a somewhat thinner piece for the template; as long as it's thick enough to make a slot for the neck and still leave something for the router to ride on.

As for how deep, that depends on how you're mounting the pickups, the depth of the pickups, and the distance between the strings and the body.

I keep thinking and I think it's probably best that I use rings because they have the capability of height adjustment... the problem is that I need black blasting rings and I can't find any that would fit the CB.

You could use a 3/4" thick piece of MDF to make a pickup cavity template, and cut a slot in the bottom to accommodate the portion of the neck that the template would cover. This way it would rest flat against the body of the guitar and have a large flat surface for the router to ride on.

That's pretty smart... I will have to try that... Only thing is finding a bit long enough to do so... Also, how deep should I rout it?

Well, I began working on my guitar that I've named the Nightshade. It's thru-neck guitar (neck purchased from Carvin) and the wings are purpleheart.

(I have some pics here but none are since I've glued and sanded the body)

You can see the pickups and hardware (that have not been mounted yet) on lying on the guitar and you probably don't recognize them. The Chromed pickup is a classic British pickup from Adeson and the humbucker is his Lucifer pickup... Well, I'm now glued and I'm having a hard time getting ready to rout for these pickups and I'm not wanting to use a pick guard... I have decided that if I must I will use mounting rings for both of them (wasn't planning on it but the idea is growing on me)... The problem is that I have a router but the base is so large that I can't rout for the single coil because it's too close to the neck. I have a Rotozip but it drops the bits often and I don't want that to happen, and it's not quite as smooth as I would like. Furthermore, I don't know where to go to find a mounting ring that will fit a trisonic/CB sized pickup.

Any advice would rock.

I've heard that it will turn if I use Tung Oil...

I am making a body out of purpleheart and am wanting something flat that's gonna air seal it so that it wont turn. (Btw, it is oxygen sensitive not photo sensitive.)

I have a Carvin thru-neck that I'm making this for and the body of it is unfinished and I'm wanting something flat that look alright with the unfinished maple.

Don't think there's much more to say.

Your amp will determine your tone more than your pickups will, stylewise at least... Besides you need to move away from a concept of best to a concept of "what is my preference?". I'd say go onto the tone wizard on the seymour duncan website.

Close is normally good enough especially if you don't actually have anything to compare it too. The most important thing is surely whether it sounds any good? You could take the pickups from the original Red Special & put them in a strat & they'll sound different, you could even put them in one of the replicas & they'll sound different...they are just a single component that is subject to many manufacturing defects & quirks. How do you know that the person/people that said they weren't exact aren't comparing them to a poor batch of original pickups or to a set that were slightly overwound?

If you're looking for perfection you'll forever be disappointed

thats absolutely right, theres no point bothering if they dont sound good, thats why i would rather have the kent armstrong pickups, at least they have experience in making high quality products.

the only 2 places ive seen that make them to any sortof standard are ;

http://www.adeson.co.uk/

and

http://www.kentarmstrong.com

trying them side by side with real vintage tri sonics and they probably all sound different, ive got a set of kent ones (6.4k) they are decent for the price i paid (£70 on ebay for 3)

I like the Adesons... I can't find trisonics on ebay or I'd just buy those... I wanna wind my own but I don't think I have the resources...

the kent armstrong ones are supposed to be the same as the originals

wdmusic sells them.

Nope... They're close but not the same... I know that somebody gave ma link to some that were trisonic clones (vintage correct) and were much cheaper than the Kent Armstrong....

Also, if I were to put these in a guitar but wanted a HSS config, anybody know of any humbucker that would be a decent match for these?

have you compared the kent armstrong ones to the originals ?

Saw a thing on the The Red Special website that said they were close but not exact.

the kent armstrong ones are supposed to be the same as the originals

wdmusic sells them.

Nope... They're close but not the same... I know that somebody gave ma link to some that were trisonic clones (vintage correct) and were much cheaper than the Kent Armstrong....

Also, if I were to put these in a guitar but wanted a HSS config, anybody know of any humbucker that would be a decent match for these?

Anywhere to find these?

I'm actually thinking of modeling it after an invader...

And that will probably not sound anything like a “Trisonic-Bucker”

nonono... I don't want it to sound like a Tri-Bucker... because then where would the orignality be?

the magnet still shouldnt effect the resistance humbucker or not, you could take 2 trisonics apart and wire them as a humbucker (and split the coils half way thru) that would make it half the resistance on each coil totaling about 6.4k

I'm afraid I'm not following you... Ceramic magnets create a higher output because they're stronger than Alnicos...

I'm actually thinking of modeling it after an invader...

I know that the 5000 turns of a Tri-V gets 6.4k (because of the ceramic magnets)... I actually don't want the humbucker to be super-hot because after it gets so hot the distortion (I've found) loses definition and turns to mush...

i dont think the magnets have an affect on the resistance do they ? (when its wound it wont have a magnet attached)

oops, I didn't refresh my page before I edited... I want to make a humbucker as i described above...

You can du that. It will work. But don't expect that HB to be very hot. Sound wise it will be a fairly traditional pickup when it comes to output. Hot HBs often start with 7000 turns/coil but more isn’t unusual.

As I stated before I have no first hand experience of the trisonics. How are the output of those things compared to say a Strat, a Tele and a P90-equiped guitar? That information will help you get an even output from the pickups. If you want them to be even! I often wind a Strat set with falling numbers of turns (bridge = hottest) and most people think that they are pretty even in output. You have much more movement of the strings near the neck and that will induce more current in the neck pickup then the bridge (and middle).

Now to me it sounds like you need to consider a lot of things before you do this. This I say without any attempt to discourage you. You just need to get all factors together before you make decisions. Hot HB and “vintage correct” trisonics doesn’t really seem to add up to a nice combination when looking at the specs. But then again if you make the HB a “double” SC and only run one of the coils of the HB together with any of the other SCs you will probably be fine.

I know that the 5000 turns of a Tri-V gets 6.4k (because of the ceramic magnets)... I actually don't want the humbucker to be super-hot because after it gets so hot the distortion (I've found) loses definition and turns to mush...

... however...

That still wont be enough... how could I tonally make something comparable to what would be described as a "Trisonic-Bucker"...

Foil will not compensate for the distance AFAIK. Foil will shield the coil against electromagnetic interference (less hum) and might change the sound (compare a HB with and w/o cover). The problem isn’t the material itself. It is the difference in thickness between thin sheet metal and wood. That difference will place the actual coil further away from the strings. I wouldn’t worry too much about that part. With strong magnets that is a minor problem.

the bucker I'm making is gonna be fairly hot and the pickups will be wired in series... therefore... I don't think it would take away so much that I'd worry... Of course I might give it a few extra turns (The Tri-V's are 5000 wound the Tri-VI's are 6000, what if I wound it closer to 5500 times? I don't know a whole ton about pickups but logically speaking it would be hotter than the V and not as hot as the VI and tonally somewhere between...)....

A hot HB and traditional SCs with “only†5000 to 6000 turns would not be a good match. A Fender Strat SC is wound to something around 7500 turns and they don’t really match a hot HB. Now this is a completely different beast. The ceramic magnet will add some output but I doubt that it will be enough. As I have no first person experience from winding this type of pickup I can only give you some other info as a reference. My T90 (Telecaster version ofP90 match most “normal†HBs in output and I wind them to 12000 turns for the bridge!

I was thinking of making the humbucker with the same turns (per coil) as the singlecoils... well, what I mean to say is, wire two singles together to make a humbucker (I'm fairly sure that people do it that way...)

There is a lot of strange things happening in and around pickups (like eddy current, skin effect and so on) but all of those have one thing in common: They involve materials that are at least electrically conductive, and more often also magneticaly. Wood can only influence the sound in one way. A wooden cover have to be thicker then a metal one and the distance from the strings to the active parts of the pickup will be slightly longer.

Well, I have a lot of Purpleheart laying around... I was thinking of putting some inlay on top of it too... make some unique pup covers... What if I put some foil inside the cover? Wouldn't it help make up for the distance from the string to the pickup? Also, the bucker I'm making is gonna be fairly hot and the pickups will be wired in series... therefore... I don't think it would take away so much that I'd worry... Of course I might give it a few extra turns (The Tri-V's are 5000 wound the Tri-VI's are 6000, what if I wound it closer to 5500 times? I don't know a whole ton about pickups but logically speaking it would be hotter than the V and not as hot as the VI and tonally somewhere between...)....

i doubt theres any spares around for trisonics i was looking for some screws and none will fit, i emailed WD music asking if they stocked spares and said they could order some from the factory but never got back to me maybe they can find you some covers but its like trying to get blood out of a stone.

I know a guy that owns a metal shop not to far from here and I'm gonna see if he can't press them... now... I've seen wooden pup covers... do they take anything away sonically?

I've decided to use a satin finish NC Lacquer after I grainfill... I found a good tutorial on filling with epoxy... Only thing is, the only finishes I can find are Minwax which you said not to you... btw, are all Lacquers NC? Will any lacquer work?

Ahaaa! I didn’t see that!

If I were to do it I would make a top and bottom flange around a “standing” bar magnet, pretty much like the fender pickups, but substituting the rod magnets with the bar. I might also tape the3 magnet with masking tape to cover the sharper edges to wear through the insulation. I have no idea if this will fit into ANY cover, but it is the easiest way to approximate the old manufacturing method

That doesn't make a huge amount of sense...

Lets define a few terms here:

"'standing' bar magnet": meaning, get a bar magnet about the same height as the poles and stand it on its side?

... I wonder if it would be possible to make a cover... Anyways, I think black flatwork would look good, I've decided to go with all black hardware...

If you can cope with the concept of steel poles and a ceramic bar magnet under the bobbins you can make the bobbin out of forbon (black fibre/paper material traditional for fender type pickups). You can also construct them the way fender pickups are done. Two flanges with a row of holes for the pole pieces. The tightly fitted pole pieces hold the flanges in place. Or you can add a drop of CA glue to be sure. You can get the forbon from Stewmac, SKguitars and other places. You will need some type of eyelets too. Stewmac carries the eyelets and the tool to use them. Or I can make them for you. PM me if you would like me to do it.

Another way of doing this (and a way of getting it closer to original specs) is to wind the coil directly onto a bar magnet with added forbon flanges.

On a side notes I think that 5000 turns sounds like very little. I have no experience with the real deal, but at www.brianmayworld.com it is stated that “A Tri-Sonic pick-up could be between 6KOhm (6000Ohms) to 8KOhm (8000Ohms).” If you use the more commonly available AWG42 you will have to wind between 7000 and 10 000 turns for that DC resistance. Of cause AWG42 will let more treble through (lower DC resistance compared to AWG44 -> less Treble attenuation) and make for a bulkier coil (will it fit in the cover?). It is also the number of turns, not the DC resistance that determines the output of the pickup. I have written about this before on this forum (“proving” it with physical formulas). If interested, pls do a search.

http://www.brianmayworld.com/trisonics.htm

"Tri-5

These pick-ups have a lower winding specification (5000 turns), which makes them brighter and closer to the original “vintage” pick-ups. "

"Both types use Ceramic magnets and are wound with 44 gauge American size wire. The Middle pick-up is Reverse Wound/Reverse Polarity.

They are available in Chrome or Gold."

Now if I were to wind them straight on to a bar magnet.. how would I go about this (more specifically) do you have any resource on this method?