58/15'S' Humbucker in parallel?

[Julian]

Hey all, hope you're well.

Has anyone had any experience putting PRS humbuckers, specifically 58/15'S', in parallel. I wanted to change the wiring on my bridge since the coil tap is limiting. Is this possible, and does anyone have wiring diagrams for it?

 

[CrimesAgainstMusic]

Uh ... no expert here ... But don't you mean in Series ? I mean when they are both used together , they are probably used in parallel

Or are you wanting to "un-humbuckerize" the individual coils, and use them is parallel ?

 

[Jim Halinda]

I can't tell you how to do it, but it is definitely possible.

I have a 35th anniversary Custom 24 SE, and one of the coil split switches died after 6 months. I talked to my friend who's also a guitar tech at a local music store, and asked if he could replace the 2 way switches with 3 way switches so I could have series/split/parallel options for each pickup.

He figured it out. and it sounds great! In parallel mode, each pickup sounds somewhere in between regular series wiring and coil split.

It might be subtle to some, but I certainly find it useful and I use all 3 switch positions when gigging.

 

[Birdsofprey]

The original Ibanez Tri Sound.

 

[Jim Halinda]

The original Ibanez Tri Sound.

Exactly what I was going for! I don’t know why it isn’t more popular.

 

[Toolmaster Of Brainerd]

I haven't tried it, but it's possible, and I generally like the sound of humbuckers in parallel more than split.

As for wiring, it would be the same as any series/parallel wiring diagram you can find. The only thing to do is to figure out the pickup wire color coding. For that, just use a multimeter.

 

[Julian]

Uh ... no expert here ... But don't you mean in Series ? I mean when they are both used together , they are probably used in parallel

Or are you wanting to "un-humbuckerize" the individual coils, and use them is parallel ?

Exactly your last point, while middle position uses both hums in parallel, the actual coils within a humbucker are connected in series. I wanted to have my push pull for bridge put the coils in parallel rather than series, and get more of that position 2 single coil sound.

I ended up taking it to a guitar tech and hope he’ll be able to get the job done.

 

[pipthepilot]

Exactly your last point, while middle position uses both hums in parallel, the actual coils within a humbucker are connected in series. I wanted to have my push pull for bridge put the coils in parallel rather than series, and get more of that position 2 single coil sound.

I ended up taking it to a guitar tech and hope he’ll be able to get the job done.

Hi Julian,

This can be done with a simple DPDT switch, such as a coil splitting switch.

Referring to my diagram below, in the DOWN position the North Finish and South Start (PRS Red wires) are connected in Series. When the switch is in the UP position, North Finish is now grounded and the South Start is connected to HOT.

As PRS pickups use RED for both NF and SS wires, you will need a multimeter to check which wire is which.

 

[Julian]

Hi Julian,

This can be done with a simple DPDT switch, such as a coil splitting switch.

Referring to my diagram below, in the DOWN position the North Finish and South Start (PRS Red wires) are connected in Series. When the switch is in the UP position, North Finish is now grounded and the South Start is connected to HOT.

As PRS pickups use RED for both NF and SS wires, you will need a multimeter to check which wire is which.

This is INCREDIBLE. Thank you so much! How can I use a multimeter to identify NF & SS?

 

[pipthepilot]

How can I use a multimeter to identify NF & SS?

Your pickup should have 4 wires, White, Black and two Red ones. The black wire and one of the red whiles will be one coil, the white wire with the other red wire is the second coil.

Neck (Bass)
White (Hot) = South Start
Red (Split) = South Finish

Red (Split) = North Start
Black (Gnd) = North Finish

Bridge (Treble)
Black (hot) = North Start
Red (Split) = North Finish

Red (Split) = South Start
White (Gnd) = South Finish

Select the Continuity test function on the multimeter and touch one probe to the white or black wire, then touch one of the red wires with the second probe. When the multimeter beeps you'll know which link wire is connected to black or white

Note that the switch diagram above is for the bridge pickup. For the neck, you need South Finish and North Start.

 

[pipthepilot]

Here you go, a complete wiring diagram.

 

[Julian]

Here you go, a complete wiring diagram.

Wow thank you so much! Where do you find your wiring diagrams, or if you make them yourself, what software do you use?

 

[pipthepilot]

Where do you find your wiring diagrams, or if you make them yourself, what software do you use?

I create my own diagrams using Adobe Illustrator. I've replaced or modified the electrics on every guitar I've ever owned so I've built up quite a collection of diagrams over time

 

[Julian]

I create my own diagrams using Adobe Illustrator. I've replaced or modified the electrics on every guitar I've ever owned so I've built up quite a collection of diagrams over time

I can see why! Just set both push pulls to series/parallel and wow the buckers sounds incredible! Gives my bridge pickup that Knopfler position 2 and brought my neck pickup to life (less oomph and more clarity)! Obviously a strat is a strat but I would easily confuse it for positions 2 and 4 when in parallel.

Coil tap was good but not special, this change made me love with my S2 594 even more!

For those wondering, I am still using stock 58/15'S' humbuckers on both bridge and neck.