Wiring challenge (enter if you dare...)

[Carlos Rivera]

Hi everyone. I have a difficult question for you. I have to change all electronics in my Tremonti Custom SE, as I want to swap the stock active EMGs with passive pups. Obviously, I have to buy brand new pots. Any suggestion? Furthermore, I was thinking about a smart wiring, to make my gear a very versatile one... But always keeping in mind that "the simplest, the better". I would love to find a way to make a "parallel neck - split coil bridge" middle position. With a 3-way toggle, the easiest way should be using 4 push-pulls: two separate split coils and two separate series/parallel switches. But I'd prefer to avoid too much electronics, to keep it as simple as posdible with only 2 push-pulls at least. My idea is one master coil split and one series/parallel switch just for the neck. Is it possible to make the master coil split working only for the bridge when the neck is parallel? In other words, the master coil split should work for both pups when both are in series, and only for the bridge when neck is parallel connected. Am I dreaming? Or could it work?
http://youtu.be/QkjD3D5FgmE

 

[Deleted member 7139]

Swap your toggle with a dimarzio ep#1111 to have bridge / bridge split+neck parallel / neck
Maybe add push pulls to make split coils for position 1 and 3

AFAIK, you're pretty limited with a toggle. If you had a blade, I'd have suggested to get a prs 5 way or a superswitch P to replicate the cu24 wiring

 

[Carlos Rivera]

Uhm... There's no space for a blade, I should modify the wood strutture...
With the DiMarzio toggle, coil split would only affect position 1 and 3?

 

[Deleted member 7139]

Don't know. for example john petrucci bfr guitars have this schematic:

bridge humbucker
bridge + neck split in parallel
neck humbucker

with the push pull, you act on the center position only making it 'bridge + neck parallel' like on les paul guitars.
But you can wire it to do almost anything, as it's a 4pdt switch.

 

[wardog]

it sounds like you may need to mod with mini toggles. meaning you will need to add new hole(s) for them. Since you only want 2 push/pull, i can't think of another way to do it. use the mini toggle for the tap and the push/pull for the series/parallel. On a side not I now use push/push for all my coil-tap mods. Love them and easier to use than push/pull. They are alpha pots but you can get CTS pots if you can find them.

Here is what i use for pots. I like CTS, alpha pots the best. very smooth spin on the turn.

Vol--linear pots, yep liner, not audio. Linear pots provide a softer swell in vol than the sharp ramp of an audio pot.
Tone pot-linear for the same reason as above

Caps, I like to use orange drop but, I do have a variety of caps from different online purchases and they all do the trick.

Wire. I have tried cloth as well as modern plastic coated and metal sheath with inner cloth. The best imo depends on the mod. Meaning, I would use a 4 wire shielded for long switch control runs, i.e. guitars with switch in upper bout of guitar. Other than that any of the wire types are good. depends on your taste. What is really important is proper grounding and shielding.

I hope I helped some.

also try www.guitarelectronics.com that have number of wire setups on they wire diagram link. They also have links to most guitar brands schematic links too.

 

[DHW]

The guy I got my wiring harness for my se245 from has a harness that offers 21 combinations that would fit right in. He would need some measurements to space things properly is all.
Jonesyblues.com

Switch set to Bridge pu

1. All controls down-bridge pu in full HB Mode
2. BV pulled out-bridge pu screw coil is on
3. BV,BT pulled out-bridge pu is split and slug coil is on

Switch set to Middle position

4. All controls down-neck HB and bridge HB are parallel in phase
5. BT pulled up-neck HB and bridge HB pu's are parallel out of phase
6. BV pulled up-neck HB and bridge screw coil is on pu's are parallel in phase
7. BV,BT pulled out-neck HB and bridge slug coil on pu's are parallel out phase
8. NV pulled up-neck screw coil is on and bridge HB pu's are parallel in phase
9. NV,BT pulled up-neck screw coil is on, bridge HB pu's are parallel out of phase
10. NV,BV pulled out-Neck screw coil on, bridge screw coil on pu's are parallel in phase
11. NV,BV,BT pulled out-neck screw coil is on, bridge slug coil is on pu's are parallel out of phase

Switch set to Neck position

12. All controls down-neck is in full HB mode
13. NV pulled out-neck screw coil is on
14. NT pulled out-neck HB and bride HB series in phase
15. NT,BT pulled out-neck HB and bridge HB series out of phase
16. NT,BV pulled out-neck HB and bridge slug coil is on pu's are series in phase
17. NT,BV, BT neck HB and bridge slug coil is on pu's are series out of phase
18. NV,NT pulled out-neck screw coil is on bridge HB pu's are series in phase
19. NV,NT,BT pulled out-neck screw coil is on bridge HB pu's are series out of phase
20. NV,NT,BV-neck screw coil is on bridge screw coil is on pu's are series in phase
21. NV,NT,BV,BT-neck screw coil is on bridge screw coil is on pu's are series out of phase

 

[Carlos Rivera]

The guy I got my wiring harness for my se245 from has a harness that offers 21 combinations that would fit right in.

Thank you so much, Buddy, but it's too much for me... I would get confused...

it sounds like you may need to mod with mini toggles. meaning you will need to add new hole(s) for them. Since you only want 2 push/pull, i can't think of another way to do it. use the mini toggle for the tap and the push/pull for the series/parallel. On a side not I now use push/push for all my coil-tap mods. Love them and easier to use than push/pull. They are alpha pots but you can get CTS pots if you can find them.

[...]

I hope I helped some.

also try www.guitarelectronics.com that have number of wire setups on they wire diagram link. They also have links to most guitar brands schematic links too.

Wow, thank you, you helped a lot. I already thought about a mini toggle for the series/parallel switch, but I never consider it for the coil tap. It sounds sooo smart!! Since I don't really need 2 volumes and 2 tones, I could just swap one pot for one toggle! But I have the same doubt I had in case of very my first "double push-pull" option: can I make the coil tap work only when the humbuckers are in series?
I think I'll go with CTS. But you are the first one who suggests me the linear pots for volume... everyone seems to prefer log pots for the volume.
I know guitarelectronics, but I always looked for "2HBs 1 three-way toggle 2 vols 2 tones 2 pp" solutions, Iet's look for a "2HBs 1 three-way toggle 1 vol 2 tones 1 mini-switch"...
Thanx again to everyone! You're inspiring!

 

[Guitar Dude]

But you are the first one who suggests me the linear pots for volume... everyone seems to prefer log pots for the volume.

I agree with wardog on the linear vol. I think linear on volume is most common also (unless you are altering the taper with a treble bleed resistor, then all bets are off). I will disagree on the tone pot though, I think audio taper is pretty standard for those. However, pots are cheap, so if you want to experiment with what the different tapers do, I highly recommend trying both.

 

[Carlos Rivera]

Thanx. And what do you think about custom tapers, such as DiMarzio's or Crazy Part's CTS?

 

[Guitar Dude]

Sorry, no experience with those. I just use linear and audio taper CTS pots on everything. I did use a reverse audio taper on a blender control once. That was a fun experiment and I still use it, but I've never used a custom taper. Good tip though, I may give them a try.

 

[DHW]

Thank you so much, Buddy, but it's too much for me... I would get confused...


Wow, thank you, you helped a lot. I already thought about a mini toggle for the series/parallel switch, but I never consider it for the coil tap. It sounds sooo smart!! Since I don't really need 2 volumes and 2 tones, I could just swap one pot for one toggle! But I have the same doubt I had in case of very my first "double push-pull" option: can I make the coil tap work only when the humbuckers are in series?
I think I'll go with CTS. But you are the first one who suggests me the linear pots for volume... everyone seems to prefer log pots for the volume.
I know guitarelectronics, but I always looked for "2HBs 1 three-way toggle 2 vols 2 tones 2 pp" solutions, Iet's look for a "2HBs 1 three-way toggle 1 vol 2 tones 1 mini-switch"...
Thanx again to everyone! You're inspiring!

Audio taper on the volume pots rocks! You get very subtle changes in the first half of the taper and your big changes at the bottom. I find it very easy to really fine tune the response that way.

You said you wanted really versatile! There really isn't anything to remember. You have 4 push pull pots and you just put them where it sounds like you want it for what you are playing. Does it really matter if its in phase or out of phase or the slug coil or the screw coil or both coils if it sounds like you want it?

As far as just ordering the pots go, I really really like the 550k pots I got from Jonesy and also have had very good luck with the mojotones custom pots. Push pull are not as custom out there, they are all pretty much the same from my experience.

 

[John Beef]

can I make the coil tap work only when the humbuckers are in series?

You could get a 3 pole double throw mini toggle switch. You would use one side of it as a normal coil split for the bridge humbucker, and the other two you'd use DiMarzio's diagrams for series parallel. So, when your pickup selector toggle is in the middle, you could flip that switch and instead of having series bucker/series bucker, you'd have parallel bucker/split bucker, just like that. I believe the switch would work for each pickup individually. This sounds like what you're looking for...?

 

[John Beef]

My idea is one master coil split and one series/parallel switch just for the neck. Is it possible to make the master coil split working only for the bridge when the neck is parallel? In other words, the master coil split should work for both pups when both are in series, and only for the bridge when neck is parallel connected. Am I dreaming? Or could it work?

I went back and re-read your original thing here and had an idea. In order to have the neck not split with a master split switch when you put it in parallel mode, you'd have to somehow kill the signal to the wire from the pickup to the coil split switch. So, once again if you get a 3 pole double throw switch like I linked to above, you could use two of the poles to do the parallel thing, and the third pole to deactivate the signal running to the split switch. Then when you put the neck pickup in parallel mode like you want, it won't split if you flip the split switch. I absolutely do not know how to wire this up but with some trial and error you might be able to make it work.

 

[Carlos Rivera]

You are a fuckin' genious, buddy. Thank you very much. I'll keep you informed!

 

[Carlos Rivera]

Hi everyone. I finally did it. Well... my luthier finally did.
I removed the EMG set and the whole electronics, and made a brand new wiring. I went with 59/09 t in the bridge, and DiMarzio PAf 36th Anniversary in the neck. Master vol and master tone only, and 2 mini switches: 3 way parallel-split-series for the neck and 2 way split-series for the bridge (my 59/09 has 3 conductors). Grover locking tuners with mother-of-pearl style buttons. Sounds HUGE now, the 59/09 in particular is AWSOME, and the middle positions are each one better than the last. Veeery happy!

 

[Squiggy]

Sorry if I missed the call-out in this thread, but I've not found a wiring diagram for this scenario. I'd like to keep all of the current "partial" coil tapping that my stock S2 Standard 22 has. It's got 2 humbuckers, 1 volume, 1 push/pull tone, 3 way switch. What I'd like to go to is this: 2 humbuckers, 2 volumes (1 for each pickup), 2 mini toggles to independently tap each humbucker, 3-way switch. I've seen a lot of scenarios that are close on all of these pickup manufacturers sights, but haven't seen exactly how to wire up this scenario. Anyone got a diagram like this? "wiring newb" here as far as the locations. I have soldered lots of things fyi.

 

[garrett]

Sorry if I missed the call-out in this thread, but I've not found a wiring diagram for this scenario. I'd like to keep all of the current "partial" coil tapping that my stock S2 Standard 22 has. It's got 2 humbuckers, 1 volume, 1 push/pull tone, 3 way switch. What I'd like to go to is this: 2 humbuckers, 2 volumes (1 for each pickup), 2 mini toggles to independently tap each humbucker, 3-way switch. I've seen a lot of scenarios that are close on all of these pickup manufacturers sights, but haven't seen exactly how to wire up this scenario. Anyone got a diagram like this? "wiring newb" here as far as the locations. I have soldered lots of things fyi.

Start with the S2 Singlecut wiring, but ignore/leave out the tone controls. DPDT mini toggles work the same as push/pull switches. The trick will be grounding the mini toggles. I would use the metal sides of the switches as ground points. Rough up the surface with sandpaper first to help the solder stick and take it easy with the heat.

https://d159anurvk4929.cloudfront.net/documents/prs_s2_singlecuts_wiring_schematics.pdf