Will This Wiring Work?

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I don't have much experience with electronics but I've been looking at various wiring diagram and have came up with my own diagram which I hope will achieve what I want. Could someone with more experience check this and let me know if it will work as I hope?



The left side is a Fender Super Switch and on the right is a DPDT toggle switch.

I want the following when the toggle switch is down:

Position 1 - full bridge humbucker, affected only by volume pot 2
Position 2 - middle and split bridge coil, affected only by volume pot 1
Position 3 - middle, affected only by volume pot 1
Position 4 - middle and neck, affected only by volume pot 1
Position 5 - neck, affected only by volume pot 1

And when the toggle switch is up:

Position 1 - split bridge coil, affected only by volume pot 1
Position 2 - middle and split bridge coil, affected only by volume pot 1
Position 3 - middle and split bridge coil, affected only by volume pot 1
Position 4 - split bridge coil, middle and neck, affected only by volume pot 1
Position 5 - neck and split bridge coil, affected only by volume pot 1

Is this wiring correct?

An additional question is that I often see it mentioned that on an HSS strat, you have to either choose a low-output humbucker that will match in output to the single coils but position 2 will be weak or to have a hot humbucker with around double the output of the middle pickup so that position 2 is strong but then position 1 will be a lot higher output. Wouldn't this wiring - with volume 2 turned down - allow for both position 1 and 2 to be of similar output? And, if so, is there any reason I've never seen this wiring anywhere before?

Appreciate any help.
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Comments

  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14324
    Yes. Your circuit will work. 

    Whether it possesses the ease of use of a regular Stratocaster is another matter.

    I assume that V1 is A250k and V2 is A500k. ICBM could probably suggest a neater solution to your needs involving a stacked 250/500k pot.

    Be seeing you.
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  • normula1normula1 Frets: 639
    A partial split on a lowish output humbucker works better than a true split. I use a BK Mule with a pair of Kinman Woodstocks and get great results. I prefer to voice the screw coil, but I know many others voice the slug.
    On this particular guitar I used a multi-turn preset and just tweaked it until I got the best bridge/middle sound. This happily matches very well with the other single coil sounds.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    There is a big problem. The outputs of the volume pots are connected together, so turning *either* of them down will affect the volume and tone at all times - tone more than volume until it gets close to zero, then mute the output. Also, because they're effectively in parallel, even if they're both 500K the load will be 250K.

    You need to arrange it so outputs of the volumes are switched as well as the inputs - there may be enough contacts available on the superswitch to do this, although it will need working out...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • thegummythegummy Frets: 4389
    Thanks for the replies.

    @ICBM - I thought there might be some electronics law that would throw a spanner in the works. I've came up with an alternative diagram based on your advice, hopefully this one will work.

    I think there will be a difference where the split bridge in position 1 would now be controlled by the 500k volume 2 which could cause it to be even brighter than normal - I'd be okay with that, it's not a position I use much anyway.



    Thanks again for all the advice, hopefully you can let me know if this one will work.

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    Not quite - when the toggle switch is up then both volume controls will be in parallel again - it won't mute the sound this time, but it will give an effective 250K value even if both are 500s, and if you want V1 to be a 250K then it will be 167K, which will make the tone muddy.

    This is not an easy thing to work out...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • thegummythegummy Frets: 4389
    Damn lol

    If I just got rid of the bridge-on part and made the switch just a coil split in position 1, would that solve all the problems?

    If so, I might just have to sacrifice the neck + bridge sound in order to make it work if I can't figure out any other way.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    The easiest solution is to use two of the superswitch poles to select the volume pots (one pole for input, one for output, wired the same as your upper left pole in the diagram), which then leaves two poles to select which pickups are on - one or two in any switch position. Then use the toggle purely as a coil split.

    Whether there are any alternatives which get you closer to what you've listed, I'm not sure. It will take a lot of bits of paper and pencil work :). Sometimes there are clever shortcuts which can get you around pole limitations, but they usually only appear obvious with hindsight ;).

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14324
    edited November 2017
    thegummy said:
    achieve what I want ...  if it will work as I hope
    Er, you have not actually stated what it is that you desire this circuit to do - in terms of practical uses, not in purely electrical terms.
    thegummy said:
    if I can't figure out any other way.
    I recent months, somebody (very probably ICBM) has posted about how to modify a regular Stratocaster control harness so that single coils "see" a 250k volume pot and humbuckers "see" a 500k.

    With dual volume pots in circuit after the selector switch, there is always likely to be a path to the common ground that will allow both pots to influence the overall output level. 
    Be seeing you.
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  • thegummythegummy Frets: 4389
    ICBM said:
    The easiest solution is to use two of the superswitch poles to select the volume pots (one pole for input, one for output, wired the same as your upper left pole in the diagram), which then leaves two poles to select which pickups are on - one or two in any switch position. Then use the toggle purely as a coil split.

    Whether there are any alternatives which get you closer to what you've listed, I'm not sure. It will take a lot of bits of paper and pencil work :). Sometimes there are clever shortcuts which can get you around pole limitations, but they usually only appear obvious with hindsight ;).
    Thanks again, I really do appreciate your help here. I wonder if the following is a good solution; I've taken out the "auto-split" in position 2 and could use the toggle switch to choose whether or not to split the humbucker in that position.


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  • thegummythegummy Frets: 4389
    thegummy said:
    achieve what I want ...  if it will work as I hope
    Er, you have not actually stated what it is that you desire this circuit to do - in terms of practical uses, not in purely electrical terms.
    thegummy said:
    if I can't figure out any other way.
    I recent months, somebody (very probably ICBM) has posted about how to modify a regular Stratocaster control harness so that single coils "see" a 250k volume pot and humbuckers "see" a 500k.

    With dual volume pots in circuit after the selector switch, there is always likely to be a path to the common ground that will allow both pots to influence the overall output level. 
    Thanks mate - I'm not really sure what you mean by practical terms sorry.

    In addition to the 250/500k thing, I do also want the separate volume controls so I could turn down just the bridge and be able to switch quickly between the neck and bridge without too much of a change in volume. Is that perhaps what you meant by practical uses? If so, being able to do that is a lot more important to me than being able to quickly switch between the autosplit position 2 and the full humbucker bridge so the latest diagram I posted wouldn't be much of an issue for me.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    Now you've got the volume pots wired backwards :). Swap the pink and orange wires at the top of the switch.

    You can't do the auto-split as you've drawn it because it will mean the neck pickup is always on at the same time as the bridge when the manual coil split is on, because the yellow and red wires are connected to the same terminal. Moving the yellow wire to the other (empty) 5 terminal should fix that.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • thegummythegummy Frets: 4389
    Thanks very much ICBM, you've really helped me out a lot I greatly appreciate it.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    Wait and see if it actually works ;)... or if I've overlooked something :).

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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