HSS Wiring with a Super-Switch

jaymenon

I really like this wiring for a HSS strat, in that 4 positions are hum-cancelling (with useful sounds too)

Particularly unusual is that:
Position 1: Bridge HB
Position 2: One coil of HB + middle pickup (hum-cancelling)
Position 3: the other coil of the HB and the neck pickup (also hum-cancelling, sounds a bit like a tele)
Position 4: Neck and middle
Postion 5L Neck only (not hum-cancelling, but that's okay)

If I want to use two tone controls, one for the neck (or neck and middle) and one for the bridge, how would I connect the wires please?

Also how would I do the 500K resistor thing to make the HB see 500K but the single coils see 250K? And what value will apply in the in-between positions?

https://i.imgur.com/wRKQojx.jpg

Cheers
Jay

March

470k resistors are normally what is recommended to tune a circuit so that single coils see 250k when using a 500k volume pot.

Six String Supplies has a couple of useful diagrams that might be useful as a reference point, but they may need adapting slightly to achieve the results you want.

https://www.sixstringsupplies.co.uk/super-strat-hss

Fez

Good diagrams thanks for posting.

ICBM

Yes, this is straightforward with a four-pole switch - two poles are for pickup selection, one pole for tone control selection, and one for coil splitting. The 470K resistor goes in parallel with the tone control for the single-coil positions (switch to ground) so doesn't need a separate pole.

The limitation is that depending on the magnetic polarity of the humbucker relative to the single coils, you may not be able to get the 'correct' coil active in the 2 and 3 positions, but if so it should be possible to achieve by swapping the single coils round, assuming they're the same spec.

So it would be wired:

Pole 1 (pickup 1)

Rotor - volume pot
1-3 - neck pickup
4 - middle pickup
5 - no connection

Pole 2 (pickup 2)

Rotor - volume pot
1 - no connection
2 - middle pickup
3-5 - bridge pickup full output

Pole 3 (tone control)

Rotor - volume pot
1-4 - single coil tone control and 470K resistor
5 - humbucker tone control

Pole 4 (coil split)

Rotor - humbucker coil junction
1 & 2 - no connection
3 - ground
4 - humbucker full output
5 - no connection

(3 and 4 may need to be reversed depending on polarity)

I would use separate tone caps as well as pots, which will allow 250K/.047uF for the single coils and 500K/.022uF for the humbucker.

jaymenon

Thanks @ICBM ;;;for taking so much trouble - but I'm a little confused...

I did a little diagram, would you please advise me if I've labelled the poles and terminals correctly? Once you've confirmed, I'll label the connections for your approval :-)

Also:

 Poles 1 & 2 - are you counting 1-5 the opposite direction that I am?

Pole 3: not utilised in the diagram I posted, but I would very much like
1st tone control for neck (and middle if necessary)
2nd tone control for bridge

Pole 4: I'm confused (since humbucker full output went to pole 2?)

https://i.imgur.com/nRARJST.jpg

ICBM

My pole names are just for convenience - any of them will work for any of the functions. Position 1 is the terminals that are engaged when the lever is in the neck position - they will be at the bridge end of the switch, so as you've drawn it the neck of the guitar is at the bottom of the diagram.

If you want the 470K resistor added in the single coil positions to given an effective 250K volume pot, the upper tone control must also work in all those positions - ie 1 to 4 - you can't have it in just the neck and neck/middle positions, you would need another switch pole to do that.

The alternative is just to use a 250K volume pot and not worry about that, then you can have the upper tone control in positions 1 and 2 and the lower in positions 3 to 5 if you want. You still can't have both tone controls working at the same time though.

jaymenon

Thanks @ICBM ;- I'm learning this, and I've brought it thus far:

As viewed from the undersurface of the pickguard (the view while soldering

Position 1: Bridge HB

Position 5: Neck Single Coil 

https://i.imgur.com/7dzsY0v.jpg

Pole 1
1 - 
2 - middle pickup
3, 4 & 5 - neck pickup
Rotor - to volume pot
Can I short terminals 3-5 to the 1st tone control?

Pole 2
1, 2 & 3 - bridge pickup
4 - middle pickup
5 - 
Rotor to volume pot
Can I short terminals 1-3 to the 2nd tone control?

So no tone control for the middle pickup.

Pole 3 The coil split
DiMarzio Wiring (so black + white is the HB's shunted series connection, which needs to be connected to ground to coil  split the pickup
But how do I make one coil active in position 2 and the other coil active in position 3?
Rotor - HB series connection
1 - 
2 - ground (so in position 2 coil split)
3 - to volume pot???
4 - 
5 - 

Pole 4
1 -
2, 3, 4 & 5 to ground via a 470K resistor
(or only position 5 to ground via a 470K resistor)

ICBM

That should work - there are usually several ways to achieve more or less the same thing - although it’s easier and neater to connect Pole 3 Position 3 to the volume pot connection on the switch, not to the pot itself. You select each coil by connecting the junction to either ground or hot, thus bypassing one coil or the other.

The advantage of your way with the tone controls connected directly to the neck and bridge pickups, if you prefer this, is that both tone controls will work in Position 3. There’s no need for one on the middle pickup because it’s never used on its own.

jaymenon

Thanks John

So pole 3 and pole 4 as I have described should work?

If I find the wrong coils of the bridge humbucker are active in positions 2 and 3, I would swap the junction and connect it to hot...

Okay. I'm going to have some fun :-)

ICBM

Yes. If the wrong coils are on, swap the connections to positions 2 and 3 on Pole 3.

jaymenon

Thank you so so much John...