Hi,
I have a guy routing my guitar (Vigier Ultrablues) to install a humbucker in the neck position of my guitar - actually a single coil sized stacked humbucker - deeper than the existing single coil, hence the routing. The guitar is currently SSH and the pickups are direct mounted...no scratchplate / cavity hence the routing necessity. So, I'll end up with HSH.
He'll do the wiring (actually his dad)....but I don't want to take any chances (I know the guy is great at his woodwork - he builds classical guitars from scratch, I have no idea of his dad's capabilities) hence this query.....
The pickups are actually all Dimarzio.
I'm looking for a single coil-like option for the new pickup - and will supply a push push pot (I don't like push pull for live work) to coil tap. But in reality I don't know if a coil split (tap) or the two coils in parallel are going to give me the effect I'm looking for. Hopefully I'm not confused and normal HB wiring is the coils in series.
So I was thinking, there must be a way to have a simple switch tucked away in the control cavity that sits between the new HB and the DPDT switch on the pot. And I'm hoping there is a way to wire that switch such that the push/push pot/switch will either go from full humbucker to coil split or to coils in parallel.
Does that make sense?
If so, does and clever and kind person have a wiring diagram / illustration they could provide?
I'm only looking to do this for the neck stacked humbucker, not the bridge.
Apologies if this is unclear.
Thanks,
Andy
Comments
My OCD demands I work out how to wire my first option though
It's because in order to cancel hum, the two coils are out of phase, and rely on the lower coil being much less sensitive in order to not cancel much of the string signal - but some still is. So bypassing the lower coil actually makes the upper coil louder.
ie, you want parallel, which also has the benefit of remaining hum-cancelling.
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Any idea if parallel or split would sound most like a true single coil? This was part of my reason for trying to get the thing wired up so I could swap between the two easily.
The other annoying thing is I don't see how to establish which coil is the upper coil. I kind of assume the red to black.....as for single coils...those are the colours they use for positive / negative...but I don't see the information on the website, and the information that came with the pickup is generic.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Andy
I don't know, but you could test it easily by temporarily bypassing one or the other - the (probably much) louder is the upper coil.
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I have done series/parallel mode switching on DiMarzio Track type pickups. I agree with Winny_Pooh that the option is of limited benefit unless the pickup is of high output. e.g. The Air Norton S.
In Gibson P-100s and Seymour Duncan P90 Stacks, the coils are vastly overwound because they are intended to be connected in parallel.
For the parallel mode output from a Stack to equate to a traditional single coil P90, each of its coils needs to be roughly double the notional DC resistance of the traditional single coil.
Upper stack coil = between 16 and 18k.
Lower stack coil = between 16 and 18k.
16 + 16 = 32
32/4 = 8
Switch off the lower coil and you get a single coil of between 16 and 18k. It is likely to sound loud but murky.
I once experimented with partial coil split on a P90 Stack. My hope was to use a trim pot to set a compromise sweet spot between noise rejection and the traditional P90 goodness. This failed.
The series/parallel thing with a DiMarzio Air Norton S is another compromise. It works well enough in an Eighties Charvel played through MESA V-Twin overdrive. Clean, it would fool nobody - either as a humbucker or as a Stratocaster.
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
In that case it will behave like a normal humbucker when split or parallel - quieter and clearer split, slightly quieter still and a bit thin parallel. You may indeed need to A/B the two sounds to know which is best for you... although parallel does have the advantage of hum-cancelling, and to me sounds less gutless than it does on a full-size one, probably just because the coils are much closer together.
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein