Okay, I'm sure someone (
@ICBM?) posted how to do this, but I can't find it!
So I have a 500k volume, 500k tone (both log), a mini switch (which I'll use to coil tap the pickups - will look at the duncan wiring site to see how that's done but convert to Gibson pickup wire colours) and a 500k linear pot, which should work as a blend.
Can anyone knock me up a quick diagram showing how I'd wire the two pickups to it? It's wire with 5 wires (as in 4 conductor, plus shield?) but the most important ones for this, I'm guessing, will be the hot (RED) and the shield (nekkid, ooer) while the GREEN and WHITE are used for the coil tap. Not sure what the black does
I wish I was more electronically schooled.
Many thanks for any advice
it's 2 humbuckers btw. So it should go pickups -> 500k Linear (as blend) -> DPDT switch -> volume -> tone -> output. Or maybe I have the tone and volume the wrong way around, but they're already wired up - I just need to do the mini switch and the blendy pot.
Comments
The hot of the first pickup goes to one end of the blend pot and from there to the volume pot.
The cold (but not shield) of the first pickup and the hot of the second pickup go to the middle of the blend pot.
The cold and shield of the second pickup (and the shield of the first pickup) go to the other end of the blend pot and then to ground.
Now it gets more complicated - the coil split connections go to the mini-switch and then to whichever end of the pickup turns off the coil you don't want.
But to know which wires are which, you need to know the manufacturer's colour coding, which varies - eg, Duncan is: black = hot, red & white = coil split, green = cold. (Bare is always shield.)
"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
You can't send the coil splits to ground on both pickups - the 'first' pickup in the description above is not grounded, so its coil split needs to go to its cold connection and not to ground. The 'second' one can go to ground, but only because that is *also* the cold connection. If that gives you the wrong coils - with actual Gibson pickups it will, the 'slug' coil is the hot end - you need to switch it to the hot connection for each pickup instead.
"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
Yes, that all looks correct. Now all you have to do is connect the other mini-switch terminals to either the red or black wire from each pickup, depending on which coil you want to turn off. (Obviously make sure you connect each to the same pickup, not the other one!)
"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
"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
Does the rest of the diagram look alright now? It's a wee bit more complex than I anticipated, but if that's it, it's doable - I have tomorrow off so I'll be experimenting and cooking solder all day!
The only thing that might not work as you intended is that you have the coil splits operating on opposite coils of each pickup - but that has one advantage, which is that the mixed single coil sound is 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
Awesome, many thanks man. I'll click the wisdom button in the morning for you
Nothing no buzz, no hum, no signal regardless of where the pots are set.
I'm going to see if I can buy a ready made Blend pot loom again. It was horrendous, working with the wiring in such a confined space.
If I can't get one, I'll have it wired as 2 volumes, a global tone and a coil tap. Might be a bit easier?
The ultra fine wires in 4 conductor wire really make it difficult to do
Persevere - it's the only way to learn.
That is what I will do. I'll order a few new pots - but might give up on the blend pot.
The toughest bit is still the 4 conductor wiring though, which has to be done in-guitar.
So, should I go for volume - volume - tone and a coil tap, or should I go for the blend pot again?
Bah. I don't know where it's gone wrong, I'm assuming wires are damaged and the joints are bad. They don't look as pretty as normal...