Pickup wiring help!, cheers :)

[synth002]

Hey all, this is only my second post but Im gonna just jump right in lol!

Soo!... last night after a fair amount of research I brought myself a Dimarzio EVO2 and EVOLUTION Neck.. BUT! now I have a problem, I currently have a nasty EMG81 living in my guitar atm (no neck pup atm!) so I know(well I think I know!) the electronics/pots ect need to be changed for the new pickups because of going from active back to passive..

My plan is to have the following..

3-WAY Switch
1x500K push/pull pot
1x500K pot
(still have my old passive style jack input)

With any luck the 3 way will give me a Bridge-Middle-Neck setup and I will be able to split the coils on these settings using the push pull pot.. (I would use a 5-way but I can imagine it being that little bit more fiddley when playing live! more than a push/pull pot anyways!) So to start with, am I right in thinking I can have the above setup fitted to my guitar?! or am I jut a crazy man lol.

Also I have found a place where I can get the items (online in the UK) but will I need to also purchase capacitor(s) & wire(s) ect?? If so could some one in the know let me know exactly what I need if possible!!..

Last thing I want is to get the pickups n pots ect run to the guitar repairs bloke and have him tell me he can't fit it with out such n such part y'know!

Thanks very much for any help!!!! really means a lot!

Cheers, chris

[LuredMaul]

A 5-way switch is hella less fiddley than a 3-way and push pull pots, but, you will get more wiring options with what you have picked out...

[synth002]

I spose you could be right but I think for my style it would be better to use a push/pull pot.. maybe lol, plus I guess it would have more switching options doing it the way I mentioned which is good as I want my main gee-tar to be as versitile as possible!. Do you know what kind of capacitor(s) ect I would need to get for the setup mentioned above, the pickups with be with me by mid week so my plan is to have them installed before the weekend so I gotta have all the parts ready to go for a gig test at the weekend!

[Wild_Child]

I don't think it would be less fiddly. What if you wanted to go, for example, from a coil split neck pickup, to the full bridge pickup? If you had a 5 way switch, you could flick it to the first position from the 4th position in one flick. With your way, you'd have to push in the pot AND flick the three way to the first position.

What extra switching options would it give?

[synth002]

hmm maybe you guys are right! I suppose the only extra switching option would be to have would be having the middle position with the coils split, perhaps I should just stick with the 5-way I have and get 2 new pots after all!

[Vim Fuego]

just to throw a spanner in the works, what you suggest sounds like the circuit of a JS1200, try http://www.ibanez.com/support/wiringdiagrams.aspx I guess if it's good enough for Joe Satriani you might do ok!
What are the electronics like now? does it already have a slot for a 5 way? If not it's easier to drill a simple hole for a 3 way!! At least, that's my opinion!!
the JS has a 0.022uF capacitor on the tone and a further 330pF capacitor which is switchable on the volume. I think to correct for sone of the tone roll-off when turning the volume down. The Jems have one all the time I guess Joe wanted it switchable.
Jim

[synth002]

AHH! Confused!... okay I have thought about it for a while and im just gonna keep the five way in there atm for this config...


neck(hum)

neck(single coil)

DONT KNOW - What would you do, both humbuckers or both single coils???

bridge(single coil)

Bridge(hum)


So yeh Im keeping the 5-way in there now lol and just getting 2 new pots! Could someone in the know please tell me what capacitors im going to need! As I need to order the pots and capacitor(s) asap so it's all ready to go when the pickups arrive!

thanks a lot!, chris

[Wild_Child]

Have you considered switching between parallel and series on the neck pickup?

[Vim Fuego]

A bit of advice (hopefully) Wild_Child suggested you try using a 5 way switch and switching the neck HB between series and parallel (like on a two pickup RG1527). I tried to answer a similar thread on this and found that I couldn't understand the Ibanez diagrams showing this with what looked like a simple 5 way switch. I usually can understand these things (having a degree in physics) but it was too much for me!! I came up with a circuit using the VLX91 switch as used in the Jem guitars but not with a regular 5 way... you may find this option difficult if you don't get the right switch or understand the diagrams. (Alternatively if you can understand the Ibanez diagrams please explain them to me! )
If I have a revelation I;'ll let you know!
Jim

[synth002]

Thanks for the replies guys.. I have seen some guitars having switching from series to parallel but im not too sure what the actually does!! how is it different from switching from humbucker to single coil?

I really am a noob when it comes to guitar electronics! Only reason im trying to figure out the best setup for me is because of the change of pickups & the fact I have to change out the pots ect because of going from active back to passive and it just seems like I should make the most out of the change..

[Vim Fuego]

A humbucker is really two single coil pickups wired in series.
If you have north poles on one coil and south poles on the other and you wind one coil clockwise and one anticlockwise, the signals will add up but any hum will be out of phase in each coil. This reduces the hum generated by the pickup.
There are two things that define the tone of a humbucker compared to a single coil:
1) the resistance (strictlly impedance) of the windings, two coils more resistance - less treble.
2) the presence of two poles per string sensing the string vibrations - less treble.

A coil tap will effectively remove one coil of the humbucker from the circuit. Therefore you will have less resistance and only one set of poles sensing the string. This will give a more single coil like sound with more treble but will no longer remove hum.
If you wire the coils in parallel then it's like having two single coils very close together. The resistance of the pickup is reduced so you get more treble but you still have the two sets of pole pieces sensing the string. The advantage is it still reduces hum but the sound is somewhere between the coil tap sound and the humbucker sound.
Of course many other things influence the sound of pickups like magnet type, winding method etc. and some humbuckers have a different sound from each coil so it depends which one you tap.
Jim