<back   Jemsite > Toolbox: Setup, Repairs and Mods > Pickups & wiring

Pickups & wiring Discussion about pickup types, replacements, recomendations, switching, wiring diagrams and sustainer systems for ANY guitar, JEMs included.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 01-26-2009, 02:08 AM
bhuether  is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Monterey, CA
Posts: 60  -  iTrader: (1)

Please help me understand my guitar wiring...


My guitar wiring seems quite odd compared to what I have been reading online about typical wiring schemes. I created a diagram.

See here:

http://www.guitar-dreams.com/misc/ib...540-wiring.jpg

Neck humbucker is IBZUSA stock. Bridge is Dimarzio Evolution.

Nothing I saw online showed switches with the middle terminals connected...


I beleive both are on-on (on-on-on for the 3 way). THe 2 way says 7201 C&K. Didn't find much info on it. The 3 way says FTPA 41. Found even less info on that one...

I have two Bill Lawrence Pickups that I want to install. I don't want to just conenct them like the previous ones were because I suspect something wasn't quite right with the previous connections...

Any help deciphering is greatly appreciated!

thanks,

brian
quote
  #2  
Old 01-26-2009, 10:32 AM
djohns74  is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Detroit
Posts: 580  -  iTrader: (0)

Re: Please help me understand my guitar wiring...


The 3-way appears to be a simple pickup selector, one end or the other for the individual pickups and middle for a straight blend. The middle terminals being connected on this switch is actually quite useless as the two wires from the pickups could easily both be on the same side of the switch, eliminating the need for the crossover. But this way should work fine too, of course.

As for the 2-way, it looks like the middle terminals are connected to ground. If so, then this is nothing more complicated than a simple coil tap. When the switch is flipped, one coil of each pickup is grounded, putting them both into single coil mode. The 3-way should continue to function normally, giving you a total of six possible pickup combinations.

Everything else about the wiring looks very standard. Actually, all of this is pretty normal, except that I've never seen that type of switch used as a pickup selector. I'm sure it works fine, it's just a bit unusual.

Now, I'm not personally familiar with the wire colors on Lawrence pickups, but if this is to be believed, they're a bit different from DiMarzio's. Matching up what equals what via that chart should allow you to install the new pickups the same way the current ones are, but if you want to do something else with it, I guess you'll have to figure that out first.
quote
  #3  
Old 01-26-2009, 11:42 AM
bhuether  is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Monterey, CA
Posts: 60  -  iTrader: (1)

Re: Please help me understand my guitar wiring...


THanks a lot. What do you make of the fact that the neck's red wire was cut and simply not used?

thanks,

brian
quote
  #4  
Old 01-27-2009, 02:30 PM
djohns74  is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Detroit
Posts: 580  -  iTrader: (0)

Re: Please help me understand my guitar wiring...


Quote:
Originally Posted by bhuether View Post
THanks a lot. What do you make of the fact that the neck's red wire was cut and simply not used?

thanks,

brian
Totally missed that on my first look at your diagram. Also, I didn't even know that was a 4 conductor pickup until now, so that's quite odd. Assuming for a moment that IBZUSA color codes are the same as DiMarzio (no clue if they are), green and white should be either end of one of the coils. Which in turn suggests that the pickup is always acting in single coil mode. However, if this is true, then the black wire attached to the 2-way switch should have no effect whatsoever no matter which position that switch is in.

In any case though, if this is a true 4 conductor pickup and one of the wires is simply not attached to anything, it shouldn't work as expected, that's for sure. At best, you'd end up with only one coil functional, which may be what was intended, but that 2-way switch is a bit perplexing where the neck pup is concerned.
quote
  #5  
Old 01-27-2009, 02:47 PM
bhuether  is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Monterey, CA
Posts: 60  -  iTrader: (1)

Re: Please help me understand my guitar wiring...


I decided to completely redo the wiring for this guitar. IBZUSA pickups indeed have same color code as Dimarzio so you are right about things not seeming right.

Where do you recommend I get the parts? Also, there are a a few sites that have switch configuration diagrams. Is there one that you recommend over others?

One thing I didn't realize would be a problem is that the pickups are somewhat too tall. So I have to deepen the pickup cavities... Any idea how one goes about that as far as tools?

thanks for all the help,

brian
quote
  #6  
Old 01-27-2009, 04:01 PM
djohns74  is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Detroit
Posts: 580  -  iTrader: (0)

Re: Please help me understand my guitar wiring...


I get a lot of random parts from Stewart-MacDonald (http://www.stewmac.com). As for which ones you get, that depends on exactly what you're looking for. Which wiring diagrams you use will then depend on which parts you end up with, of course.

The pickups being too tall is an interesting one. Seems like you've got two options, depending on the guitar. The only way I can think of to deepen the cavities is to use a router, which I seriously doubt you're going to want to get into. The alternative, assuming it's a bolt-on neck, would be to shim the neck and raise the bridge, but whether that's feasible depends on how much more clearance you really need. You may end up having to face the possibility that the work required either way won't be worth it and these pickups just aren't destined for this guitar.
quote
  #7  
Old 01-27-2009, 05:58 PM
bhuether  is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Monterey, CA
Posts: 60  -  iTrader: (1)

Re: Please help me understand my guitar wiring...


Thanks. I think I have all the parts I need. For my initial testing I used regular 60/40 solder. Are there any benefits to the no clean solder like this:

http://www.guitarelectronics.com/pro...auge_Fine.html

thanks,

brian
quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Show/Hide Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



Show/Hide Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
I don't understand... RG 3120/22HSOL shreddingjoris J-Custom, USA Custom & Prestige Ibanez Guitars 8 05-15-2008 10:43 AM
Basic Stuff I Dont Understand klp2332 Guitar Lessons & Music Theory 16 01-06-2006 05:08 PM
Don't understand some of the members on the board... agquake Vendors, Auction & Reseller Talk 83 09-10-2003 07:55 AM
Wiring - Question rephrased (easier to understand?) RG Guy Tech: Setup, Repairs and Mods 4 01-01-2002 12:56 PM
The science behind wiring - I dont understand the basics tomizm Tech: Setup, Repairs and Mods 9 04-14-2001 12:58 PM

Sitemap:1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:40 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2012, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
(c) jemsite.com