Wiring question

[CactusJack]

hi there!
i have two 4-conductor humbuckers and a five way switch.
has anybody a clue how to realize the following switching?

1. bridge pup series
2. bridge pup parallel
3. inner coil of bridge and inner coil of neck (single coils)
4. neck pup parallel
5. neck series

is this switching possible or does it make sense?

[CrossingStar]

If it's just a Strat type 5 way I don't believe that is possible. You'll probably need a specialty 5-way. Yamaha makes one for example.

[Scott of Actual Time]

Originally Posted by CactusJack

1. bridge pup series
2. bridge pup parallel
3. inner coil of bridge and inner coil of neck (single coils)
4. neck pup parallel
5. neck series

is this switching possible or does it make sense?

whether it makes sense or not is totally up to you! it is possible, but you will need a 24 pole 5-way switch, like the Superswitch from Stewart MacDonald ( www.stewmac.com ) or the DiMarzio 24 pole 5-way.

then you'll need to draw a wiring diagram of all the connections. i have an old stew mac diagram for a similar scheme, but it has both humbuckers full on in position 3.
http://www.his.com/sha3u/gear/2hb-parallel-stewmac.jpg

you can modify it to give the combinations you want by changing position 3. here's the short version of how: you'll want to break the connection from pole #1 tab 3 to pole #3 tab 3, and the connection from pole #2 tab 3 to pole #4 tab 3. then on pole #1 and pole #2, solder the adjacent ground connection [already on tab 2 in pole #1 and tab 4 in pole #2] to the respective tab 3s.

this will ground out wire D from the neck on pole #1 in position 3, and wire D from the bridge on pole #2 in position 3. what you're doing is grounding the end of the inner coils [wire D] so the hot wire [C] gives you only the inner coils, not both humbuckers full on.

you will also need to change the phase on one of the pickups, to get that inner coils combination to hum cancel. this involves swapping wire A for B, and swapping C for D, on one pickup only.

once you get it right on the switch in the stew mac diagram, you'll have to map that scheme to whatever 24 pole switch you buy. they all work the same, but they don't always have the same number tabs in the same places. draw a picture of your switch, number all the tabs, and then copy the diagram slowly one pole of 6 tabs at a time.

then wire it up and tap on the pickup poles in each position to see if it works right. if not, then check all your connections and your diagram to troubleshoot.

if you've done wiring before, doing even what's in this long boring post won't be so bad. if you haven't, then you might should just wire it up as that diagram has, or have someone help you out.

[CactusJack]

thank you, man!
the wiring itself should be no problem.
i just didnīt know how to wire and the switch-thing....
but what does stew mean with "brige hum-cancelling"? isnīt this the full bridge pup?
i think will try it in a few days.

[CactusJack]

but if i had a five way switch and a push/pull poti i could at least realize to switch the bridge pup between series and parallel, couldnīt i?

[Scott of Actual Time]

Originally Posted by CactusJack

thank you, man!
the wiring itself should be no problem.
i just didnīt know how to wire and the switch-thing....
but what does stew mean with "brige hum-cancelling"? isnīt this the full bridge pup?

yes, that's the full bridge pickup, because it says "bridge hum-canceling, series." 'series' is the full normal humbucker sound.

Originally Posted by CactusJack

but if i had a five way switch and a push/pull poti i could at least realize to switch the bridge pup between series and parallel, couldnīt i?

a push/pull DPDT pot can switch one humbucker from series to parallel, yes, but you would then have to wire the DPDT into your 5-way switch. depending on exactly what your 5-way does, you might not be able to get all the 5-way positions working the same with the DPDT in between it and the bridge pickup.

[CactusJack]

i have found an instruction for a prs wiring...
but is it true that you can manage this with a 5 way switch with only 7 pins as shown on the image?

http://www.rockinger.com/showroom/workprt13.htm

itīs the last wiring on this site....

[Scott of Actual Time]

Originally Posted by CactusJack

i have found an instruction for a prs wiring...
but is it true that you can manage this with a 5 way switch with only 7 pins as shown on the image?
http://www.rockinger.com/showroom/workprt13.htm

it is true, but you have to have that exact switch. that is the Megaswitch Model P, made by Schaller. here in the US, you can buy those mail-order from stewart macdonald at www.stewmac.com . since you're in germany, i bet you could find them available much closer to you.

the Megaswitch Model P does the same coil cut combinations as the PRS rotary switch. the Megaswitch Model E does a variation on JEM-style wiring, but with the outer coils of the two humbuckers in position 3 [see the coil diagrams for these switches on www.stewmac.com ]. Schaller is the only company i know of that makes these switches or anything like it.

the switch on that german site labeled "Fender 4-way" is a 5-way 24 pole switch like i was talking about above. Fender, DiMarzio, and many other companies make different versions of this -- the Ibanez version is called VLX91 and is stock in many high-end RGs and JEMs.

[CactusJack]

can somebody tell me if this is one of the mega switches?
cause i tried to make the switching just like the one shown on the mc stew wiring scheme scott posted... but it doesnīt work
i have 2 humbuckers with 4 conductors and want a switching like the one scott posted.....

www.mitglied.lycos.de/intouchables/switch1.JPG
www.mitglied.lycos.de/intouchables/switch2.JPG
www.mitglied.lycos.de/intouchables/switch3.JPG

[Scott of Actual Time]

Originally Posted by CactusJack

can somebody tell me if this is one of the mega switches?
cause i tried to make the switching just like the one shown on the mc stew wiring scheme scott posted... but it doesnīt work

first of all, be careful what you call a "mega switch." the Schaller Megaswitches you posted about above are not the same thing as a 24-pole switch. Stew Mac calls their 24-pole a 'superswitch.'

the switch in your pic does look like a 24 pole switch. it should be able to give the combinations in that wiring diagram i posted. however, in order to wire it right, you need to know what number each pole is -- like this diagram i made for the Ibanez 24-pole VLX91 switch: http://www.his.com/sha3u/gear/vlx91.jpg . (the number 0 is usually used for the common pole, the one that all the others switch to for output).

the problem is that these numbers can be different on different companies' 24 pole switches -- the DiMarzio and the All-Parts 24 pole switches do not have the pole numbers in the same order, even though the switches look almost identical.

my guess is that the Yamaha 24-pole in that diagram i posted and your 24-pole also do not have the pole numbers in the same order. you will need to figure out the pole numbers for your switch. the manufacturer should have a diagram, if you bought it new.

the best way to figure out any switch for yourself is to use a voltmeter. set it to measure resistance in kOhms and touch the leads to two different poles. if it reads 0 resistance, those poles are connected to each other. if it reads some really high number or an error message, those poles are not connected. [an even easier way is to get a voltmeter with a beeping continuity setting -- when it beeps, those poles are ocnnected]. do this for all the poles and write down which ones are connected to each other. then click the switch into the next position and do it again.

once you've done this, you'll have a sketch of your switch that shows the numbers of every pole. then take the Stew Mac diagram and map those wirings onto your switch.

[CactusJack]

thanks a lot, scott!
in the meantime i figured out how the switch works and after some time of experimenting with the switch i got the pup-switch compination i wanted!
it costed me some nerves but i hope it is the right wiring now, although i donīt know really whether itīs out of phase or not.... but i guess i got the difference between parallel and serial. donīt know if itīs correct... but it seems to sound good on my small amp, try it tomorrow on my marshall half stack!
i guess i have now: bridge series, bridge parallel, both series, neck parallel and neck series.

[Scott of Actual Time]

Originally Posted by CactusJack

thanks a lot, scott!
in the meantime i figured out how the switch works and after some time of experimenting with the switch i got the pup-switch compination i wanted! it costed me some nerves but i hope it is the right wiring now,

great! i'm glad you hung in there and figured out your setup.

Originally Posted by CactusJack

although i donīt know really whether itīs out of phase or not.... but i guess i got the difference between parallel and serial.
i guess i have now: bridge series, bridge parallel, both series, neck parallel and neck series.

the phase thing would only show up if you changed that diagram to give the inner coils in position 3. the humbucker series and humbucker parallel combinations are already in phase with each other, and phase doesn't matter when combining two whole humbuckers like in your position 3.

if you ever do have two coils out of phase with each other, you'll notice it immediately -- it has a really thin, much quieter sound, like the very high end of the sweep on a phaser pedal.

[CactusJack]

but a humbucker in parallel mode sounds thinner, not so fat with more treble
and has less output than a humbucker in series, doesnīt it?
iīm asking because i didnīt follow the mac stew diagram after the first try didnīt work and i havenīt had a voltmeter to check the poles.
so i made my own wiring according the wiring of a mini-switch that switches between parallen and series so i knew which wires belong together in which switch position..... but i guess it worked....finally!!!

[Scott of Actual Time]

Originally Posted by CactusJack

but a humbucker in parallel mode sounds thinner, not so fat with more treble
and has less output than a humbucker in series, doesnīt it?

a humbucker in parallel sounds like two single coils right next to each other, since that's exactly what it is. i can see how it could be called thinner with more treble. the output should be close to the same volume.

one way to tell that the parallel is wired right is that it should hum cancel just as well as the series humbucking. if you get more hum on the parallel setting, then it's not exactly right.

[CactusJack]

ok!
i have no problems with noise in every switch position, but the parallel switching has hearable less output than the series like a singlecoil has less output than a humbucker....or it is just my impression.

but here is the wiring i have used, if i havenīt done sth. wrong with the drawing, cause i drew it out of my memory... i didnīt feel like unwrapping the strings and unscrewing the pickguard again to look if itīs 100% correct :P
BTW... i use a duncan custom bridge and a JB Junior neck.

www.mitglied.lycos.de/intouchables/wiring.JPG