Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Tech => Topic started by: samoth2 on April 01, 2007, 07:14:25 PM

Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: samoth2 on April 01, 2007, 07:14:25 PM
I need some suggestions on how to wire my guitar..

It's an H-S-H style with a 5-way switch.

Bridge position = Bridge
Bridge-middle position = ?
Middle position = Single
Middle-neck position = ?
Neck position = Neck.

So i need some suggestions for some ways to wire the two undecided positions.

The pups are two RY's with 4 conducters and a Slowhand single.

Thanks in advance   :)
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: Doog on April 01, 2007, 09:39:04 PM
typical 5-way HSH wiring is to have the inside coil of the relevant pickup paired with the middle pickup in positions 2 and 4
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: samoth2 on April 01, 2007, 09:58:25 PM
Yeah I know, but I wanted to try something different :D
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: Doog on April 01, 2007, 10:00:07 PM
dunno, you could try wiring them out of phase, or have a bridge-neck combination in one of the positions
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: BloodMountain on April 01, 2007, 10:01:52 PM
split neck and split bridge? or is that too mainstream  :)
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: Oli on April 01, 2007, 10:14:11 PM
Bridge-middle: All 3 pickups
Neck-middle: Nothing, that'll confuse them ;p

Seriously:

bridge-middle: Bridge+middle
neck-middle: split coils for neck and bridge, and add the middle in there, just for classic strat nostalgia :)
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: samoth2 on April 01, 2007, 10:27:59 PM
Which types of sounds does the different wirerings produce? Im a wirering noob  :oops:
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: PhilKing on April 02, 2007, 12:13:32 AM
To change the wiring options you need a 4-pole 5-way or a mega switch.  the mega switches are preset on the options. the 4-pole 5 way lets you do anything your little heart desires (with wiring that is  8) ).
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: samoth2 on April 02, 2007, 09:53:06 AM
My switch has 8 places where i can wire a wire on to.

Does that let me do anything my little heart desires?  :)
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: PhilKing on April 02, 2007, 12:39:20 PM
No, in the split positions it will connect the 2 adjacent tags in each bank,
depending on the switch configuration (4 each side or 2 banks of 4 in a row), you will get:

pos 1   bank a 1 +2       bank b 1 +4
pos 2   bank a 1 +2+3   bank b 1+2+4
pos 3   bank a 1 +3       bank b 2+4
pos 4   bank a 1 +3+4   bank b 2+3+4
pos 1   bank a 1 +4       bank b 3 +4

check out this site for your options:

http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/wiringresources.22pickupdiagrams/
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: samoth2 on April 02, 2007, 04:17:22 PM
So I really dont have any other options than having the inside coil of the relevant pickup paired with the middle pickup in positions 2 and 4?

My switch has 2 banks of 4 in a row. I could only find a diagram for a switch with 4 on each site.
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: WezV on April 03, 2007, 09:44:07 AM
The easiest option is to wire it just like it was an ordinary strat - in otherwords tape of the extra wires on the BKP and treat them like two wire pickups.

That gives you a pretty standard:

Neck HB
NeckHB, Middle SC
Middle SC
Bridge HB, Middle SC
Bridge HB


To me it makes sense to have the switch doing something simple that wont confuse people who use the guitar.

This simple scheme can then be added to with mini switches or push/pull pots.

I would be tempted to add a push/pull pot as a coil split for each humbucker if you are after maximum versatiltiy, you could use a push/pull pot that does both at the same time.

Extra settings from that =

Neck SC
Neck SC, MiddleSC
BridgeSC, Middle SC
Bridge SC

So a bit more classic strat sounds!

I would also be tempted to add a neck or bridge override switch as a push/pull pot/miniswitch.  That gives you these extra options if you have a seperate coil split for each pickup

Neck HB, Bridge HB
Neck SC, Bridge SC
Neck SC, Bridge HB
Neck HB, Bridge SC
Neck HB, Middle SC, Bridge HB
Neck SC, Middle SC, Bridge SC
Neck SC, Middle SC, Bridge HB
Neck HB, Middle SC, Bridge SC


Thats 17 pickup combinations!  and the beauty of it is that it can be done  so the guitar still looks stock in most cases

You will still probably never use more than 4!
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: samoth2 on April 03, 2007, 10:49:26 AM
So i simply just leave the green and white together?

Now i don't have the green and white wired to anything, but my Bridge and neck doesnt work alone, only the 3 inner positions.

Where would I have to wire the wires then?

This is how the pickup selector looks from below.

(http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6474/unavngivetut7.th.png) (http://img89.imageshack.us/my.php?image=unavngivetut7.png)
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: PhilKing on April 03, 2007, 01:00:38 PM
you must have the red to the middle wire at the moment.  There sould be one contact that goes to the volume.  Call this tag 1, take the red wire from the bridge hb and solder it to tags 2 and 3 in this bank (the ones next to the wire to the volume).  There should be another wire from tag 1 going to bank 2, if this goes to the opposite end of the switch (tag 8), then the other red wire should go to tags 6 and 7.  if it goes to tag 5, then the other red goes to tag 7 and 8.  I have numbered the tags like this

Wiring 1 (tag 1 & 8 connected)  red bridge, violet neck
1 2 3 4   5 6 7 8

Wiring 2 (tag 1 & 5 connected)  red bridge, violet neck
1 2 3 4   5 6 7 8
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: samoth2 on April 03, 2007, 04:31:00 PM
Thanks Phil, I'll see if I can figure it out when I come home.
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: samoth2 on April 03, 2007, 07:49:39 PM
I tried to do like you said but maybe i did something wrong?


Tag 1 is wired to tag 8 and volume. The red wire from the bridge is wired to tag 2 and 3. The wire from the SC is wired to tag 4 and 5. And the red from the neck is wired to tag 6 and 7.

But i dont get any sound from the middle position? And to me all the other positions sound like each other :?

This is how it was wirered from the beginning. So if someone can tell me how it would look with BKP's colours that would be great.

(http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/6760/w03006chshb11l5nw7.th.gif) (http://img124.imageshack.us/my.php?image=w03006chshb11l5nw7.gif)
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: PhilKing on April 04, 2007, 06:10:44 PM
Put the red from the BK to the same place as the reds in the diagram, and put the green/white to the white contact in the diagram.  The way they have the switch makes a 'short to ground' on the inbetween settings so that you only get the screw coils.  The black and uncovered wire should both go to the back of the vollume pot, to ground.
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: samoth2 on April 04, 2007, 06:30:39 PM
Thats how i wired it first to, but then there was a volume drop on the inbetween settings.

I'm trying to wire it with a guitarelectronics diagram, so will se if it works..
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: PhilKing on April 04, 2007, 07:38:10 PM
There would be a volume drop if the pickups are out of phase.  To check this, swap the red and black wires from the BK's (but leave the uncovered, so you have red and uncovered to ground and black to the switch).  This should be in phase then.
Title: Wirering suggestions
Post by: samoth2 on April 04, 2007, 07:51:30 PM
Well, everything I do seems to go wrong, so I think I will take it to a shop.