What's the most complex guitar re-wire you've done?

[Floyd Pepper]

I rewired my Epiphone Sheraton 335 with split coil humbuckers in a "Jimmy Page" wiring.  eg http://www.blueguitar.org/new/schem/_gtr/jpage_lp.gif

This gives a push pull on each pot.  Vol pots give split coil.  Tone pots give in/out phase on one and serial/parallel on the other.  Combined together there's something like 20 odd combinations.  Surprisingly they're all useable able and sound different.

This rewire might not seems so difficult except it's in a 335 so you need to wire it all up outside the guitar then pull it into the guitar via bits of string.

...The pickups I used were Seymour Butts Seth Lover PAF copies which I must say (perhaps quietly round here) sound fantastic.

[MDV]

Just a four pole five way to get two RPRW SCs to wire as an HB in a couple of guitars. Nothing major, and I learned the wiring of philking, so I daresay he has some wiring stories to tell!

[PhilKing]

I did one when lots of switches were the rage, it had 2 3-way tele switches and 3 push pull puts.  The guitar was a H-S-H pickup set, and the two 3-ways give any combination of the pickups (all individually, any 2 in combination or all 3).  Two of the push-pulls did series/parallel switching for the humbuckers, and the last was to switch in an active preamp with a 20db gain (variable on the pot), and an active tone control.

I think for sheer amount of wires, adding a roland synth pickup kit to a guitar with 2 humbuckers and a piezo bridge pickup was the most.

The one I had to think longest about was using a four pole 5-way to give me the following with a H-S-S set up:

Bridge HB
Screw coil from hb + middle as HB (series wiring)
HB + middle and neck wired as a HB in series (combo wired in parallel)
Slug coil form hb and neck wired as HB (series wiring)
middle and neck as HB in series

In hindsight I should have just gone with a H-S-H set or even 2 humbuckers  :roll:

Oh, I almost forgot - I once rewired my original John Brich, 4 3-way switches, 2 6-way and 3 pots, all wired in stereo   :?

One 3 way does pickup selection, one is stereo, reverse stereo, mono, the other 2 are series/split/parallel.  The 2 6-ways are tone switches with different resistance and capacitance for each setting, and finally the pots are one for each pickup plus a master volume!

[willo]

PhilKing - King of wiring! :D

[Floyd Pepper]

Geez.  I bow down to your soldery fingers.

[MDV]

My puny series wiring just got monstered!

Phil, is it tricky to install a piezo? I could do with some of that acoustic action. Can you get piezo equiped floyds?

[tewboss]

I'm too lazy to do my own - I burn things with soldering irons!

[38thBeatle]

yeah I know what you mean - I burned my Mum's new leather sofa years ago witha soldering iron- she still hasn't forgiven me all these years later.

[PhilKing]

My puny series wiring just got monstered!

Phil, is it tricky to install a piezo? I could do with some of that acoustic action. Can you get piezo equiped floyds?

I used a wilkinson, it was not too bad to install, you just have to make sure that the control cavity is screened (use the paint - I tried to use copper foil shielding but it is really the pits to install).  Don't do what I did and connect the battery to the piezo! Though it did give me an ebow effect, it wasn't really what I wanted.  I used a stereo output and a fishman blender pedal into a Korg accoustic pedal.  You could also fit a preamp for the piezo in the guitar if you want to control it on a mono lead.

I haven't seen a floyd with piezo's, though now that dave at graph-tec is doing floyd saddles, perhaps there might be something soon.

[Miracle Man Matt]

Im have an Ibanez Jem style guitar that im looking at building, but I want to incorporate the PRS 513 style wiring, using a 5-way and a 3-way blade switches, and having the humbucker coils tapped about 70% of the windings to achieve a similar effect.

I tried Projectguitar.com but the wimpy Americans chinkened out of this task.


I put it to you master solderererer PhilKing to design a circuit that we can rip PRS's marketing cr@p off with.... plus it would really help me

so theres a challenge... :)

Any ideas?

MMM

[Floyd Pepper]

Just looked up that PRS http://www.prsguitars.com/showcase/current/513.html

Looks like they're heading back to 60's and 80's style switch options.  From the description it's no 100% clear what they're doing with their pat pending wiring.  Wonder what the difference is between "heay humbucker" and "clear humbucker".

[PhilKing]

Just looked up that PRS http://www.prsguitars.com/showcase/current/513.html

Looks like they're heading back to 60's and 80's style switch options.  From the description it's no 100% clear what they're doing with their pat pending wiring.  Wonder what the difference is between "heay humbucker" and "clear humbucker".

It might be series/parallel/split.  I am thinking if it is, then the wiring is not too bad, but I don't know where you can get a 3 way 4-pole switch.   You can get a 5 way (Tim and Stew Mac sell them),  or you could use 2 mini toggles.  I know the 513 uses all single coil pickups which would also let you do neat things on the wiring of the 5 way.  I am guessing that the 13 sounds are:
bridge hb series
bridge hb parallel
bridge hb split
bridge hb series + middle
bridge hb parallel + middle
bridge hb split + middle
middle
neck hb series + middle
neck hb parallel + middle
neck hb split + middle
neck hb series
neck hb parallel
neck hb split

Which is what you can get from a 5-way with 2 series/split/parallel mini toggles.

[Miracle Man Matt]

yea something like that.  

Each coil has 3-wires coming out of it (so 7 from a hummer!)  this is becasue it has a ground, hot and a coil tap part of the way through the windings.

so what Im looking at is


I am planning on having the humbuckers built like normal humbuckers, just with coil taps if you see what I mean.

As for using more than one PU at a time, I don't tend to anyway, but I am interested in using humbuckers in parrallel. -what could happen is that when using parralell setting on the 3-way, the 5-way acts like a gibbo 3-way, i.e.

pos 1= bridge hummer in parrallel
pos 2= bridge hummer and mid
pos 3= bridge and neck in parrallel
pos 4= mid and neck in parrallel
pos 5= neck in parrallel

too many switches?  This should only add one extra 3-way switch to the wiring which I shall place next to the normal 5-way,  The sustainer will be installed after Ive sorted through the maze of wires and its controls (pot and mini switch) shall be placed below the trem near the bottom of the guitar behind the scratch plate like on Vai's Flo, maybe this is alot of swithes but Ive built simplicity before and I want something a bit more experimental now.

sooooo....

we have...




(3-way in pos 1.....full humbucking power)
   
    5-way in.....
pos 1= bridge hummbucker
pos 2= half of bridge (ala strat SC)
pos 3= mid
pos 4= neck SC
pos 5= neck hummer

(3-way in pos 2....hummers tapped at 70% power)
   
    5-way in.....
pos 1=bridge hummbucker
pos 2=half of bridge (ala strat SC)
pos 3=mid
pos 4=neck SC
pos 5=neck hummer

(3-way in pos 3....humbuckers are in parrellel)
   
    5-way in.....
pos 1=bridge hummer
pos 2=bridge hummer and mid
pos 3=bridge and neck
pos 4=mid and neck hummer
pos 5=neck hummer



Well i hope I've got this right and you understand my slightly dubious scheme,

And if you didn't catch that, Im also looking at putting in a home-made sustainer as well :twisted:

You said that you cant get a 4-pole 3-way or whatever.... what about using a 5-way like you said and then having 25!!!! possibiliteis :twisted:  :twisted:


........No no thats just silly.

MMM

[Floyd Pepper]

How to you make a sustainer?  Do they work the same as eBows?

[Miracle Man Matt]

there's a few tutorials on projectguitar.com, basically its a bobbin wound to around 8 ohms with fairly thick wire (23 awg) and is wired to the output of a small op amp circuit.  not as good as a industry one but not bad, its similar to an E-bow but it is integrated into the guitar.

M