Gibson Explorer push/pull?

[enuenu]

Thinking of getting a HB set ( MMs, C-Bombs or C-Pigs) for my Gibson '76 Explorer (2 x volume + 1 x tone + 3 way switch). I will get 3 x new pots and 1 x Jensen cap.

I was thinking while I'm at it I may as well go whole hog and do the push/pull coil splitting thing. Why not?

My understanding on this subject (very limited) is that both volume pots would be push pull, allowing one or both humbuckers to act as a single coil pickup. Is this correct?

So I buy 2 x push/pull 500k pots and one regular 500k pot (for the tone control) and one 0.022mfd Jensen cap. This would give me 8 possible pickup settings I think;

1- Neck only HB
2- Neck only SC
3- Neck HB + Bridge HB
4- Neck SC + Bridge HB
5- Neck HB + Bridge SC
6- Neck SC + Bridge SC
7- Bridge only HB
8- Bridge only SC

Is this worth doing? Would it be a nightmare to wire up?


Alternatively maybe it is more usual to only do the push/pull thing on one of the pickups. Let's say I put the push/pull on the neck pickup. This would give me 5 possible pickup settings;

1- Neck only HB
2- Neck only SC
3- Neck HB + Bridge HB
4- Neck SC + Bridge HB
5- Bridge only HB


Or do it on the bridge pickup only, giving me;

1- Neck only HB
2- Neck HB + Bridge HB
3- Neck HB + Bridge SC
4- Bridge only HB
5- Bridge only HB


So do I go for;

1- push/pull on both pickups
2- push/pull on neck pickup
3- push/pull on bridge pickup
4- no push/pull at all?

Any advice appreciated.

[darkbluemurder]

Hi,

You got the combinations correctly listed for each option.

Most push/pull pots are double throw double pole (DPDT) and have 6 contacts. This will allow you to split both humbuckers but with only one push/pull pot you can only split both of them simultaneously, or one of them. If you want to be able to split both of the humbuckers individually you will need two push/pull pots.

Is it worth it? Unfortunately only you can answer that. I would ask myself the following questions:

- Which tones are most important for me in the sense of a must-have (e.g. full humbucker in the bridge, clean tone in the neck etc. pp.) that I want to achieve with this guitar?

- Which tones would be nice to have (i.e. not if the must-haves are compromised)?

- Will I play this guitar on stage? On stage, simplicity is a big plus which allows you to focus on the performance rather than the equipment.

- Will I play this guitar in the studio? Here, the option to have many sounds can be key, especially if you only bring one guitar, and the ability to switch quickly may not be an absolute requirement.

If you go with the Miracle Man set that has been recommended, splitting the pickups makes sense for cleaner tones because both pickups are quite powerful. The bridge pickup works well split - cannot comment on the neck pickup since I never played one. For vintage style humbuckers I would forget any split options unless it's a HSS or HSH set up but that is just me.

Cheers Stephan

[BigB]

As far as I'm concerned, I'd rather go for serie/parallel switch - the tone get almost as single-coilish as with a coil-split but with a bit more body to it, and it retains the humbucking effect. I had this on my Vox (still have to rewire it properly) and the in-between position with neck parallel / bridge serial was really interesting (well, as far as you can get any 'interesting' tone from a pair of X2Ns).

My 2 cents...

[enuenu]

....If you go with the Miracle Man set that has been recommended, splitting the pickups makes sense for cleaner tones because both pickups are quite powerful. The bridge pickup works well split - cannot comment on the neck pickup since I never played one. For vintage style humbuckers I would forget any split options unless it's a HSS or HSH set up but that is just me.....
Cheers Stephan

Thanks. I'm all for maxing the possibilities.

As far as I'm concerned, I'd rather go for serie/parallel switch - the tone get almost as single-coilish as with a coil-split but with a bit more body to it, and it retains the humbucking effect. I had this on my Vox (still have to rewire it properly) and the in-between position with neck parallel / bridge serial was really interesting (well, as far as you can get any 'interesting' tone from a pair of X2Ns).
My 2 cents...

Thanks. I have no idea about series v parallel setups. I'll have to research this. Would I have to install another switch?

[darkbluemurder]

Thanks. I have no idea about series v parallel setups. I'll have to research this. Would I have to install another switch?

For series/parallel wiring you need all six poles on the push/pull pot. This means if you want this capability for both pickups you need two push/pull pots.

The biggest advantage of this option is that all tones are humcancelling whereas the split option will hum in the split position.

Cheers Stephan

[enuenu]

Thanks. Any refernces to tech help on all this series/paralle stuff appreciated. I will Google.

[enuenu]

I must admit I am confused as to the difference between a series/parallel installation and a split installation. Then it seems if you add another switch you can have both.

This gave me some more info, but confused me even more in many ways.

I want to maximize my tonal possibilities without adding another switch. However I don't mind converting the volume pots to push/pulls (tone pot too?)

I'll be paying a luthier to install my pickups. I just have to be able to tell him exacatly what I want done in his language.

In your opinion, what should my install instructions be and do I get 2 or 3 push/pull pots?

Post #13 in the thread linked above seemed like a good simple solution that gives a lot of options without requiring any drilling or extra switches;
2 push pull pots.
pot #1) series/parallel
pot #2) series/single coil when pot #1 in series
Can I do this in my Explorer?

[darkbluemurder]

With a push/pull pot you cannot have coil splitting and series/parallel switching at the same time. For that capability you need a DPDT three way toggle miniswitch (ON-ON-ON type), which means drilling a hole in the guitar.

Do you need individual volume controls? If yes, you could do the following set up to maximise tonal options:

Neck volume w/ push-pull to put neck pickup in single coil mode
Bridge volume w/ push-pull to put bridge pickup in single coil mode
Tone control w/ push-pull to change the active coils in the split mode

This set up will give you 9 different tones.

Cheers Stephan

[enuenu]

With a push/pull pot you cannot have coil splitting and series/parallel switching at the same time. For that capability you need a DPDT three way toggle miniswitch (ON-ON-ON type), which means drilling a hole in the guitar.

Do you need individual volume controls......(yes, I think you would want to maintain volume control), you could do the following set up to maximise tonal options:

Neck volume w/ push-pull to put neck pickup in single coil mode
Bridge volume w/ push-pull to put bridge pickup in single coil mode
Tone control w/ push-pull to change the active coils in the split mode

This set up will give you 9 different tones.

Cheers Stephan

Thanks a lot. Just not quite sure what having the tone control as a push/pull actually does in your suggestion.

[darkbluemurder]

Thanks a lot. Just not quite sure what having the tone control as a push/pull actually does in your suggestion.

You can split a humbucker in two ways 1) either you take the split line (in case of BKP the green and white wires soldered together) and connect it to ground - then coil A is active, or 2) connect it to hot - then coil B is active. For the set up I suggested take the split line for each pickup and wire it to the center lug of the push/pull pots by which you want to engage the split tones. Take a wire from the upper lug and lead it to the center lug of the push/pull pot tone control. Connect the lower lug to ground. Connect the upper lug to where the hot (in case of BKP red) wire is soldered to. Hence you decide with the push/pull pots of the volume control(s) which of the pickups you want to split, and with the push/pull of the tone control which coils shall remain active.

If you then choose the pickups to have the same polarity as PRS chooses for their guitars then both of the combined split modes will be humcancelling.

Cheers Stephan

[WezV]

if your considering more than 1 push pull you may as well go with all 3

my preference would be to have the two volume push/pulls  as series/parallel (or coil splits if you prefer them) and the 3rd push pull as a phase switch

the phase switch would only work when both pickups are on.


1. neck series Humbucker
2. Neck Parallel humbucker
3. Neck series Humbucker with Bridge Series Humbucker in Phase
4. Neck series Humbucker with Bridge Series Humbucker out of phase
5. Neck series Humbucker with Bridge Parallel humbucker in phase
6. Neck series Humbucker with Bridge Parallel humbucker out of phase
7. Neck parallel  Humbucker with Bridge Parallel humbucker in phase
8. Neck parallel  Humbucker with Bridge Parallel humbucker out of phase
9. Neck parallel  Humbucker with Bridge Series humbucker in phase
10. Neck parallel  Humbucker with Bridge Series humbucker out of phase
11. Bridge series Humbucker
12. Bridge Parallel humbucker

i like it because although it sounds complex its quite user friendly.  pulling up on the neck pickup volume makes the neck pickup sound like a single coil, pushing down makes the neck pickup full humbucker.  same for the bridge volume.  then the extra switch on the tone will make both pickups out of phase when pulled up and both pickups are on.

its actually quite easy to know where you are from a quick glance at the controls


...

on the series/parallel vs coil split switch.

it really depends on the pickup to how good they sound.   both parallel and split humbucker sound kinda but not quite like proper single coil pickups.

i have done a few guitars with a series/ split/parallel switches.   on some the parallel and split settings sounds very similar, on others they sound very different.   it really does depend on the pickup.     but most of the time they are similar enough that having both options is not really needed

since parallel is humcancelling and you seem to want powerful pickups i would lean towards the series/parallel switches instead of coil split switches.

[darkbluemurder]

Cheers Wez, you topped me by 3 more available sounds!

To OP: there you have it. Many many options to choose from.

Cheers Stephan

[enuenu]

Thanks all. I will consider the options. (been away and just returned)

[FaFaFooey]

With the Jimmy Page wiring harness i get coil splits and series/parallel... but it's 4 pot instead of three, and it's a pain in the ass! You could do some routing and drill a hole for another pot if you wanted to get really funky.