Advice on PG Blues wiring / splitting / phasing etc. options

[ArcherDay]

Hello everybody. I've been looking for a very nice set of humbucker pickups for use on a Les Paul model. I am seeking a very solid unmistakable basic blues tone.

I've listened to a bunch of different pickups and the sound that really hits what I'm looking for is the PG Blues.... everytime I hear this pickup I love it.

I'd greatly appreciate your thoughts on the most interesting wiring option. I'm going to put the pickups in an LP clone currently drilled for two volume knobs, two tone knobs, and a neck / bridge / combo selector switch.

First of all, what is the BASIC wiring schematic for the PG Blues set as they are designed "... for the famous out of phase mid position with both humbuckers on together...".  Is it this schematic ? : https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/downloads/schematics/profiles/humbuckers/2_hum__braided_2_con__2_vol__2_tone__3_way_toggle__0.022mfd_0.015mfd_caps.pdf   OR ??

Secondly, once I have the "basic" wiring option down, are there any other wiring options such as coil splitting or series / parallel or ??? that you would recommend to achieve some other interesting tonal options?  I'm not looking for "101 different tones", because I find alot of times that many tonal variations aren't interesting (they're thin or they really skew the pitch high or low)... but sometimes there is something that can be achieved by adding a push-pull option here or there...

Your suggestions are most welcome, thanks in advance!

[Mr. Air]

Have a look at the Seymour Duncan triple shot mounting rings. They let you do humbucker-, coil split-, and parrallel modes with the flick of two small switches. I got them in my LP clone with an Emerald set and they give a nice variety of tones.

['Ash' J. Williams]

Ask for 4 conductor lead cable in the comment box when you place your order.
The PGs comes with 2 cond by default.

If you wire everything using the basic LP schematics you will have the out-of-phase in-between sound.
It's also recommended to mount the neck p/up with the screws toward the bridge, but you may very well do as you please.

IIRC, you can return the pickups to 'basic' in phase in-between operation by switching the ground (black) and hot (red) wires but i would like someone to confirm this  :roll:

[ArcherDay]

Air & Ash: thank you... very much appreciated.

I recognized that after posting this in Pickups it probably belongs in Tech so I started one there:
https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=29560.0

Hopefully this isn't considered spam, want to get it into the right category.

Thanks again!!

[darkbluemurder]

First of all, what is the BASIC wiring schematic for the PG Blues set as they are designed "... for the famous out of phase mid position with both humbuckers on together...".  Is it this schematic ? : https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/downloads/schematics/profiles/humbuckers/2_hum__braided_2_con__2_vol__2_tone__3_way_toggle__0.022mfd_0.015mfd_caps.pdf   OR ??

That's the one.

Secondly, once I have the "basic" wiring option down, are there any other wiring options such as coil splitting or series / parallel or ??? that you would recommend to achieve some other interesting tonal options?  I'm not looking for "101 different tones", because I find alot of times that many tonal variations aren't interesting (they're thin or they really skew the pitch high or low)... but sometimes there is something that can be achieved by adding a push-pull option here or there...

Of course, switching options are a very personal thing. I don't like to coil split PAF type pickups as the single coil tones get a bit too thin to my ears. I definitely like this better with stronger humbuckers. I also don't like to put humbuckers in series as they tend to get too muddy in the bass. I prefer to use single coils for the series wiring but even with them I don't really like it.

I recently saw a wiring suggestion for Les Pauls which reassign the function of the neck volume pot to a master volume pot and the bridge volume pot to a volume pot for the neck pickup. That would allow you to preset a neck pickup volume, to create various mix tones in the center toggle position and to control whatever setting you chose on the toggle with the master volume. Sounds like a very practical solution if you play a lot in the center toggle position. The only downside to this wiring is that there are two volume controls in the signal path when the neck pickup or both pickups are selected, which may or may not bother you.

And then there is the Jimmy Page wiring, which offers various out-of-phase and series combinations. I guess it uses 4 push-pull pots and it looks rather complicated. It's nothing I would want for my Les Paul but obviously JP liked it and could make use of it. Of course you would need four conductor wires for both pickups to do this.

Cheers Stephan