Wirering suggestions

[samoth2]

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   :)

[Doog]

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

[samoth2]

Yeah I know, but I wanted to try something different :D

[Doog]

dunno, you could try wiring them out of phase, or have a bridge-neck combination in one of the positions

[BloodMountain]

split neck and split bridge? or is that too mainstream  :)

[Oli]

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 :)

[samoth2]

Which types of sounds does the different wirerings produce? Im a wirering noob  :oops:

[PhilKing]

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) ).

[samoth2]

My switch has 8 places where i can wire a wire on to.

Does that let me do anything my little heart desires?  :)

[PhilKing]

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/

[samoth2]

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.

[WezV]

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!

[samoth2]

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.

[PhilKing]

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

[samoth2]

Thanks Phil, I'll see if I can figure it out when I come home.