Post by fobits on Apr 6, 2006 16:31:30 GMT -5
This is a design which I worked out for simes, a member of the forum here, after some prodding from unklmickey.
It uses two humbucking pickups, a Stewart-McDonald Super Switch and a DPDT switch to give this selection of combinations:
Parallel
1. neck HB in parallel with itself
2. outer coils in parallel with each other
3. norths in series, souths in series, in parallel with each other
4. inner coils in parallel with each other
5. bridge HB in parallel with itself
Series
1. neck HB in series with itself
2. outer coils in series with each other
3. both series HB's in series with each other
4. inner coils in series with each other
5. bridge HB in series with itself
This is a wide range of tones. I named it Big Fat Ten, for lack of inspiration, and all four coils in series could be called "fat". However, it also has a good selection of brighter tones, including the bridge coils in parallel.
Perhaps best of all, each one is fully and 100% humbucking.
Here is the wiring diagram. You don't have to worry about the part at the top, which is just a bonus for those who are interested in the design process, and what it does in the abstract.
There is more information below, for those who are interested.
After I posted the plans for my Eight-Tone Humbucker, simes asked if it could be modified to give combinations like the ones above. The 8TH leans toward parallel, and two of the selections aren't switchable. He also mentioned unklmickey's Big Ugly as being close to what he wanted. That one has a full selection of series combinations, but the brightest tone uses a tapped coil, so it isn't humbucking in every position. Would it be possible to put together the best of both?
That proved to be harder than it seems at first glance, and the project wouldn't have been finished without the encouragement and advice of unklmickey, who deserves a share of the credit.
The problem is that these two are fundamentally different designs. The 8TH essentially arranges the coils in a parallel ladder, and the poles of the switch are used for pickup leads. Big Ugly lays out the coils in a series row, and the poles of the switch are used for hot and ground. With only four poles, it's hard to do both.
The key to the puzzle, when it finally arrived, was simple. A lot of good ideas are simple, AFTER you see them.
The Big Fat Ten is like Big Ugly, except that the coils are placed in the row in a different order. If the bridge and neck coils alternate in the chain, it becomes possible to use the bridge coils in both series and parallel, and the same at the neck.
A price is paid, though, at least for some people. One of the proudest features of Big Ugly is that the combinations can be switched in-phase or out-of-phase, and all except one (the coil-tapped one) remain humbucking.
The BFT doesn't do OOP, or at least not without losing hum-canceling. Whether that is important depends on how fond you are of out-of-phase tones.
Sharp-eyed readers will also have noticed that #3 parallel is a bit unusual. The one which was requested here was (BNxBS)+(NNxNS), but what comes up is (BNxNN)+(BSxNS). This is still two series elements in parallel with each other, and it's still humbucking, but the coils are arranged differently. I believe the the sound will be a little bit different, but not by very much.
Disclaimer: this has been checked and rechecked by myself, and unklmickey has also looked it over, but it has not yet been built and tested.
It uses two humbucking pickups, a Stewart-McDonald Super Switch and a DPDT switch to give this selection of combinations:
Parallel
1. neck HB in parallel with itself
2. outer coils in parallel with each other
3. norths in series, souths in series, in parallel with each other
4. inner coils in parallel with each other
5. bridge HB in parallel with itself
Series
1. neck HB in series with itself
2. outer coils in series with each other
3. both series HB's in series with each other
4. inner coils in series with each other
5. bridge HB in series with itself
This is a wide range of tones. I named it Big Fat Ten, for lack of inspiration, and all four coils in series could be called "fat". However, it also has a good selection of brighter tones, including the bridge coils in parallel.
Perhaps best of all, each one is fully and 100% humbucking.
Here is the wiring diagram. You don't have to worry about the part at the top, which is just a bonus for those who are interested in the design process, and what it does in the abstract.
There is more information below, for those who are interested.
After I posted the plans for my Eight-Tone Humbucker, simes asked if it could be modified to give combinations like the ones above. The 8TH leans toward parallel, and two of the selections aren't switchable. He also mentioned unklmickey's Big Ugly as being close to what he wanted. That one has a full selection of series combinations, but the brightest tone uses a tapped coil, so it isn't humbucking in every position. Would it be possible to put together the best of both?
That proved to be harder than it seems at first glance, and the project wouldn't have been finished without the encouragement and advice of unklmickey, who deserves a share of the credit.
The problem is that these two are fundamentally different designs. The 8TH essentially arranges the coils in a parallel ladder, and the poles of the switch are used for pickup leads. Big Ugly lays out the coils in a series row, and the poles of the switch are used for hot and ground. With only four poles, it's hard to do both.
The key to the puzzle, when it finally arrived, was simple. A lot of good ideas are simple, AFTER you see them.
The Big Fat Ten is like Big Ugly, except that the coils are placed in the row in a different order. If the bridge and neck coils alternate in the chain, it becomes possible to use the bridge coils in both series and parallel, and the same at the neck.
A price is paid, though, at least for some people. One of the proudest features of Big Ugly is that the combinations can be switched in-phase or out-of-phase, and all except one (the coil-tapped one) remain humbucking.
The BFT doesn't do OOP, or at least not without losing hum-canceling. Whether that is important depends on how fond you are of out-of-phase tones.
Sharp-eyed readers will also have noticed that #3 parallel is a bit unusual. The one which was requested here was (BNxBS)+(NNxNS), but what comes up is (BNxNN)+(BSxNS). This is still two series elements in parallel with each other, and it's still humbucking, but the coils are arranged differently. I believe the the sound will be a little bit different, but not by very much.
Disclaimer: this has been checked and rechecked by myself, and unklmickey has also looked it over, but it has not yet been built and tested.