Is this too much???

[biggs1031]

Hi All, I've been lurking about for a while and I really appreciate all you contribute to the knowledge base that is available online!! Thanks for providing such a great and knowledgeable forum.

I am currently building my second guitar. My first guitar was a knock off of a PRS Santana, but modified to have a custom 24 switching arrangement and no pretty inlay.

webpages.charter.net/hazysunshine/finished%20guitar1/finished%20guitar1.html

Did not come out bad at all, I was so happy in fact that I embarked on build # 2. Its a similar shape (Les Paul special double cutaway) as the PRS Santana, but I decided to hollow it out load it with LR Baggs piezos and Seymour Duncan Jazz pickups at both the neck and bridge.

The switching will use two on on on switches to series/split/parallel both the neck and bridge pickups. It will use a 3rd on on on switch to 3-way select from the various combinations of neck/both/bridge sounds, finally since there is the piezo system from LR baggs which has its own on on on switch to select from magnetic/both/piezo sounds (in mono mode).

With that in mind and figuring its a jazz box, perhaps the switching arrangement I decided on may be too much for this guitar. In a way I would like to see what all of these combinations sound like, so part of me thinks its quite versatile, but the part of me that favors simplicity says no this is too much.

I'd love to post the schematic I drew, but I cant figure out how to post a picture to the forum, perhaps it only accepts links.

Any opinions?

[biggs1031]

OK, so I finally remembered how to ftp, so i got my schematics online, here they are:

webpages.charter.net/hazysunshine/Build%202%20schematics-2.jpg


sorry for the crudeness of my dwg. and the fact that the LR baggs PCB is not shown. it takes care of a battery and the stereo/mono connections for the jack

so the question stands...is it too much? should I jts go to a 5 way rotary or megaswitch and stick to my usual PRS switching scheme? in addition to the piezos? opinions? anyone? anyone? :-)

[flateric]

Whoah! I'd spend too long fiddling with all the switches and not enough time striking the strings with this scheme. Personally I am a big fan of the easy to use simplicity and effectiveness of the PRS McCarty scheme for 6 easy to access really useful tones. That covers all bases for me when playing and I need to concentrate on frets and strings and not switches when I play.

[UnklMickey]

hi biggs1031,

Welcome to GuitarNuts2.

my opinion?............if you're making it for your own use, your opinion is the only one that really matters.

the arrangement you have now will give you tons more choices than you can get from a single superswitch.

on the other hand, there's a lot to be said for keeping you choices limited to 5..............as long as they are the choices that suit you best.

one thing i suspect will need to be addressed, in any case is tying the piezo preamp output directly to the passive pickups.

the piezo output will probably be low impedance, and load down the signal from the passives.

try experimenting with a resistor in series with the preamp output, to balance things properly when they are both used together.

and bypass the resistor, when the piezo is used alone.


cheers,

unk

[biggs1031]

hey thanks to both of you for the replies.

Yeah, the complexity of dealing with 4 little toggle switches while playing is what is keeping me from soldering it up.

The impedance issue should be taken care of by the CTRL-X PC board, it even has a trim pot to balance the volumes of both the passive magnetics and the active piezos. I just didnt show it in the schematic because it would be way too much detail for my drawing skillz.

Flateric mentioned he liked the MCCarty 6 positions. I am not familiar with the McCarty as I am with the Custom 24, which is only a 5 poistion. Are you referring to the a Cust 24 + Piezos =6 or is there a different switching scheme on the McCarty?

[flateric]

I modded my Cu24, i never liked the 5-way rotary, could never tell which pups were selected. The McCarty replaces the 5-way rotary with a std les paul type 3-way pup toggle switch and the tone pot is replaced by a push-pull for coil tap. For me, a lot easier to navigate round, plus the coil tap is a good instant push switch for rhythm to lead sounds - very useful setup, I use this on a lot of my guitars now. Simple and effective. If you buy a Cu24 new you have the option of going for the 5-way rotary or the McCarty wiring.

[phil]

no way! sound like it's gonna be the sweetness! 2 questions..... is this a bolt on neck? and are U chambering the body cavity or are you going full tilt with a center block a la Gibson ES-335?

[ChrisK]

Well, if you look around at some of my wiring designs, you soon see that I suffer from a full-blown case of wiring dementia, so you might take what I say under some advisement.

i.e.

guitarnuts2.proboards45.com/index.cgi?board=schem&action=display&thread=1138841439
and such under "Schematics"

However, I find your description and thought process to be most logical and straightforward, intuitive, and thence most easy to remember without a user's manual.

Do it!


You might want to consider using these guides for your schematic representation;

guitarnuts2.proboards45.com/index.cgi?board=schem&action=display&thread=1158705194


.......and, it's low voltage.....