Using stereo outputs.

[allmektig]

So...
I've been thinking a bit.
I don't really know where this thread is going, I'm thinking it might be used as a brainstorming or something.

If I used a stereo output on a guitar, it can be possible to hook it up to two different amps.

So I'm thinking, how hard would it be to add wich output a pickup goes to too in addition to the other options.
A pickup can then be either on/off, in series or parralell, in phase/out of phase and sent to either output a or b.

I'm just thinking of ways to make guitar wiring even more complicated.


Or a bit nuttier.


Add piezo pickups, and I think it might be interesting.

Send the magnetic pickups to an overdriven amp, and the piezo to a clean amp, and mix the signals.
Or perhaps send a combination of pickups (series/parralell, and phase/out of phase) to one amp, and another compnation to another amp.

The posibilities are endless.


I got a feeling I'll at some point end up with at least 5 pin din out from the guitar, and a load of onboard effects...
*Sigh*



(And the person who said you have to learn to walk before you can learn to run... well.... I don't believe that for a second)




Hm.
Also, how hard would it be to have a pickup sent to both outputs?
Like, neck and bride in series to output a and neck alone to output b.

[JohnH]

Newey has a Stereo Tele project in hand:

guitarnuts2.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=wiring&action=display&thread=4462

And as for the piezo/mag to separate outputs, next time I take my piezo-Strat apart, I might add a dedicated hardwired second jack, for magnetic only, before it gets into the active electronics, then the other output will remain as a blend.

John

[newey]

Allmektig-

I tried to keep my stereo Tele relatively simple. In stereo, the Bridge pup goes to one channel, the neck to the other. The only adjustment in the stereo mode are individual vols and a master tone.

In mono mode, a rotary switch selects N/N+B/N+B OOP/B.

A switched output jack eliminates the need for a mono/stereo switch- inserting a plug into the second jack switches the bridge pickup to that output; with no jack inserted, the bridge pup is combined with the neck pup via the rotary switch, and goes to the mono output.

Most of the things you mention are doable. The only real limitation is the need to keep the channels separate when in stereo mode.

[allmektig]

Why do I need to keep the channels separate?
Does that mean that I can't have one channel consisting of neck + bridge and another of just bridge?

How does series/parallell relate to this?
I'll have to experiment a bit I think.

[newey]

Why do I need to keep the channels separate?

By definition, "stereo" means 2 separate channels.

In some applications, like many car stereos, the 2 channels share a common ground; only the hot leads are separated. But if youread through the Stereo Tele thread linked above, we had a long discussion on whether a common ground was a good idea in a stereo guitar.

The consensus was "don't", so I didn't.

But in any event, you'll be wiring 2 separate channels. To have, say, both pickups in series to one channel, and a single pickup to the other, would require a multi-pole "channel switch" to switch the coils between channels A or B, and then separate switching "down the line" for each channel.

My thinking was that, mostly, the guitar would probably be played in mono mode, so I wanted to have the ability to not need 2 cables at all times in order to get both pickups. Of course, one can also hardwire each channel to a separate output, and merge the two with an "ABY" junction box. But this means carting around 3 cables and a stompbox just to be able to run into one amp. I think the way I did it is better, with one channel for mono operation, and then splitting off the other channel to the stereo out.

EDIT:For the sake of completeness in this discussion, we should also note that running different pickups to different channels is the simpler way to do stereo.

The more complex method involves sending the 3 bottom strings (EAD, in concert tuning) to one channel and the top 3 to the other (GBE). Split coil pickups, wired separately, can be used to do this.

[allmektig]

My idea was to just use a single stereo jack, RTS-plug, with a common ground, and then use a little stompbox to split the signal to two mono-jacks.

That way, I could also use a mono-cable directly into the guitar, and just switch all the pickups to the channel on the tip of the plug.
If that made sense?
Would that cause any problems?
Perhaps use a spst-on/off switch to disconnect the channel on the ring?