Voss
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Post by Voss on May 1, 2016 12:04:29 GMT -5
Hey Nuts, long time lurker but first time poster here. Title says most of it - I'm wiring up a couple P90 stacks and a humbucker to a spin a split in a strat. I went and made a wiring diagram that I think will work, but I've never actually wired up from scratch before so I just want to run it by someone who knows what they're doing before I go and grab the soldering stick. I have plenty of experience swapping pickups and the like, and basically I just want to make sure my wiring plan isn't stupid. The neck and bridge are stacked p90's while the center is a GFS Gold Foil humbucker soapbar. Cheers! Attachments:
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Post by newey on May 1, 2016 21:59:06 GMT -5
Voss-
Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!
These are 2-coil"stacked" P-90s? I'm not sure how that will sound when "split", but of course you're free to experiment. Your diagram looks fine to me, but let's get a second set of eyes on it before you start wiring.
One thing to note: Since you are only using 1 pole of the 5-way switch, there is no need to wire the 2 poles of your 5-way switch together, and then to wire from the second pole to the V pot. Just go straight from the first pole's common lug to the V pot and leave the whole second pole of the 5-way unwired. This eliminates 2 unneeded connections, and thereby reduces by 2 the number of possible failure points.
Also, while your tone control will work as shown, I think it works better wired the opposite way, with the input going into the wiper.
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Voss
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Post by Voss on May 6, 2016 7:42:45 GMT -5
Glad to finally be posting here, Newey! After countless hours of research, emailing companies, and even calling a couple, I now realize that it is incredibly difficult to find a triple gang pot that not only fits the specs, but is also small enough to fit in the control cavity. I changed what you suggested I should and realized that maybe I don't even need a triple gang pot. With the entire opposite side of the 5-way empty, could it be used to control which pickups are being selected to split, as pictured? Thinking about it now, would positions 2 and 4 on the switch end up not working the way I'm intending? And if so, how can I fix that?
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Post by reTrEaD on May 6, 2016 10:24:09 GMT -5
With the entire opposite side of the 5-way empty, could it be used to control which pickups are being selected to split, as pictured? Hello Voss. You almost have it right. Exchange the Red and LightBlue wires on the right-hand side of the switch and it will work as you intend. Thinking about it now, would positions 2 and 4 on the switch end up not working the way I'm intending? And if so, how can I fix that? The only issue I see in those positions is minor. In the 2 and 4 positions, the series links of those pickups are tied together. This might cause the sound to be slightly different when the "spin a split" is at maximum resistance, than it would be if the series links went to separate pots. You can "fix" this by using a 4P5T pickup selector such as a SuperSwitch or MegaSwitch-M, and a dual-gang pot for the spin a split. But I wouldn't bother. What you're fixing seems very minor to me. JMO.
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Voss
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Post by Voss on May 6, 2016 11:35:18 GMT -5
You almost have it right. Exchange the Red and LightBlue wires on the right-hand side of the switch and it will work as you intend. Whoops, glad you caught that! That would've made things a little messy. I agree about the minor problems, the main issue is that I was quoted $145 for one triple gang pot and IMO a slightly different tone is much preferred over a hole in my wallet. I cleaned up the diagram and am posting a final version (And had a little fun with the naming ). Hopefully if anyone ever needs to search for a diagram like this they'll be able to find it here! Any more comments/concerns?
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Post by reTrEaD on May 7, 2016 13:54:58 GMT -5
1 - I very much like the 'rules' you're using in this drawing. The previous drawing had 'jumps' where the wires crossed. That adds clutter. Your latest version is very clean. I'd suggest adding at least one dot. Where the wire from the selector goes to the volume control then to the tone control. The connection of that wire at the tone control is intuitive. It has nowhere else to go. A dot there would be nice, imho. But not necessary. The connection to the volume control is not intuitive. It isn't clear to a novice if you mean the wire passes over that point or a connection is made. You know it's connected. I know it's connected. But you'll want to be sure everybody knows for certain, without reasoning things out, that a connection exists.
The treatment of the black wires from the pickups works well enough and doesn't require a change. Since the wires come together in a 'T' it's very easy to understand these wires connect together. However, if you want to drive this home visually, you could use dots at any 'T' connection. If you want to force the concept that the wires aren't connected at the actual T locations, you could draw them as separate wires that run parallel to each other, ultimately joining at the case of the volume pot. Either of these options or the way you currently have it are legit. Just a mention of choices and their relative merits.
2 - I expect Newey will suggest you create a new thread in the General Guitar Schematics sub-board after the discussion here has been completed and your final drawing has been vetted by another member or two. That will make it easier for others to find your finished work. Be sure to include a brief description of the design goals, and how they are met. In this case, that would be employing the side of the stock selector that is traditionally used for the tone controls, to connect the "spin-a-split" pot.
3 - It's been a pleasure being part of this discussion. I hope you'll post more often now that you've made the leap from lurker to poster. Add your opinion to other discussions or start a thread on another idea you might have.
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col
format tables
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Post by col on May 7, 2016 15:49:18 GMT -5
Hi Voss, You might look at Omeg: www.omeg.co.uk/products.htmwww.omeg.co.uk/p3g6bubc.htmMany years ago, you could order a bespoke single unit from Omeg. It appears that the minimum order is now ten. I mention Omeg just in case you a) have a need for ten pots; or b) can sell on the extra units; or c) can afford to stand the expense of ten units for this project (from what you said, probably not). Oh, and by the way, what software are you using to generate your wiring diagrams?
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col
format tables
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Post by col on May 7, 2016 16:14:38 GMT -5
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Post by newey on May 7, 2016 21:23:05 GMT -5
Yup. All of that. And, yes, a good job on this design.
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Post by reTrEaD on May 7, 2016 22:38:41 GMT -5
Yikes! I just noticed a minor error. Not sure how I missed it earlier. The tone pot is wired backward. With this wiring, the treble cut will occur when the knob is turned clockwise. The wire from the selector switch and volume control should be moved to the far-right lug on the tone pot.
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Post by newey on May 8, 2016 7:29:16 GMT -5
Good call, RT. We should also specify that it is wired backwards if the diagram is drawn as if looking from the back of the components. That's usually understood to be the way most diagrams are drawn, but best to specify it.
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Voss
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Post by Voss on May 8, 2016 11:39:52 GMT -5
@ reTrEaD Cleared things up and fixed that tone pot! Thanks for pointing that out! @ col I actually did try and contact Omeg, but never got a reply. I kind of like the idea of using what I have already instead of getting new parts anyway, so things worked out and I didn't have to spend any extra money The software I'm using is DIYLC3 ( bancika.github.io/diy-layout-creator/ ) and it's pretty awesome. I tried out a few others but I've found this one is the easiest to use as well as the most versatile. @ newey Thanks for the help and input! I'll be sure to make a new thread for the final version, as well as get some audio samples... once the paint is done curing and I can assemble my creation.
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Post by reTrEaD on May 8, 2016 23:29:35 GMT -5
Mr Voss, I owe you an apology for not noticing this sooner. The way these 5-way switches work is that when you push the lever toward one end, the throw on the opposite end is the one that's engaged. That means the top pickup in your drawing is the one selected when the lever is moved toward the bottom of the drawing.
The quick fix to this would be to label the top pickup as the bridge (and the light blue wire as the series link for the bridge pickup)
Sorry I missed that. Maybe another pair of eyes on this would not be a bad idea.
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Voss
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Post by Voss on May 13, 2016 12:11:34 GMT -5
The way these 5-way switches work is that when you push the lever toward one end, the throw on the opposite end is the one that's engaged. D'oh. Fixed that. I made a mockup with a strat pickguard blank, it's messier but it really drives it visually. Of course, view is from the bottom, hence why it's mirrored. Questions? Comments? Concerns?
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Post by reTrEaD on May 13, 2016 18:34:54 GMT -5
Looks legit to me but given that I overlooked issues before on this one, let's get a second opinion.
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Post by newey on May 15, 2016 22:13:44 GMT -5
I'll second it, looks good to me
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