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Post by Carlos Sanz on Apr 16, 2017 16:38:56 GMT -5
Hi, there:
This is my first post. I hope someone finds it useful.
When I replaced my old pickups with Kinmans, I was looking for some modification that could give me as many combinations as possible. I wanted the Gilmour Mod sounds, but also the series combinations of pickups. No mod out there seemed to do all what I wanted, so I've designed my own modification.
This is what I get:
- it keeps the original 5 sounds where they are to be
- it adds more sounds in places easy to remember
- it doesn't alter the aesthetics of the pickguard (no more switches, please)
- it gives me all the combinations you can think of, including out of phase, series, parallel, series and parallel... (it's insane, believe me)
- When pickups are in parallel, the Volume and Tone circuit is different than when the pickups are in series.
In order to do it, I've needed to sacrifice the second Tone Control. My guitar works like this:
I've had to acquire some very special components. It's not been easy but it works exactly as I wanted.
If someone is interested, here you can find a PDF document explaining everything:
drive.google.com/file/d/0B9IKMmd1rshtelRqbWVGZWRJdjA/view
(that document contains some interesting information for those of you interested in understanding why the Tone and Volume potentiometers value can change the final sound).
And here is a video of myself strugling against my English trying to demo it:
(The only thing I need now is time to learn how to play propperly ).
Attachments:
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Post by JohnH on Apr 16, 2017 17:07:27 GMT -5
Hi elgurriato and welcome to GN2! Thankyou for posting here. That is great work!
Others...I saw this on another forum. Its really worth reading! Very clearly presented and with some great insights into complex wiring and modding some special switch components.
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Post by b4nj0 on Apr 16, 2017 18:40:48 GMT -5
Excellent. As John says- well thought out and presented. I struggled twice with Mike Richardson wiring so I'm not going to attempt this, but that doesn't mean I cannot appreciate the work that has gone into it. I think I may struggle to keep up in a live situation with the smorgasbord of options available, but designs like this are made for a recording guitar, and are what the old Proboards karma system was made for. Now to pour over the circuit diagram...
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Post by newey on Apr 16, 2017 22:31:31 GMT -5
We have heard tell of the 8-pole EYB lever switch, but this is the first design I've seen to utilize one. It needs a name- can't be "Mega" or "super", so I'll dub it the "Monster Switch". Your description makes it sound as if you had to send 2 of the Megaswitches to EYB to get this built- I thought you could just buy one off the shelf at EYB?
Excellent build and a thorough explanation- thanks for posting it!
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Post by sumgai on Apr 17, 2017 1:17:45 GMT -5
el,
Hi, and welcome to The NutzHouse!
(Discussion about how to insert an image, now moot.....)
21 pages of instructions and discussion? I'm gonna go get me a sammich...
sumgai
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Post by Carlos Sanz on Apr 17, 2017 2:50:55 GMT -5
We have heard tell of the 8-pole EYB lever switch, but this is the first design I've seen to utilize one. It needs a name- can't be "Mega" or "super", so I'll dub it the "Monster Switch". Your description makes it sound as if you had to send 2 of the Megaswitches to EYB to get this built- I thought you could just buy one off the shelf at EYB? "Monster-Switch" seems a perfect name to me. "Insane Hulk Switch", "Wirdo Switch" or "AreYouNuts-Switch" are probably as adequate On the other side, I apologize for the description to be misleading. I bought it as it is. I didn't have to buy two Megaswitches-M and send them to Günter. I directly bought the Monster-Switch to him without any other previous complication. The only difference is that this Monster-Switch is not listed in his website along with the other special Switches and you have to ask him directly by e-mail.
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Post by Carlos Sanz on Apr 17, 2017 2:57:09 GMT -5
As you can see, I modified your post to explain to other readers why your first image did not display correctly. [...]
21 pages of instructions and discussion? I'm gonna go get me a sammich... Thank you for the correction and the explanation, sumgai: I tried to link the picture to my Google-Drive, but for some reason it didn't work. I agree that 21 pages are definitely too many... but as I said in the school: "don't worry: it's mainly pictures"
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Post by JohnH on Apr 20, 2017 16:21:17 GMT -5
Hi Carlos - I was wondering out of all the extra options, which are your favourite non-standard settings?
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Post by Carlos Sanz on Apr 20, 2017 16:32:33 GMT -5
Hi Carlos - I was wondering out of all the extra options, which are your favourite non-standard settings? Well, first of all, let me tell you that my criterion on that is not reliable. I'm rather a technician than a musician. That being said, my favorites are the "humbucker of the bridge" and the "humbucker of the neck" (bridge+middle in series and middle+neck in series respectively). But I was quite surprised by: - The Neck and Bridge in series - The Neck and Bridge in series and out of phase - The Neck and Bridge in parallel and out of phase. The last two being quite funky (the out of phase with so far away pickups removes most of the low frequencies). On the other side, I would give up the three of them together in series and all the mixed series and parallel combinations (probably with some mixing and some phase reversal you can get something useful, but with the others I have more than enough).
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Post by JohnH on Apr 20, 2017 17:16:40 GMT -5
I kind of agree with your views! I think the best sounds usually come from just one or two coils active. Phasing of neck and bridge is definately the best out of phase option IMO, and with simple single-coil pickups its also hum-cancelling.
Another thing I find is tbat blending pickups in parallel is good at each end of the range, but often doesnt create any more useful sounds in between. But blending in series (gradually shunting one pickup with a pot) is very interesting and useful part way.
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Post by Carlos Sanz on Apr 21, 2017 3:45:51 GMT -5
We see it the same way, John. The series blender is more dramatic (sonically speaking). But as far as I know, if you wire it you finish with a potentiometer in series with one or the two coils. And I was particulary worried about the influence of the potentimeters in the final sound. At first, I considered installing something like the Washburn VCC: But later, thanks to the "monster-switch" and S-1 capabilities, I favoured my double Volume/Tone circuit: But definitelly, something more simple should be designed, only with the really usefull tones. Probably, I'll do someday. But I won't give up the double Volume/Tone circuit.
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Post by gitpiddler on Apr 22, 2017 21:20:39 GMT -5
Hey Carlos, that is pretty work. My personal theory on Leo's pickup schemes are that you have the bridge and neck as the sources of tone. The Strat adds the spring connection, hence the extra pickup. It adds reverb to both ends and a hollow-body vibe. I like parallel neck and series bridge for balance. I'm a simple one PU, volume pot user live but would love the options for studio. I used to pick at the bridge mostly and broke strings, now I pick more at the neck and a direct-mount PU catches it all. I need to series/parallel the strat, tried just parallel for years, now back to series with a straight treble bleed cap. Steve Morse said he selects pickups depending on where he is on the neck. High on the neck, neck pickup; bridge pickup for cowboy chords; the rest are for in between flavors. It's the most efficient transfer of tone to the amp.
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Post by JohnH on Apr 23, 2017 16:14:39 GMT -5
Hi Carlos With series blending, I think there is a risk of losingg treble tone when all series signals have to pass through a pot set part way. That Washurn vcc series to parallel blender looks like it might have that issue though I havnt tried it. I think there are some ways ti do it though. Here are some analysis on series blending: guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/6762/blending-coils-seriesMy LP has treble bleed on both volumes and I can mix them in series (like option C in the above). My hss Strat shunts one coil with a blend pot (option B) With 250 vs 500k pots for parallel vs series or singles vs hb's, your system is a complete switched solution. Have you tried just putting a resistor switched in across a pickup, so a 500k pot sounds more like 250k? Not quite as pure though. Also, it can be shown that turning down the tone slightly is almost exactly the same as using lower pots. On my Strat, I just use 250k but the tone pot is no-load. One 250k volume has the same tone as two 500k pots.
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Post by Carlos Sanz on Apr 25, 2017 13:14:18 GMT -5
I haven't try the Washburn VCC program either As far as I know, they put it instead of the Tone controls in some Les Paul based models.
John, I need some more time to study your series blender analysis. BTW, is there any piece of software that is popular in this forum for this kind of simulations? Is that 5spice freeware?
On the other side, I had read that putting a resistor in parallel with a potentiometer changes the taper dramatically (I made some calculations and it made sense to me). It's usefull only when the pot is at its 10-position. That's why I concluded that the double circuit was thw only "purist" way to do it... but there is not any blender there, and I like the idea of blending from parallel to series or from single to series. I'll try to think about that after studing your analysis (now, my time is quite limeted... sorry)
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Post by JohnH on Apr 25, 2017 15:21:40 GMT -5
I reckon you would enjoy having a simulation tool to test out guitar circuits if you don't have one. SPICE is a standard format and analysis engine, and there are various packages that use it, some newer than others. One that many use is LTSPICE (powerful but a bit dated though). I like 5Spice because it has a really clear interface and graphical presentation. It is a free download for the basic version, which I find to be plenty for guitar circuits and smaller active circuits. www.5spice.com/Some of these questions can also be addressed using a spreadsheet, and GuitarFreak is a dedicated guitar circuit analysis where you can change many circuit parameters and pickups etc. It runs in Excel or Libreoffice: guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/3627/guitarfreak-guitar-frequency-response-calculator
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Post by Carlos Sanz on Apr 25, 2017 15:50:29 GMT -5
Thank you, John.
I used Pspice a long time ago, when I was a student, I had more hair and MSDOS was the most usual Operating System. I've never used it again since.
When I made my simulations for this project, I simply used Excel, since the components are very simple.
But one day, if I find the time, I have the "secret" project of making a series of videos trying to help audio technicians and luthiers. If I do, I'd like to use some free software to give them the tools to make their own designs. Your links are great help.
Thank you again
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Post by ChristoMephisto on Apr 26, 2017 15:16:37 GMT -5
Great job on the presentation. Looks slick. I played around with the idea also of 250k for parallel and 500k for series and found the resistor sounded more like a sterile treble cut than a 250k voltage divider. Could be why Fender used dual 250k/500k volume for their Shawbucker instead of the tradional pot and resistor trick. It may function electrically the same, but tonally not the same.
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Post by Carlos Sanz on Dec 3, 2018 8:22:23 GMT -5
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