Wiring Push-Pull DPDT Volume Pot to Pup Selector and Tone

[guitarwiringnoob]

Hi,

I recently wired my HSH guitar to switch between series and parallel using a push-pull volume pot but I cannot figure out how to wire it to a pickup selector and tone pot. Any help will be appreciated.

[newey]

guitarwiringnoob-

Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!

Oct 15, 2022 20:48:39 GMT -5 guitarwiringnoob said:

to switch between series and parallel

To switch which pickups (or coils) between series and parallel? We're going to need more detail here . . .

[guitarwiringnoob]

I wired the Push-Pull volume pot to every pickup. When pushed down it's series and when pulled up it's parallel. Thanks for asking.

[newey]

OK, I'm going to need to see how you have this wired, it's still not clear what is being placed into series or parallel with what else. What type of pickup selector, also?

[sumgai]

'noob,


Hi, and to the NutzHouse!

newey is correct, but he should've asked you more pointedly - are you intending to change the internal wiring of each humbucker between series or parallel, or are you intending that any two, or all three, pups can be selected to be in series or parallel?   That question is very simple on the face of it, but as you'll learn in this thread, there are a lot of considerations to ponder before making a final choice.

But be prepared - switches do have physical constraints that will dictate what can be achieved.  If you are flexible and adaptable, then we'll most likely get you to where you want to be, tone-wise. That's kind of our thing, here in the NutzHouse.

HTH






sumgai

[guitarwiringnoob]

Currently, I wired the Push-Pull knob to every pickup. I want to be able to use the pickup selector while every pickup is in parallel or series. The pickup selector I have is a 5-way CRL 2503885. I'm really new to this and can't find any helpful diagrams online.

[sumgai]

Oct 16, 2022 19:23:33 GMT -5 guitarwiringnoob said:

Currently, I wired the Push-Pull knob to every pickup. I want to be able to use the pickup selector while every pickup is in parallel or series. The pickup selector I have is a 5-way CRL 2503885. I'm really new to this and can't find any helpful diagrams online.

OK, it looks like you want to hook up the pickups themselves in various ways, not change the internal wiring of the humbuckers. Fine.

Or is it fine? Nope, sorry to say, that won't happen with a simple push-pull, not even on any one pair of pickups. The problem here is that switches are physical devices, and that introduces certain physical limitations to our desires. In your case, a standard push-pull switch has only two electrically independent segments, both of them operated by the single actuator (pushing down or pulling up on the knob). In turn, those two segments can control, to some degree, what connections are used for whatever purpose. Here, you wish to select either series or parallel, and I'm sorry to say, that can't be done in the manner which you envision. You have three pickups, and a normal p-p can control only one pickup at a time, in order to put it in series or parallel with any one other pickup.

I know, this just got head-warping complicated, didn't it. But in your favor, this place is littered with people who can divine what's needed in order to accomplish almost any goal one might dream up. Stay tuned, and all kinds of magic will appear, trust me on this. (And it won't really be magical, it'll just seem like it on this end. When we get to the other end (it's all finished), you'll understand what happened, why it happened, and you'll be able to go out and do similar things with more confidence. Trust me on that one, too.)

So let's get another decision out of the way. You have a 5-way switch, but you have three pups. Do you want the standard combinations in Positions 2 & 4, i.e. Neck plus Middle, and Middle plus Bridge?. Or are you wishing for Bridge plus Neck as well. As you might guess, you can reach the latter combo simply by moving two wires on the selector switch - swap the Middle and Neck wires, or the Bridge and Middle wires.... Presto!, you have Neck plus Bridge, but at the expense of sacrificing one of the "quack" positions. Personal choice there.

Now, if you do happen to want all three pups to be "On" at the same time, then we'll need to get a tiny bit more complicated, meaning at least one more switch, and probably two more. Don't worry, it's been done already, but it's always a good thing to settle on the "ground rules" before we go charging off like some shining knight in armor, and all that.

Your homework assignment: Post a simple table of what combos you want to see in each switch position. And here I'm talking about just plain text, not a fancy graphic. (Although if you normally think in terms of graphics and want to make one, that's also a good thing.) An example:


P-P Up:
Pos 1 N
Pos 2 N + M
Pos 3 M
Pos 4 M + B
Pos 5 B

P-P Down:
Pos 1 N * M

and so on, you get the idea. BTW, around here we tend to use the plus sign to mean "in parallel with", and the asterisk to mean "in series with". It's not a universal standard across the entire web, but most guitarists on most sites will understand those meanings.

HTH





sumgai

[guitarwiringnoob]

I want my pickup selector wired like this (if it is possible):

Push pull down

1: Bridge
2: Bridge * Middle
3: Middle
4: Middle * Neck
5: Neck

Push pull up

1: Bridge + Neck

[sumgai]

'noob,


That table looks like it might be do-able with very little additional switching. Let me ponder that during my morning routine, but chances are that another Nutz might beat me to the punch and provide a viable diagram for you.

HTH




sumgai

[guitarwiringnoob]

sumgai Have you gotten the chance to draw a diagram yet?

[newey]

guitarwiringnoob-

Here's a diagram for you. As I said earlier, this will require a Superswitch to do the series connections. You didn't specify what V and T controls you will have so I just showed that as a "Black Box". Any regular Strat diagram can be used for the V and T pot wiring, and you will use the unused pole of the Superswitch to select the tone controls. If a master tone is being used, you won't use the extra pole of the Superswitch at all, you would wire the controls as with any single V and T pot guitar.

I think this is OK but let's get another set of eyes on it before you start soldering.

[stevewf]

Dec 21, 2022 21:26:05 GMT -5 newey said:

guitarwiringnoob
Here's a diagram for you.

[excerpt]

The purple Loop-de-Loop is required for hum cancellation 

But seriously  ...   I see dead spots. I see them everywhere.

If I read this diagram correctly, it is indeed in accordance with guitarwiringnoob's list. But I note that the list doesn't expressly include all 10 permutations of the switches. Namely, it omits: When the Push/Pull is up, selector positions #2 - #5.

Here's my reading of newey's diagram, with all 10 listed:
P/P Down:
1) Br
2) Br * M
3) M
4) N * M
5) N

P/P up:
1) Br + N
2) -
3) M [thanks, newey, for the correction]
4) -
5) -

The diagram meets the request, but guitarwiringnoob, did you mean to have no sound in those last four few positions? Middle hangs on hot in 3 of them...

[Edit: the blue and purple wires correspond to the "Down/Pushed" position of the switch.]

[stevewf]

I thought: well, instead of just whining, how about if I try to help? So... this, building on newey's work:



Three changes. All are drawn near the push/pull switch. The result differs in that: P/P up is identical to P/P down except when in position#1. See the edited table, above.
A pair of my suggested edits is optional: the green wire in place of the orange; and cutting the red wire. making those changes won't alter the function of the present design, but it's tidier because it frees up a pole of that P/P switch. That could be useful in case you wanted you use the pole for something else...

...like perhaps making it so that when P/P is up, in position#4, you get (N * M) + Br (lilac dotted line, and re-completed red line, below).

To wit:
P/P Down:
1) Br
2) Br * M
3) M
4) N * M
5) N

P/P up:
1) Br + N
2) Br * M
3) M
4) (N * M) + Br
5) N

[newey]

Dec 21, 2022 23:42:38 GMT -5 stevewf said:

But seriously  ...   I see dead spots. I see them everywhere.

Yes, I realized that as I was drawing it, but I took guitarwiringnoob literally. Originally, I was trying to work out how to have the N + B operate regardless of the position of the 5-way, but I seem to be short of poles to do so.

BTW, on my diagram, with the Push/pull up, position 3 is not dead, it's still middle alone. But your way is definitely better.

[stevewf]

Dec 22, 2022 13:46:15 GMT -5 newey said:

BTW, on my diagram, with the Push/pull up, position 3 is not dead, it's still middle alone. But your way is definitely better.

Doops. Yes, newey's right. List corrected accordingly in previous post.