Guitar Pickups - Series vs Parallel Explored!

[goku]

Hello,

I am new here!

Can someone please help me with a wiring diagram for this configuration that is in this video with a rotary switch???

Guitar Pickups - Series vs Parallel Explored -

I have two Humbuckers, two Volumes, one Tone and a selector switch. I would like to have the most options using three Push/Pull pots in my guitar. I am looking for Jimmy Page sounds.

This is a comment from the video - "If your parallel position sounds a little lifeless, a 1000pf cap across the north and south finish lugs (center positions on the dpdt) will make a huge difference and bring the frequency response back to where it should be. You'll end up with a parallel position that sounds as balanced as series, but with the sound and feel of parallel."

Could someone please provide a wiring diagram with the cap option in it?

Thanks in advance for any help concerning how to wire this type of configuration in a guitar!!!

GOKU

[newey]

Hi goku!

How is the guitar's pickup selector wired now, and is it a three position switch, like on an LP?

And, is the tone a master tone?

So, off the top, each pickup could get a series/parallel switch, with or without the added cap. The third push/pull could put the two HBs out of phase. You could use the third one for splitting the coils of either HB alone, or both at once, but if you're going to do series/parallel, the split coil sound may not be much different (and potentially a bit noisier).

[goku]

Thank you for the advice.

The toggle is a three-way. The Series/Parallel sound good.

I am new at wiring, so I can have the same sounds and options as the video by using Push/Pull pots, instead of using a five way rotary switch?

[newey]

so I can have the same sounds and options as the video by using Push/Pull pots, instead of using a five way rotary switch?

Well, not exactly. That PRS wiring with the rotary switch has more options than you can get with simply 3 push/pull pots.

Think of it this way. The "down" on each push/pull will necessarily be the "normal" setting-where the pickups are controlled by the 3-way pickup selector (because I presume you want to keep those full series HB settings). So, with 3 push/pulls, you can switch 3 things by pulling up. If you want to put the neck HB into parallel when pulled, that's one push/pull. If you want to put the bridge HB into parallel, that's your second push/pull. If the third push/pull is going to split the coils, it will have to do so to both HBs at once, and there would be no switching between outer and inner coils, it would be one or the other.

So, you now have essentially 2 choices (although the second choice has a number of options):

1) If you really want the PRS-style wiring, find a wiring diagram for a PRS Custom 24 (we can probably help) with that 5-way rotary, and buy the same type of rotary switch they use. Ditch one of your volume controls and make it a master V and T set up, then use the extra hole for the rotary. Wire your guitar according to the PRS diagram.

2) Revise your wish list downward. Again, you can have series/parallel on the individual pickups. Options for the third push/pull would be to put the 2 HBs out of phase (the so-called "Peter Green mod"), use it to cut one or both HBs to single coil, or use it for a "global" series/parallel switch, putting both HBs in series when pulled. There are obviously permutations of the above list- you could for example just have a series/parallel switch for one HB, and free up a push/pull for something else. Or use the third P/P to bypass the pots for a so-called "blower switch".

[stevewf]

Feb 5, 2023 12:01:48 GMT -5 goku said:

This is a comment from the video - "If your parallel position sounds a little lifeless, a 1000pf cap across the north and south finish lugs (center positions on the dpdt) will make a huge difference and bring the frequency response back to where it should be. You'll end up with a parallel position that sounds as balanced as series, but with the sound and feel of parallel."

Could someone please provide a wiring diagram with the cap option in it?

I couldn't find that reference in the comments. But I'll make a stab at helping. Hopefully, veteran GuitarNuts will offer any corrections needed.

Assumption: We're talking about the two coils within a humbucker pickup. Given that, we must also be talking about an NWRP pair of coils; that is, the start-to-finish goes the same direction (clockwise or counterclockwise) for both coils (otherwise, putting a capacitor across a humbucker's coils' finishes in parallel would have no effect). Clarifying: that's NWRP, not RWRP.

So here's a schematic of a 1000pF (=1nF) capacitor across the two finish wires of an NWRP humbucker in parallel mode (sorry, for wiring diagrams, we'll need somebody better prepared for those):

ABOVE: PARALLEL, with capacitor as described

I guess the result would be to reduce the brightness of one of the coils (in this example, north) because of the capacitor that's in parallel with it. That suggests that it could take some thinness out of the sound... but there I'm very unsure.

Here's what it could look like when the humbucker gets put into serial mode:


ABOVE: SERIAL, with coil-splitting option

In serial, the capacitor wouldn't have any effect. This means that no additional switch would be needed. That is, you wouldn't need to "turn off" the capacitor. However, without a switch, it also means that the capacitor is always in the circuit when the humbucker is put into parallel mode. Also, you'd have to be careful about where any coil-splitting happens: that's the dotted magenta line, which shorts the pickup between the capacitor and (in this example) the north coil, killing the south coil's signal without choking the north coil.

[kitwn]

Stevewf,

In parallel mode the capacitor is connected across the output of the whole pickup, in other words it will affect both coils equally. GND is GND!