Looking for an HSS 1 volume, 1 tone coil splitting wiring

[charles]

Hello, everyone.

I've been searching the net up and down and I can't find a simple wiring diagram for an HSS with 1 volume and 1 tone. I have also searched around here to no avail, but I might be blind though. I'd like to split the humbucker and I have a 5 way import switch and two A500K push-pull pots. Can anyone please point me in the right direction?

To summarize, I have:

1 HSS Yamaha Pacifica
2 A500K push-pull pots (1 volume, 1 tone)
5-way import switch

Need: Coil splitting

Thank you all in advance.

[newey]

charles-

Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!

Since you only have one HB to split, you won't need two push/pull pots. You may not even need one.

Fender has made a number of HSS Strats that use one pole of the 5-way switch to split the HB at position #2, so that you have the full bridge HB at the bridge position (Pos. #1), and at #2 you have one bridge coil in parallel with the middle- to sort-of mimic position 2 on a regular SSS Strat. They call this the "auto-split". Diagrams to do so are on the Fender website. However, you will need to translate the diagram to correspond with your import-style switch. Also, these import-style 5-way switches are not all alike. Some have only a single common terminal, some have the two commons wired together from the factory with a very tiny piece of wire. Given that your guitar is just a single V and T set-up, yours might well be one of the oddball ones- so you may need to check the switch's operations before wiring it in.

If you want to have the option to split the bridge HB in either position 1 or position 2, then one of your push/pull pots can be used to do this. We have diagram(s) around here to do so, we'll point you to one if that's the way you decide to go. The coil-cut switch is effectively like a separate module that will get wired onto the HB, it won't affect any of the other existing wiring.

That leaves you with an extra Push/pull pot. You could throw it into the parts bin where it will sit gathering dust until the next project, or you could go down the true GuitarNutz™ path, where more is always . . .well . . more, and use the switch to do something neat with your Pacifica. One popular option would be for a "neck on" switch, to turn on the neck pickup in conjunction with whatever is selected by the 5-way switch. This then gives you the two "missing Strat sounds", B + N and B + M + N.

[charles]

Thank you very much for your reply.

Well, since I already have the push-pull pots lying around here, I guess I'll go with them... Please, show me the way of the GuitarNutz™ "neck on"! That sounds like a very cool Christmas project.

Thank you so much!

[newey]

OK, for starters, I found this diagram on the web, apologies to whoever posted it but it was from a Spanish-language website and I didn't translate its name.

This has a push/pull to split the bridge HB, and it apparently uses Yamaha wire colors (but double-check this against your wire colors). But it's a bit silly, as the push/pull does the "auto-split" thing, so you only get the single coil when at position 2. However, by simply moving the connection from the push/pull to the 5-way down one lug (as shown on the diagram), from the second-lowest lug to the lowest, you'd have the HB split at either position 1 or 2. If you're going to add a switch, might as well have both options.

So, double-check this against what you have got, and we can then get a "neck on" module posted for you to add.

[charles]

Dude, this is awesome. I have been looking for that diagram for over a week! Thank you so much!

That is what I have, well, except I have 2 push-pull pots, but I also have a linear 500K somewhere around the house.

Thank you once more! I'll set to it tomorrow and report back.

[newey]

charles-

I misspoke in the above, you would move the connection up a lug, not down a lug.

The diagram shows the HB as a 3-wire type (red, white, and bare per the diagram), not the more commonly-seen 4-wire type. If yours is a 4-wire-plus-bare type, please advise.

[charles]

Oh, you are right. Yes, my HB is this one:

[newey]

charles-
OK, that helps a lot. To translate your pickup to the diagram, the green/bare pair of wires that are already soldered together will be grounded, just as the diagram shows the single bare wire being grounded. The black wire from your humbucker will be wired as the red wire is in the diagram, to lug 1 of the 5-way switch. The red/white pair on your pickup are soldered together. Leave them so, and wire the pair where the diagram shows the white wire going, to the other pole of the 5-way. But wire it to lug #1 instead of the middle lug if you want the split available in both 1 and 2, as I suggested above.

The "neck on" switch, like your coil cut switch, will only use one pole of the push/pull. It will be wired between the neck pickup and the 5-way switch. First, pick one row of 3 lugs, either right or left, which you will use. It doesn't matter which row (pole) you pick but one side may make for a tidier cavity, that is , shorter wire runs. Wire the pickup + to the center lug of that side of the DPDT. Bottom lug (furthest from the pot) gets wired to the #3 lug on the 5-way, where the neck + is shown connecting on the diagram. The top lug (closest to the pot) will be wired directly to the tip connection of the output jack. Probably best if you draw it out first, but if you need a diagram I'll hunt around here in the basement, I'm sure we've got one somewhere.

Actually, you don't even need to use a second push-pull to turn the neck on, you can use the tone control. The late ChrisK taught us this one Free Neck On Switch

[charles]

Thank you very much!

Your explanation is clear, but I'll try to print and mod with some color pencils the diagram you posted to reflect the changes. I'll report back!

[newey]

Just to finish the thought, the coil split can lso be done with the tone control in a similar manner as described for the "neck on" mod. I have an Epiphone LPJ wired to split the HB that way, works just fine.

We should also discuss another issue. Is the HB also a Yamaha pickup or some other brand? If it is of a different manufacture than the single coils, you may need to check to see that the HB, wired as suggested, will be in phase with the other 2 pickups. If all three are Yamaha pickups, I wouldn't expect an issue with this but if they are different we may need to look into this further.

There is also the question of hum-cancellation with the middle pickup, so that, at position 2, with the HB split to one coil, the combination with the middle pickup is hum-cancelling. This should also be investigated, you may need to cut to the other coil of the HB to have the combo be hum-cancelling. Better to resolve these potential issues now rather than having to go back in and rewire if one of these problems arises.

[newey]

Also, if you want the V and T controls on the neck to be operable when the neck on switch is pulled, wire to the V pot instead of directly to the output jack. I was thinking "direct out" for some reason

[charles]

Dec 21, 2023 5:52:15 GMT -5 newey said:

Just to finish the thought, the coil split can lso be done with the tone control in a similar manner as described for the "neck on" mod. I have an Epiphone LPJ wired to split the HB that way, works just fine.

We should also discuss another issue. Is the HB also a Yamaha pickup or some other brand? If it is of a different manufacture than the single coils, you may need to check to see that the HB, wired as suggested, will be in phase with the other 2 pickups. If all three are Yamaha pickups, I wouldn't expect an issue with this but if they are different we may need to look into this further.

There is also the question of hum-cancellation with the middle pickup, so that, at position 2, with the HB split to one coil, the combination with the middle pickup is hum-cancelling. This should also be investigated, you may need to cut to the other coil of the HB to have the combo be hum-cancelling. Better to resolve these potential issues now rather than having to go back in and rewire if one of these problems arises.

Hello, Newey.

Thank you so much for your help. I've been busy today and haven't been able to do any wiring or anything guitar related.

Yes, the humbucker is not Yamaha. This is how it's wired:



I hope tomorrow I can sit down, make up my mind about what to do, and start doing some wiring. You are very helpful!

[newey]

OK, before you wire things, check each coil of the HB against the middle pickup. Hold the two face-to-face. Which HB coil is attracted to the middle? Knowing this will allow for hum-cancellation in position 2, as we will split to the bridge coil that is opposite of the mid pickup.

That still leaves the question of proper phasing. You could just wire it up, you have a 50-50 chance of getting it right the first time. Getting it wrong means going back in and reversing the connections on the HB, swapping hot for ground.

So, to avoid the likely hair-pulling you'd suffer if the odds don't fall your way, it's best to test in advance. To do so, you will need to do the Screwdriver pull-off test.

[charles]

The middle pickup is attracted to the South side of the HB (where the pins are screws/slotted). So I guess that makes the middle pickup North?

[newey]

Correct, and that means you want the screw coil when the HB is split. The wiring I suggested does that, so no changes needed (unless the phase issue requires changes).

[charles]

Thank you very much. I'll set to it!