Rookie attempts HSH with individual switching and coil split

[johancoffey]

Hi all,

I'm new to guitar wiring and have planned out something for a HSH configuration. I have looked into some options, but I couldn't find a schematic online to help me get started, as I have no clue on what does what (mostly).

The plan is that I use 3 individual on/on switches for each pickup, that will determain wether the pickup is on or off. I also have 1 tone and 1 volume knob with push/push switches built in.
Those I am planning to use to split each individual humbucker. This should give me 32 theoratical switching options, with some not usable, since those options include splitting coils that are not switched on.
Thing is, I have no idea how to wire this config nor what that will do with hum, serial/parallel wiring AND if it is even possible to begin with.

I could just do with a seven-way switch, probably, but I love the aesthetic of all the switches and tinkering (huge Jaguar fan btw).

I would love to try to make my setup work for HSH, with every pickup hooked up to a switch and being able to coil split the HR/HB individually.

Below, I included my setup in a simple picture. If someone would like to look into it and give me feedback on how to wire this beast, it would mean a lot. I'm just a beginner and earlier this week I just learned what a potmeter does...

I also found another thread on here that I looked into, just with 1 push/push switch for both humbuckers.
Maybe that's not far off from what I intend to do, but like I said; I have no idea...

Here's the plan:

Maybe this has been done before, I haven't been able to find anything like this.

Cheers and thanx! - J

[newey]

johancoffey-

Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!

Are all the pickups from the same manufacturer?

What you want to do is simple enough and certainly possible with the parts you have. I asked about the pickup manufacturer because one thing you will want to do is set it up such that, when both HBs are split, the two coils selected will hum-cancel with each other.

Series/parallel wiring is a whole 'nother topic. You could wire the HBs (either or both) to switch the connection between the two coils from series to parallel. Or, you can put two or three of the pickups into series with each other rather than the usual parallel combinations. But all of that would require different or additional switching. As one example, if those DPDT toggles that you are using to select the pickups were 3-position On-On-On toggles, you could wire it to have series/parallel/split coil for each HB (the middle single coil would just use a 2-position switch for on/off).

The diagram I drew for that other thread has both HBs split by a single DPDT- one pole splits one HB, the other pole splits the other. The two HBs are wired differently so as to split to opposite coils for hum-cancelling. To have a separate switch for splitting each HB, you can use that diagram, with one half of the switch as shown on the diagram wired to one push/pull, and the other half wired to the other. You will only be using one-half (i.e., one pole) of each push/pull switch. But again, we'll need more info on the pickups to ensure hum-cancellation.

But you can rough out a diagram for what you want using the diagram from the thread above. As for the pickup switches, wire the "hot" lead of each pickup to the center lug of its respective switch. The top lug (or bottom, depending on switch orientation) is then soldered to the V pot CCW lug for each pickup. Flip the switch one way and the pickup connects to the output (via the V pot), flipped the other way, the hot line of that pickup is disconnected. All three pickup negatives get grounded.

[johancoffey]

Newey! From what I heard, you're a legend around these parts!

First off: the pickups are all Aliexpress FLEOR. I wanted to do a build for sometime, but not spent Seymour Duncan-amounts of money on a pack.

From what I learned so far:
- Guitars are wired DC, which means the current flows in one direction. Grounding therefore is done on every part of the setup (pots, switched, strings, jack, etc). I, however have no idea how to direct said current throughout a setup, which is something I intend to learn (help/advise is welcome!).
- DPTP-switches have 2 poles, meaning you can wire 2 circuits with one switch (have 2 functions). I chose the on/on because I didn't know about series wiring (from what I learn now, it's basically turning some or all pickups into a giant humbucker, but that's not what I'm after.)
- Hot doesn't make something work, ground does. Disconnect ground and the pickup is off.

Correct me if I'm wrong tho.

I will draw something up for you to review. I would love to come up with my own way to make this work, but thanks for the help

[johancoffey]

So I came up with this, following your instructions. As we discussed earlier, coils might need to be switched to cancel hum and I figured I got the wiring on a pot the other way around, but I think this is a nice start!

The capacitor trick is something I saw in a Thomann vid. Of course, I want the push position to split the coils, not the pull, but if I make up my mind, I think i'll manage that on my own!

For what I know, FLEOR pickups are wired black for hot (South Start), green and bare for ground (North Start) and the red and white wire for split (North Finish and South Finish).

Lemme know how I did!

[ashcatlt]

As long as you got all the wire colors right, and with the caveats you mentioned of orientation, it should work as you’ve drawn. There’s no good reason to switch the “ground” end of the pickups. They can all just stay connected. This way doesn’t hurt anything, but…

…If the split HBs hum-cancel with each other, one of them won’t hum-cancel with the middle. I suppose you have to decide how much that matters. If we had a free pole on one of those switches, we could automatically switch which coil gets shorted when one of the others is selected. There’d be decision to make, and you can never have all three coils him-cancel (1 + 1 - 1 != 0), but it might be desirable?

[newey]

johancoffey-

ashcatlt is right, all the grounds can just daisy-chain together, you don't need to disconnect the grounds at the switches, just the "hot".

You did well for a first effort.

However, your guitar pickups produce AC current, not DC, so the terms "positive" and "negative" don't have the same meaning as they do with DC. We use pluses and minuses, "pos." and "neg" as convenient shorthand terms, but keep in mind that they are not technically accurate.

Disconnect the ground and the pickup is off

Yes, because you then don't have a circuit. But the pickup will be equally off if you disconnect the "hot" connection, because you then don't have a circuit.

But, as you may see (or have seen) discussed around here, we prefer, when possible, to disconnect the pickup at the so-called "hot" line. It may theoretically be less prone to generating noise than if the hot line is left connected and the ground disconnected.

[johancoffey]

You guys are a treat! I will get all the grounds off the switches and chain them. I will also do some more research about hum cancelation. Seems like there's a lot of info on here. And trial and error is never lost time.

Thanks so much for all the info. I might tune in some other time, since I think this will become a new hobby of mine. I bought a soldering iron for this and have some spare guitar body's lying around soo...

I will def. write an update about my endeavours!

Cheers!