2HB Setup #1

[Mike Richardson]

This one is for guitars with the pickups mounted close together, as on 24-fret models. Many Ibanezes and similar guitars come to mind. You'll notice in the diagram that some of the wires are numbered. This is because the direction your pickups face will determine how they're wired. Here's the diagram.



The available sounds are, With S2 Down: Bridge HB, Bridge Parallel, Both HB, Neck Parallel, Neck HB. With S2 Up, you get: Bridge Single, Inside Coils Parallel, Outside Coils Parallel, Inside Coils Series, Neck Single.

You'll notice that the Single-coil combos are similar to the three middle positions on a PRS rotary, but in (I think) a more logical order.

Now for the wiring. Most DiMarzio models have coils with matching polepieces. If you are using these, just make sure that the pickups are mounted with the South coil towards the bridge. This is the side where the wire comes out. This also applies to those of you who don't care which direction your pickups face. If you use Duncans, things are a bit more complicated. Duncan's wires usually exit from the Screw coil side, and most Duncans have a Screw coil and a Slug coil. If you want your Duncans to look "normal", you'll need to reverse the magnet in the NECK pickup and wire it somewhat differently. This is also the case for DiMarzios, if you use models like the PAF or Tone Zone. I know this is confusing, but I'll try to clear it all up, I promise!

For most DiMarzios, Wire #1 is Neck White. Wire #2 is Neck Black. Wire #3 is Bridge White. Wire #4 is Bridge Black. Both Reds are Hot, Both Greens are Ground.

For DiMarzio neck pickups that have been "altered", Wire #1 is Red. Wire #2 is Green. Black is Hot, White is Ground.

For "altered" Duncan neck pickups, Wire #1 is Black. Wire #2 is Green. White is Hot, Red is Ground.

For Duncan bridge pickups, Wire #3 is Red. Wire #4 is White. Black is Hot, Green is Ground.

I'll see if I can't come up with a chart that better explains all of this nonsense!

[Mike Richardson]

I see the diagram came out somewhat smaller than I had hoped. The text box with the ORANGE wire says, Both Hots Go Here. The text box connected to the tone pot says, Both Grounds Go Here. Hope that clears that much up, at least.

I'll also get an official schematic done asap.

[Mike Richardson]

Here's the schematic.

[Mike Richardson]

Uh, that's a little bigger than I'd planned...

[sumgai]

Mike,

Uh, that's a little bigger than I'd planned...

It's now OK, thanks.

So shrink it down. Please.

Just re-size it on your machine, re-post it to your photobucket account under the same name, and you won't have to edit your
post above, it'll show up correctly. Right now is 1494 pixels wide, I'd suggest cutting that in half, 750 pixels seems to be
comfortable for everyone here. (At least, I haven't seen any complaints at that size. )

Also, did you put in the title block because Engineer ChrisK does on his drawings, or did you include it for copyright protection
purposes? Either way, I'd also suggest that it be shrunk in proportion to the rest of the drawing, it does "stick out" just a
teensy bit. And it appears that some of your name was chopped off at the front. I would have guessed the font size to
be OK, but you might wanna check it again, it might be too big for the defined space (within the block), and causing your
name to be partially cut off.


sumgai

[Mike Richardson]

Better? It's a strange thing: I can do the schematics and diagrams now without any real trouble, but there's some link in the TinyCad (or Word)/ Irfan/ Photobucket/ GN2 chain that I have yet to understand. One of these days, I'll get it all figured out.
The title block (assuming that's the box in the lower right corner) is just part of the TinyCad template.

[sumgai]

Mike,

Better? It's a strange thing: I can do the schematics and diagrams now without any real trouble, but there's some link in the TinyCad (or Word)/ Irfan/ Photobucket/ GN2 chain that I have yet to understand. One of these days, I'll get it all figured out.

Yep. I modified my post above to suit.

The title block (assuming that's the box in the lower right corner) is just part of the TinyCad template.

Then I'd assume that templates can be modified to suit, right? Personally, I'd delete it, if only for the fact that it adds to the overall size of the image, yet adds no data that's useful to the reader.

If you're worried about copyright issues, you can do several things to help protect yourself. First, make any claims in both the drawing and in accompanying text, such as the body text of any forum message surrounding one of your submissions. Second, while the inclusion within your drawing has to be obvious, there's no set format, it can be pretty small, and tucked out of the way. Perhaps located in the lower left hand corner would be good enough, and with text sized about half of what's shown in the main schematic, I'd think that you'd be covered.

Just some opinions about the drawing itself, you understand.


sumgai

[sumgai]

Mike,

Now for some opinions on the intent of the drawing.

It does look pretty good, but for me, sadly that light color against a white background all but disappears..... this time it's the light green. There are so many of them that I can see something it supposed to be there, but I have to squint, and that just ain't right. 'Nuff said, thanks.

A few things left to ponder. First, I'd use consistent symbols when showing resistors. You depict capacitors, switches and the jack in the time-honored manner, but the resistors are "black boxes", whereas convention would show them as a series of alternating angled lines. May seem trivial, but it stands out to those of us who read schematics all the time.

Next, and arguably more importantly, either I am totally blind, or else there are no connections whatsoever to the common terminals for each pole of the 5-way switch. And forgive my obtuseness, but "Both Hots Go Here" means what? Both pickup Hots? Wouldn't that just short them together at all times? What other Hots are there in a circuit like this? Inquiring minds want to know! ;D

As usual, ymmv!


sumgai

[Mike Richardson]

The black boxes are the current world standard for depicting resistors. The zigzag lines prevalent here in the US are considered antiquated and obsolete by most people. Sorry about the colors. I'm simply trying to keep things separated. There are only so many colors available on the software, and many of them are frankly quite similar. I'm just trying to use the ones that seem easiest to see. Perhaps if I used a gray background.

[sumgai]

Mike,

My response to that "world" stuff would be that those people who think that a black box is descriptive are too lazy to draw things correctly. But I'm old school, and just because I recognize another person's right to be lazy doesn't mean that I have to be lazy too.

You might also note that pretty much the "rest of the world" uses two parallel lines for a capacitor, instead of one being curved. And they also "black box" the battery, instead of alternating short and long lines as per the "deprecated" standard. I could cite several more instances of this behavior, but it doesn't matter. I only said what I did because it jumps out at me, and I'm sure at most other engineers, that mixing the two systems or standards actually draws the eye more critically than to use all one or all the other. 'Nuff said.

Are you perchance using black for your background color? That's my guess as to why those 'light' colors are so appealing when you're drafting. But I don't mind, I *can* make 'em out, it's just not as easy as dark or black lines, that's all. At least, that's the story for my tired ol' eyes, I can't speak for anyone else here.


sumgai

[Mike Richardson]

I use white for a background color. As for being lazy, it takes no more effort to drag and drop one symbol than to drag and drop another, so I'm not sure I get your point. Caps that are drawn with two parallel lines generally aren't polarized, while caps with one curved line generally are. They'll also have the positive side indicated. Please understand that I don't usually draw schematics for my designs. I simply don't need them, since I mainly stick to guitar circuits; a wiring diagram is generally enough. Besides, it's a lot quicker for me to just do it with pencil and paper.

[sumgai]

Mike,

Agreed on that pencil and paper thing! ;D For most members here, that seems to do quite nicely indeed. ;D

Perhaps, since it seems that I'm the only one commenting here, you are "going the extra mile" for little return on your investment. If it wouldn't seem too arrogant or anything, might I suggest that you polish up the first diagram in a few ways, and then see how that sits with the majority of the membership. I think that somehow the importance of a schematic has gotten overblown, and that now may be the best time to slow everydown and say, "hey, let's make sure we need to go this route".

I'm just musing here, contemplating the return on investment you're making..... not trying to impose my standards on you or anthing, quite the reverse in fact. I'm pretty much ready to agree that there's a time and a place for a full-blown schematic, and there are times and places where a simple diagram would be of better service. But it's still your call.

So, if that didn't go down the wrong pipe and make you choke , the only changes I'd suggest for the first diagram in this topic would be to use just one color for all lines (none of them are so densely packed that we can't follow them), and use big enough text labels to determine where everything goes. And include a "truth-table" like you did with your original, that makes it easy to see what the switching diagram will give you.

Ciao for now.


sumgai

[Mike Richardson]

What sort of improvements would you suggest?

[sumgai]

Mike,

I am beginning to believe that I truly am getting mellow in my dotage.

My principle complaint with any drawings, not just yours, would be in the labeling of where such-and-such connects to, if it is not completely spelled out. For instance, in both of your diagrams on this page, you have 4 boxes labeled as 1, 2, 3 and 4. I'm not sure about anyone else, but I don't want to make any assumptions about what each of those numerals might mean. Yeah, they're probably pickup leads, but which ones? It's the little things like that which may seem "intuitive" to the drafter, but they act like a roadblock to the cautious reader who is looking at the details before he commits himself.

Or did I miss a clue here? Are these just experimental drawings where you're getting feedback on the techniques in drawing them, and you aren't worried about all the little details like I've just mentioned? If that's the case, then <Roseanne Rosannadanna>never mind</Roseanne Rosannadanna>. ;D

The only other issue might be color selection, but for many, if not most members here, that is truly not an issue at all. I realize I am in the minority on that one, and can only "ask humbly" that you refrain from what we call "color madness" when laying out lines.

("Color madness" is a cousin of "font madness", whereby the artist goes bonkers by trying to use all the options possible, no matter what the effect may be on the viewer. Want examples? Visit www.webpagesthatsuck.com, chock full of what not to do, and more importantly, why not to do them.)

Other than that, I think that your "old-school" pencil-to-paper rendition is still your best effort so far, unklmickey notwithstanding. I certainly understood what you were saying, and I think that if you "merely" transcribed it as closely as possible into a computer-aided drawing, you'd have the admiration of everyone on the web. ;D (Well, those that play guitar, anyway. ) Sometimes there's a good reason for that old adage, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Looking forward to your next release!


sumgai

[Mike Richardson]

I explained in the post what the numbers were for. It seemed a bit much to try and put all of that in a text box. You had mentioned having a problem with the yellow lines in one diagram, and green in another. Were the green lines the ones in the schematic? Just making sure I know what the problem is. I'm sorry to hear you have an issue with "Font Madness". I was considering labelling everything using an Old English font.

[sumgai]

Mike

Yes, the green lines were those in the schematic, and the yellow lines were in the first drawing you did. I *can* see them, but it's harder than it should be.

Addressing the issue of labeling, a diagram should require no additional explanations, it should stand alone. (A picture is worth.....) What happens when someone prints out your diagram, and doesn't realize he or she should also print all of any given message? (In point of fact, I missed the explanations, thinking that Mike wouldn't require a viewer to read secondary verbage. Silly me. : That really hits home when you consider other languages.... the non-English speaker may know that the American colloquialism for the neck-most pickup is "N", but if they don't understand English fairly well, then all that fine prose you surrounded the diagram with is wasted. And that viewer is, sadly, in trouble.

Again, these are my views, and they are limited by my experiences. I offer them in good faith, because you did ask.

Old English? Why not use Fractured German? ;D


sumgai

[Mike Richardson]

Good points. But then, I like fractured German...

[Mike Richardson]

One problem that I've encountered, but haven't successfully resolved, is that Word provides only a small area to create a drawing. I'm sure that there's a way to increase the size, but I haven't found it yet.

[UnklMickey]

chikn said:

One problem that I've encountered, but haven't successfully resolved, is that Word provides only a small area to create a drawing. I'm sure that there's a way to increase the size, but I haven't found it yet.

send a pm to JohnH.

he uses Word for his drawings.

i'm certain he can offer advice on a few different ways to make drawing in Word easier.



unk

[sumgai]

Mike,

Once you have an object inserted into a Word page, click on it, or it may be that you have to right-click on it, and eight "handles" will appear around the perimeter. If you grab (place the mouse directly on it, and the cursor will change) any one of those handles, you can then move the border (line) it sits on. Grabbing a corner moves two lines. Just be careful to maintain some kind of symmetry when you move that corner, or things will look real strange.

But do talk with JohnH, his productions appear as good as, or better than, anything else posted here.


sumgai

[CheshireCat]

sumgai said:

Or did I miss a clue here? Are these just experimental drawings where you're getting feedback on the techniques in drawing them, and you aren't worried about all the little details like I've just mentioned? If that's the case, then <Roseanne Rosannadanna>never mind</Roseanne Rosannadanna>. ;D

Actually, more like <Emily Litella>nevermind</Emily Litella>.

I mean, not to split hairs, of course, but as they say, sumgai, <Roseanne_Roseannadanna>it just goes to show you, it's always something</Roseanne_Roseannadanna>.

[sumgai]

Chesh,

Hey, I never watched TV, except whenever I was visiting a friend. I didn't get too close to remembering all those characters on SNL, but that name sure stuck with me.

Thanks for the "update". <hehehe>


sumgai

[CheshireCat]

sumgai said:

Thanks for the "update". <hehehe>

You mean the update with Chevy Chase?

sumgai said:

Hey, I never watched TV, except whenever I was visiting a friend.

Oh . . . well, that's different . . . nevermind.

;D

[sumgai]

Chesh,

....
You mean the update with Chevy Chase?

Yeah, that's the one. I felt so much better after hearing his version of the news.


sumgai

[CheshireCat]

sumgai said:

Chesh,

....
You mean the update with Chevy Chase?

Yeah, that's the one. I felt so much better after hearing his version of the news.

sumgai

Indeed.