Brian May inspired, all pickup combinations wiring

[alexis]

Hello,

This is my take on a Brian May inspired, all pickup combination wiring, similar to other diagrams already found here but with less selections (32 excluding phase):





This works by using the rotary switch to select 4 "modes" : in the example provided, mode 1 is parallel, mode 2 compound parallel ; mode 3 is series, like the original ; mode 4 is compoud series. The four mode locations on the rotary switch are independent, so they could be arranged in any order.

This scheme does have limitations, notably 2 silent positions and most importnatly perhaps, to positions where the circuit is open.
In addition, it may not be straightforward to move from some tones to others (for instance, if you're playing with the bridge pickup only in the parallel mode, selecting MxB requires flicking two 3PDTs and turning the rotary switch at least one notch.

But it's still great I think to have an expanded BM wiring like this.

This is a video of me testing the mod :


Finally, I also designed a version that theoretically reduces the number of modes to three (so the modes are series - parallel - compound) but you have to use a 7PDT for each of the three pickups...

Cheers.
Alexis

[ourclarioncall]

Greeting Alexis

Welcome and thanks for sharing your ideas with us. When it comes to Brian May type circuits the more the merrier 🙂

I wish I had your skills and knowledge to be able to come up with stuff like this , maybe il get there one day 😆

Great presentation by the way, there are loads of wiring knowledge and diagrams on here but not many video/audio demos of those circuits so it’s great to see more of this

Just a question- what amp are you playing through and how are you recording the audio ? Thanks 👍

[alexis]

hello ourclarioncall
Thank you for the kind words. I recorded the guitar using a a zoom g2 pedal, set to a crunch sound preset, into a 40w stagg bass amp, recorded with a smartphone.
All pro stuff  !

[ourclarioncall]

Aug 29, 2020 11:44:42 GMT -5 alexis said:

hello ourclarioncall
Thank you for the kind words. I recorded the guitar using a a zoom g2 pedal, set to a crunch sound preset, into a 40w stagg bass amp, recorded with a smartphone.
All pro stuff  !

Over the past aswell as exploring guitar wiring , ive also been looking more in depth into recording guitar and how to get the best audio quality possible. There’s a few different options I’m trying and want to try, but here is a recent attempt that I think sounds pretty good considering what I’m using.

Here is a recording using a looper pedal straight into a fender mustang modelling amp with an 8” speaker. It’s set to a fender twin sound with some reverb. I’m recording with an iPhone 8plus phone , and it’s maybe 6 inches or less from the grill cloth of the amp.

I recorded a bit of drums on my phone from a YouTube video by holding it close to my pickups on my guitar so it gets decided into the looper pedal. It’s a bit rough sounding but did the job for a rough sketch. Then I recorded a layer of chords , then some fills, then just did some improvising on top. There is no bass unfortunately as that would make it sound better but it’s more just to hear what the guitar tone sounds like.

I think I could actually improve the quality of the sound a bit more by putting the phone closer to the amp , and also I wasn’t digging into the strings hard enough when playing the first two parts as other teachers were working and I was conscious of disturbing them with loud volume . But anyway, for a cheap guitar, cheapish amp and a smartphone it shows you what you can produce. Saying that, smartphones are not cheap !

[rber1]

I really want to thank you for posting this schematic. I’ve been trying to get an advanced version of Series/Parallel Wiring. With this I was finally able to get all positions I wanted with my 3 Humbucker Washburn HB35. I even put my own twist one it with a triple shot emulator mod made by Phostenix. I didn’t include the Phase Switches as I’m not fond of that sound. I also just used a single Master Volume since I am still doing passive tone “experiments”. Currently I’m wondering if you could successfully put independent Pickups volumes into this wiring mod. Like could you put a volume pot before the switches and switch between pickups that way? I’m not sure and I want to ask some people here about it. Here is the schematic I drew up for my version of your mod. 

[rber1]

When I wrote 4PDT, I meant either a 2P4T or 3P4T. The rotary switch I use is a 3P4T since I couldn’t get a decent 2P4T switch.

[newey]

rber1-

Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!

Your hand-drawn diagram is a bit hard to follow, but since you've built it and it works, you don't need us to vouch for its accuracy. As to adding individual volume pots, those could be added, wired "across" each pickup before that pickups's 3P switch (i.e., after that pickup's triple-shot SP switches, before the 3P switch). But there will be issues with interaction between the controls.

First off, when all three pickups are in the circuit, you'll have at least three pots in the circuit, plus whatever you decide to do as to tone pots. If it's only 3 pots at once, not so bad, Strats have that at position 4, and LPs have 4 pots incircuit with both pickups selected. But if you get beyond that, extra pots will dull the tone. Using no-load pots can help with this issue

Also, if the plan is a master tone pot after the individual volumes, that will create its own issues.

The series settings also present issues with individual volume pots- turning one down will affect all the pickups active in whatever series setting is being used. There are ways around this, but they get pretty complex, requiring the use of multi-ganged pots and switching the pots between series and parallel modes.

[rber1]

Thank you for the advice. I am using Golden Age Humbuckers which have the same color codes as Seymour Duncan for their lead wires. I was wondering if you could provide a diagram to wire the pots for each pickup in. The Black wire from the SPDT switches is the hot lead and the green wire is the ground lead. I figured that grounding the green wires on the pots wouldn’t work in keep the Series/Parallel switches working the same, so how would I wire those?

Also I like the way a Jazz Bass wires it’s Independent Volumes, which allows me to not subtract the full output while decreasing the output of a pickup. I’ve tried that kind of wiring with three pickups, so it works. I’ve also heard of the Danelectro’s Series wiring with Independent Volumes, but I’m not sure how it works, nor have I tried it. 

[rber1]

like this is what I’m thinking of. How would I wire this up? The Black wire is Hot, the Green wire is Ground, and the Gray wire is the bare ground.