Ibanez HSS Wiring Help

[somerandomdudez]

Hi all,

I've been working on my 1984 Ibanez Roadstar II. It's an HSS with a Suhr Thornbucker in the bridge and SD SSL-2's in the neck and middle positions. Right now, I have two 250kpots and standard Strat wiring via a 5-way switch, but I'd like to make it more versatile and match the pots better.

Basically, I have room for 1 volume pot and 1 tone pot. I plan on changing the standard 5-way to a super switch, as well as having an on/on mini toggle to put the humbucker in series/parallel. I also plan on buying 2 dual 250k/500k pots (one shaft, not concentric) so that the single coils see only 250K pots, and the humbucker sees only 500k pots. I think of this as having Les Paul wiring (a pair of independent volume and tone knobs for each type) within 2 knobs, but maybe that's not quite right. I also have the capacitors set up so that the 250k portion of the tone knob sees a .047 cap and the 500k portion sees a .022 cap.

I've attached my current diagram but I would appreciate any feedback about what you all think or if there are any missteps I've made.

Thanks!

[newey]

random-

Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!

Your diagram looks fine, although I didn't double-check the Suhr wire colors, I assume you've sussed those out appropriately for the series/parallel switch.

However, while tone caps are a matter of personal preference, the typical values are .047µf for HBs, and .022µf for single coils, just the opposite of what you're doing- so I'm wondering if that was a conscious choice on your part or whether you just got it switched around. Personally, I don't much get caught up in all the hoopla surrounding tone cap values, I usually split the difference and use .033 caps for both HBs and SCs, but as I said, to each his or her own on that topic.

[somerandomdudez]

Dec 1, 2020 17:32:37 GMT -5 newey said:

random-

Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!

Your diagram looks fine, although I didn't double-check the Suhr wire colors, I assume you've sussed those out appropriately for the series/parallel switch.

However, while tone caps are a matter of personal preference, the typical values are .047µf for HBs, and .022µf for single coils, just the opposite of what you're doing- so I'm wondering if that was a conscious choice on your part or whether you just got it switched around. Personally, I don't much get caught up in all the hoopla surrounding tone cap values, I usually split the difference and use .033 caps for both HBs and SCs, but as I said, to each his or her own on that topic.

Hi, thanks for the quick response and the warm welcome! I have checked the Suhr wiring colors and this seems to be correct with the DPDT switch.

It's interesting that you mention .047 for HBs and .022 for single coils, everywhere else that I've seen says the opposite, given that a higher cap value rolls off more highs at lower volumes (brighter SC's are more "tame" with higher values, but the generally darker HB's don't lose any unnecessary highs when using lower values). But I suppose a lot of that must come down to personal preference at the end of the day like you said.

I also wanna make sure that there won't be any strange electrical things happening when in the in-between positions. I chose to use dual 250k/500k pots instead of the Suhr "resistor in parallel" trick so the single coils see 250k, because the parallel resistors make an even lower total resistance in position 2. Will this setup produce the same issues?

One more question-will Position 2 (bridge/middle) depend on the switch to decide whether the bridge acts in series or parallel, or will the middle always be paired with one specifically? I believe it should be variable when in that position but I figured I'd ask.

Thanks in advance!

[newey]

Going in reverse order of the questions here:

Dec 2, 2020 13:41:30 GMT -5 somerandomdudez said:

will Position 2 (bridge/middle) depend on the switch to decide whether the bridge acts in series or parallel, or will the middle always be paired with one specifically? I believe it should be variable when in that position but I figured I'd ask.

The middle pickup will be in parallel with the two HB coils, which are in series with each other, when the S/P switch is set to "series". The middle pickup will be in parallel with the two HB coils, which are in parallel with each other, when the S/P switch is set to parallel.

I also wanna make sure that there won't be any strange electrical things happening when in the in-between positions. I chose to use dual 250k/500k pots instead of the Suhr "resistor in parallel" trick so the single coils see 250k, because the parallel resistors make an even lower total resistance in position 2. Will this setup produce the same issues?

It's only position 2 that we need to concern ourselves with on this question- at the other "in between position", position 4 (i.e., N + M) you simply have one volume and one tone pot in the circuit, so no extra resistance there. At position 2, both halves of both pots are in the circuit, in parallel.

Think of it this way. In a regular ol' Strat, at position 4, all three pots- both tone pots plus the master volume- are in the circuit in parallel These are 3 250K pots. Dusting off Mr. Ohms little formula, the total resistance presented to the pickups is thus 83.33KΩ. At the other 4 positions on the Strat switch, only 2 of the 3 pots are in circuit at one time, so the total resistance is 125KΩ. This is why some people will insist, rightly, that the N + M on a Strat sounds a bit duller than, say, the same pickups in a guitar with just master V and T. But other people have played Strats for decades and never noticed, either.

In your case, at position 2, you have two 500K pots and 2 250K pots in circuit, in parallel, for a total resistance of . . . wait for it . . .83.33KΩ. So, unless you consider postion 4 on a Strat to exhibit "strange electrical things", I don't think this will be an issue.

[somerandomdudez]

Ok, that really clears everything up-can't wait to get started on this project. Thanks for all your help!