HHH Wiring Help

[easonsclassics]

How to wire my 3 humbucker guitar using; 1 vol, 1 tone, 3 way lp switch, and mini switch.  I think I want to just turn it on or off, unless someone has a cooler idea.  Thanks in advance.

[Deleted]

So will use the 3 Way LP Switch for say NECK and BRIDGE
and the Mini for bring in the MIDDLE
This way it gives you more of a feel of a LP system

Neck, Neck+Bridge, Bridge, Neck+Middle, Neck+Middle+Bridge and Bridge+Middle

Also depends what more can get out of it with the Mini Switch

[newey]

easonsclassics-

First question is to ascertain what types of switches these are. The "mini switch" could be one pole, two poles, On-On, On-Off. What type is it? If you are unsure what type it is, how many lugs are there that you would solder onto?

"3-way LP switch" usually describes a standard LP-type of switch, used for 2-pickup LP-type guitars. But on its 3-pickup LPs, Gibson used a different type of switch. Now, you didn't say if this was actually an LP (or LP-style) HHH guitar, but if it is, the switch may differ.

@angellahash has a good idea for the "middle on", but whether it is possible with the switches you have will depend upon what types they are. Other options, again depending on the type of switch, might include cutting one or two of the HBs to single coil, or putting one HB in series with the others. An on-off, or "kill switch" is easily done if that's really what you want- and pretty much any type of mini-toggle switch would work for that.

While there are some fancy types of switches that can get expensive, mini-toggle switches and LP-style switches are fairly cheap. We get essentially 2 types of inquiries here. Some folks ask: "Here's what I want to end up with, what parts do I need to do that and how do I wire those parts?". Others, like you, ask: "I have these specific parts, what can I do with them?" Those types of queries are less focused, and we can tend to go off in many different directions with various suggestions. It is probably more fruitful to decide what you want the guitar to do, and if the particular switches you have aren't suitable to do that, well, switches are cheap.

[jhng]

Dec 16, 2021 6:31:36 GMT -5 newey said:

It is probably more fruitful to decide what you want the guitar to do, and if the particular switches you have aren't suitable to do that, well, switches are cheap.

Excellent advice -- decide what you want the guitar to do, then get the right parts.

If you have not yet got your mini toggle, or are willing to get a fresh one, you should consider getting a three position DPDT switch.

If you get an 'on-on-on' type DPDT, and combine with a regular LP switch, you can the use it as a 'Middle on' switch to combine with the LP switch, as Angellahash suggests, but also have a position for 'Middle only'. Then you would have all the basic parallel combinations from three pickups.

Alternatively, with an 'on-off-on' type DPDT switch, you could use it as a 'Middle on' switch which switches on the Middle pick either in phase or out of phase.

A further option for an 'on-off-on' type DPDT switch would be to have it as a 'Middle on' switch in one direction and a coil split (on just one of the pickups) in the other direction (if your HBs have enough wires).

Any of those options might be quite handy on an HHH guitar.

[easonsclassics]

Thanks for the response.  It is a standard lp switch 3 position, and the wiring is basically the lp special wiring using 1 vol, 1 tone, 3 way lp switch.  I have options on mini switches, the one I would like to use has 6 solder pins on the back, and is a 2 position on the toggle.  I assumed it was an on off, but may be wrong.  I really just want to turn the middle pickup on or off whenever I want, would rather isolate it from the other ones all together, but that may be over my head.  I just finished wiring it up to lp special specs, I just left the middle pickup wiring off, so im sitting on go, lol.  The guitar itself is a prs semi hollow custom 22, that I routed a third humbucker route in and just installed the mini switch in the center of the volume and tone pots.  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[newey]

Dec 18, 2021 11:24:57 GMT -5 easonsclassics said:

I assumed it was an on off, but may be wrong.

I'd assume the opposite with 6 lugs, but there are On-Off ones with 6 lugs, they just use the same framew for both types and omit the internal connectors on one side. But you should check it to be sure, assuming you have a multimeter or continuity tester. If it's an On-On type, you have more options than if it's an On-Off. But, I'm with jhng. Get a 3-position DPDT On-On-On switch so you can have middle off, middle with the 3-way selection, or middle alone.

Switches are cheap.

[easonsclassics]

ok, I found an on/on/on, how do I go about introducing that into my 3 way switch, 1 vol, 1 tone wiring?

[easonsclassics]

Here is the wiring I used, if that helps

[Deleted]

Sooner have a on/off/on for phase switching

COMMON +M
12) Ground
3) Output
Common -M
1) Output
23) Ground

1)out of phase, 2)off, 3) in phase
--------
Dam it , I forgot needed Middle on own

[easonsclassics]

I thought they said that an on/on/on is what I want.  I am not interested in the out of phase I dont think.  Can you maybe draw it out on a piece of paper and attach a pic, and then where it fits in my schematic.

[easonsclassics]

I want to be able to use just the middle by itself, and blend it with the 3-way switch.

[newey]

OK, first off, on your diagram, the volume pot is wired incorrectly. The center lug of the 3-way switch is shown wired to the center lug, the wiper, of the volume pot, and then that same lug is wired to the jack tip. Doing so wires the 3-way switch directly to the jack, bypassing the pot altogether.

The center lug from the 3-way should instead be wired to the CCW lug of the volume pot, where the tone pot is connected; the center (wiper) lug of the volume pot remains wired to the jack tip.

to wire the On-On-On switch, it is important to know how those switches operate:

.

To wire yours as jhng suggested:



Note that the black lines designate the internal connections in the center position, for your reference. Also note that the position of the toggle lever is opposite of the lugs that are connected, so when the lever is "up", the bottow pair of lugs are connected, and vice versa for the top lugs.

[easonsclassics]

This may be a stupid question, but is the green wire you show, the bare and green from the middle humbucker?

[Deleted]

Dec 19, 2021 0:00:42 GMT -5 easonsclassics said:

This may be a stupid question, but is the green wire you show, the bare and green from the middle humbucker?

Green in this case is from the LP Switch by the looks of it
From the image top to bottom of the screen

Middle + Ground ... LP Switch to OUTPUT
Middle + OUTPUT ... LP Switch to OUTPUT
Middle + OUTPUT ... LP Switch Not Connected

Orange Middle + (Hot)
Green LP Switch Output
Black Ground
Blue Link
Red Output to Volume

[easonsclassics]

Then can I just ground the bare and green from my Dimarzio humbucker (middle humbucker), to one of the pots?

[Deleted]

Every Make is a Bit Different an use different colours

So Humbucker will have 4 (maybe braiding) the Braiding goes to GROUND
Of the 4 Cables from the Humbucker (lets call NORTH the one that is near the NECK) will be Two Single Coils just joined together
So you need to KNOW what one is HOT and NOT! of both pickups
North HOT to Switch
North Not to South Hot
South Not to GROUND + Braiding

just use the basic LP Circuit for the Wiring
50 Shades of Gray is hard to follow if your grounding or sending a signal to the Pots

[easonsclassics]

Its a DiMarzio humbuker, it uses the red as (+), black and white I soldered together, and the green and bare are (-).  Just wondering where to land the green and bare from the pickup.  Do I land it on a pot, as I would when wiring a pickup normally, or can I ground it to the ground tab, illustrated in the previous switch wiring diagram?  Im long winded, basically I know my pickup wire colors, just want to know where to land the green/bare (-) from my pickup.

[jhng]

So, following newey's diagram:

Middle+ (red on your diMarzio) goes to the orange wire
Green & bare on your diMarzio (negative and shield) goes to any ground point. This is not shown on Newey's diagram. Either back of the volume pot or the ground point on the three way LP switch (where the other two pickups have their negative connected) would be fine.

The Green wire on Newey's diagram goes to the centre lug on the three-way LP switch. This currently goes to the middle lug of the volume pot but you need to disconnect that connection to the volume pot and connect the LP switch to the toggle switch instead.

The red wire on Newey's diagram goes to the left-hand lug of the volume pot (same one as where the tone control is currently connected. The middle lug of the volume pot will then only be connected to the jack socket.

The toggle should then work as intended.

[newey]

Dec 19, 2021 10:52:42 GMT -5 jhng said:

but you need to disconnect that connection to the volume pot and connect the LP switch to the toggle switch instead.

Yes, I should have specified that. My diagram is just for the "middle pickup module" of this wiring,just showing how to incorporate it into the rest of the scheme. And, not knowing what pickups you had, I paid no attention to wire colors, I just made them different colors for sake of visibility. jhng's post above has the goods for you, easonsclassics.

[easonsclassics]

Thank you all for your help, works great!!