Wiring: 2 hum, 2 vol, 1 tone, no PU switch .... ??

[delt]

Ok, what i want to do is have two volume controls, one for each humbucker, and be able to "blend" selectable amounts of signal from both. The closest diagram i was able to find is this:

http://razorback.ca/2hb_2vol_1tone_3way-w-split.jpg

I wired both pickups (with coil splitting) as indicated in the diagram, except simply joining the signals together instead of where the 3-way switch is. This gives me 2 master volumes, both pickups are always at the same volume. if either volume is at zero both pickups are at zero.

Seems logical, since i'm grounding both pickup signals by lowering one of the volume knobs. Do i -have- to connect them in series for this to work? or does the switch do something else than joining both signals when it's in the middle position? If so (and if not) could someone point me to some diagrams that would allow me to do this?

[Newc]

Re: Wiring: 2 hum, 2 vol, 1 tone, no PU switch .... ??

If you wire each pickup to each knob, then run both knobs to the Tone, then to the Output, you'd hafta be able to roll one pickup off without cutting the other one out to switch pickups, otherwise both pickups would be on or off at the same time.
If that's not what you want, you'd need a Blend pot. You'd hafta play around with the wiring to get the phase right - if not it'll sound thin when both pickups are full on (center of the knob).

Is this for a standard 2-hum like a Les Paul or is it like the '90 Warriors with the two single-sized hums at the bridge?

Newc

[White]

Re: Wiring: 2 hum, 2 vol, 1 tone, no PU switch .... ??

If you dont have a switch, you wont be able to have 1 pickup on and the other completely off.

Thats the point of the switch, it separates the 2 circuits so they cant ground each other, thats the real point of the switch.

ALTHOUGH, if you feel comfortable, you can "modify" the volume pots to simply cut out when they are fully turned.

I will try to find a link that shows how to open up a pot without destroying it, hold on . . .

[White]

Re: Wiring: 2 hum, 2 vol, 1 tone, no PU switch .... ??

http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folder...s/potscret.htm

/\ /\ how to open it up without destoying it, and everything you wanted to know about a pot.

and here:
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/pots.htm

Thats how you can modify the pot. If you dabbed some nail polish over the part next to the "ground" tab, you could turn the pot down like normal untill you get all the way to the very end, where the connection would be lost and the pickup would shut off altogether.

[delt]

Re: Wiring: 2 hum, 2 vol, 1 tone, no PU switch ...

newc: yeah, it's for 2 normal humbuckers.

On a guitar with 2 hums 2 volumes and a 3-way switch, if you put the switch in middle position, the volumes will "blend" each pickup individually, right?

what component could i put to "simulate" a toggle switch set to middle position? i don't get how it works....... ???

[White]

Re: Wiring: 2 hum, 2 vol, 1 tone, no PU switch ...

If you had a switch, placed in the middle position, they would still cancel out each other if 1 was turned down all the way.

[Newc]

Re: Wiring: 2 hum, 2 vol, 1 tone, no PU switch ...

White - Not always. I did have an LP copy wired once so that you could leave the switch in the middle position and turn one pickup off with the knob and the other stayed on. It's been years though, so my memory's real dark on that, but lemme see here:

According to that diagram, I think if you swap the pickup-to-knob and knob-to-switch wires (i.e. put the pickup on the inner prongs instead of the outer prongs and then run the outer prongs of the knobs to the Tone) you'll get what you want.

But I'm still confused - you WANT both pickups on at the same time, and both off at the same time, correct? If so, then you just wire each pickup to the end prong as shown, and run the center prongs of each knob to the Tone, then Out.
Do you want the volume knobs to have separate effects on the tone? You can wire them up so that backing off one knob thins out and cleans up the distorted tone, but turning the other knob instead just backs off the gain without thinning the tone or cleaning up as much (you can go from Humbucker Crunchy to Saturated gain levels by turning the knob, or from Saturated to Strattish Gritty with the other knob).

Newc

[delt]

Re: Wiring: 2 hum, 2 vol, 1 tone, no PU switch ...

I just want one knob to control the volume of each pickup.

[Newc]

Re: Wiring: 2 hum, 2 vol, 1 tone, no PU switch ...

Then you wire each pickup to the outside of each knob and the center of each knob to the tone, then out to the jack as the diagram shows.

Newc

[delt]

Re: Wiring: 2 hum, 2 vol, 1 tone, no PU switch ...

thanks.... but isn't that what i did in the first place... ?

oh and by "knob" you're talking about the control pots right? what about the toggle switch?

[Newc]

Re: Wiring: 2 hum, 2 vol, 1 tone, no PU switch ...

Which one, the splitter? Which pickup do you want to split, and is it On/Off or On/Off/On? If it's On/Off or On/On (2-position) you connect the red and white wires to one side of the switch, the black wire to the other side, and the center prong of the switch to the volume knob for that pickup.

And yes, that is how you wired it in the first place - the 3-way simply serves as a traffic light for the signal from each pickup to the output - flip it one way and the output of one pickup stops, letting just the other one pass. Flip it to the center, and both signals are going through together. Remove the switch and the signals of both pickups are going through together, and the knobs act as gas pedals.
The only time you have to worry about Series or Parallel is if you have a Phase issue (thinness of tone when both are at the same volume), then you'd reverse the black and green wires of ONE pickup, or if you have a DPDT (6 prong) split/tap switch, and the white and red wires would each go to their own prong (one shares a selectable connection with the black wire).

Newc

[delt]

Re: Wiring: 2 hum, 2 vol, 1 tone, no PU switch ...

actually it's gonna be both pickups split with a push-pull, but that works fine. i'm having trouble with the individual-volume-per-pickup thing.

So - i wired it like the diagram shows, except without the switch (connected both signals together) and i get 2 global volumes. How do i modify this so that each pickup has its volume knob?

[Newc]

Re: Wiring: 2 hum, 2 vol, 1 tone, no PU switch ...

Connect each pickup to the center tab of its pot, connect the outer tabs of each pot to the tone. I think. Try it and see.

Newc

[toejam]

Re: Wiring: 2 hum, 2 vol, 1 tone, no PU switch ...

[ QUOTE ]
I did have an LP copy wired once so that you could leave the switch in the middle position and turn one pickup off with the knob and the other stayed on.

[/ QUOTE ]
I had my Hamer that's V/V/T wired that way when I had the EMGs put in. I do really like leaving the switch in the middle and blending between each. Before, when it had Duncans, it was the typical Les Paul way where in the middle position, if one of the volumes was off, it would turn both off.
EMG has a diagram on their site to do it either way (master volume wiring or independent wiring). Gibson probably has both wiring diagrams on their site, too.

[delt]

Re: Wiring: 2 hum, 2 vol, 1 tone, no PU switch ...

Ok, on alt.guitar someone gave me a solution that works: i swapped the incoming (left) and outgoing (middle) leads on each volume pot, and everything works ok now.

dude, i really need to review my electronics stuff......