Did that to a Strat back in the 70's. Gave me 36 different sounds. Only problem was, they all weren't that different. Ended up only using about 3 of them. After listening to this, I rest my case...
When I saw the thumbnail for this video, I thought it was photo-shopped clickbait. I was delighted when the video started and I saw that thing was real!
I just did something similar to a Squier Bullet strat. I used 3 way switches so that each switch had a series, parallel and split position. 3 switches for 3 humbuckers. And I reordered the pickups in the mode switch so that the bridge was in the center position, giving it a position where it shares with the neck. Also wired it so that one of the tone knobs works for both the bridge and the middle.
The latest thing I'm playing around with is straight up taking the screw poles out of the pickup. Then that essentially leaves you with a single coil next to a dummy coil, which gives you more of a single coil sound but still hum cancels.
Charles, many thanks for posting this. I too am interested in 'unusual' wiring configurations, and I've tried some of the same ones you're using here. My 'test bed" is an early 2000''s Greg Bennett Malibu that I picked up for a small amount as "non-working" - which it wasn't, because the seller's son had (somehow) removed the head-end nut. And it was lemon-yellow - not everyone's cup of (lemon) tea. However, with a nut installed, I made up several different configurations. I didn't have a video camera back them, unfortunately, because it sure looked like science-fair project. I had the good fortune to be introduced to Alan Entwhistle over in the UK - he was friends with a chap who'd flown with my father as the radar operator during WWII in night fighters. Quite a few years ago now. I mention Alan because he had a lot of really interesting suggestions, some of which were things I'd not seen elsewhere. I began winding pickups also, because I wanted a coil-tapped single pickup and couldn't lay hands on one. Suppliers are a bit thin on the ground here in the Great White North, so it was "DIY and Try" I have enjoyed your earlier explorations. I must say that the 3-humbucker setup looks pretty jazzy, especially with the custom pickguard. I made some 'experimental' pickguards out of copper=clad fiberglass PC board blank material, back when it was relatively inexpensive and I was closer to wholesale suppliers. Since then, I've found other, more "finished" looking methods, but it was good fun all the same. One thing I tried was anodizing aluminum, and I think that method is one I might re-visit, as materials for both anodizing and powder coating are much easier to get nowadays. Anyhow, I wanted to thank you very much for showing this project at it's current stage. It's a good looking instrument as well as having a really amazing variety of tone options. One of these days I'll get a video camera, and perhaps post some pics of some of my less-dreadful work. I also have a 'portable' pedal-board that uses cordless power tool batteries. They work quite well, and they're readily available, so swapping in a spare if needed is simple. I did a similar think to a "busking" amp. If I clean up the pedalboard a bit, might be presentable (too many pedals, some very old). Seeing what you've done with this guitar, humbuckers and switches is inspiring me to re-think my own multi-switch layout. I prefer toggles to blade switches, and I like the way you have those set up. Best regards, and thank you.
Thank you very much for this demo. Those pickups sound great and the options take it to another level. Got me seriously thinking about a handfull of mini toggles...lol
And here I thought my Strat was crazy with my custom switching. Two singles in the middle and neck, stacked humbucker at the bridge. On/off for the neck. In phase/off/out of phase for the middle. Single/off/Dual for the bridge. I had to make a couple stickers for the three-ways to keep track.
Nice clean wiring. I used on-on-on 2 x DPDT switches for series-single-parallel pickup configurations and a standard 3 way selector for a 2 pickup superstrat
I think If you used push /pull pots 1 for each pickup for the in/out phase this would actual give you more control of the balance and tone making the split coils sound more like the matched set of single coils found on a Stratocaster. I like the ease of setting each pickup for splitting and on/off function using the three way switch's. I thought about doing that myself once before but never found a humbucker that would sound like a true single coil when split. but after hearing what you did is making me rethink the whole thing again and putting it on a Stratocaster. In the past I used a SG with a three pickup configuration with a Bigsby 5 on it, a freeway 10 position switch and 2 push/pull pots in the tone position. Now I'm thinking I should have used separate toggle switches like you did for a cleaner easier switching setup.
You remind me of me - I want to try all of the things! I bought a MIK Mockingbird and put series/split/parallel switches on each humbucker. I like the single coil sound on mine better than parallel, but I like how the parallel is noise-free while being close to the single coil sound. Single coil is more scooped with glassy highs on my guitar. It has DiMarzio Evolutions.
You bought Seymour pickups, did you see his switching system? The pick up bezel or surround allows you switch between series/split/parallel and even which of the 2 coils by itself, 4 sounds per pickup, I built a 3 pickup Firebird, the switches made the wiring sooo much simpler, then I have an on/off switch for each PU like you, But I used stacked volume and tone, for each pickup, instead of master tone and volume, so I can mix as well as select. But you have phase selection too. I use distortion always, the split or phased sounds are not my thing, hi power pickups is my game. But anyone could take my axe (or yours) and dial in a million sounds Having a volume and tone for each means the pickups outputs don’t have to match, (you actually swapped a coil magnet To balance the output?!?....cool!)
I have moded my one of my guitars (sold it) with dimarzio tone zone B and air norton N, added 2 microswitches with 2 positions between tone and volume pots which were replaced with push pull pots. That in combination with 3 way pickup selector switch gave me 44 pickup combination. It was great project and had WIDE range og tones. 1 micro and 1 pushpull were used for 1 pickup, with microswitch selecting inner or outer coil and with pushpull selecting seriall or parallel. On 80$ SX ash body guitar it sounded awesome. I will mod ma 50$ replica Strat this way when i grab some time and money for those Dimarzios😀🇷🇸 (Serbia = the 250$/month sallary country). When i asked Dimarzio and Seymore Duncan, they told it is probably possible to make that combo but they dont have diagram. My friend Eduardo from Brasil made it for me and it works great. Les Paul and Strat tones in one guitar. Marshall amp recomended😉
nice demo, and i really like the versatility of this guitar - it seems like it was made for the studio. With the lowest two pickups over 16k, you’ll never get good clean humbucking tone out of this, the split helps but seems like the rest is a bit wasted. i would probably do a custom 59 custom hybrid in the bridge and a paf style in the middle (alnico 2 or 5 depending on tone). That should give a little more bite and usability. And I’ll be honest, the sustain on that guitar is fantastic. I think i need one of these!
Makes you wonder where the music fits in! The Free-Way switches plus push pulls gives you loads of options without all the mini toggles. In fact you can pretty much keep stock looks.
I hope that you do the same exercise with HSS but all rail pickups. So more Hhh instead of Hss. Plus with Hss the middle pickup is lower so positions 2, 3 + 4 are lower output. AB the guitars from this would be fun.
There’s a much easier way to wire that. 3 on on on toggle switches. One per pickup and a 3 way switch. 3 way switch selects the pickup, the toggle switches wired so they do series/ parallel / coil split. Easier to play too.
You’re right. This guitar almost got a volume and tone pot for each pickup. My brother originally wanted as many “functional” knobs and switches as possible. This was pretty much just for fun.
I did a similar thing on a few of my guitars but had a phase reversal option on the middle pickup. So many widely varied sounds out of a single guitar.
That looks like so much fun. Do you have any instructional videos on how to wire those switches? Maybe something simple to start? I'm so intrigued by this stuff! Awesome work!
Good guitar for learning what configurations you want, but on a dark stage I wouldn't trust myself to get the switching right. I liked the parallel configurations better than the series.
a guitar I borrowed from a friend had on/off/on switches which turned on a humbucker in one on position, and split the coil in the other on position. That could cut down on one row of switches
I designed a circuit that fits inside the Strat control cavity that can set each pickup in series humbucker, parallel humbucker, single north coil, or single south coil. Seymour Duncan has a diagram that covers 3 of those 4 configurations but does 1 thing mine doesn't (yet): series humbucker SOUTH polarity. Since series should be hotter than parallel, it makes sense to combine a SERIES NORTH polarity humbucker with a SERIES SOUTH humbucker in positions 2 & 4 (or whatever). I would expect it to be similar, but louder than conventionally combining North and South single coils. I'm curious what your impression is, comparing those.
I recently modified 2 lollar humbuckers (series) to series/parallel. I use 2 push pull knobs. The mod was done by an expert.The parallel sounds as expected. The great sounding original series tone is destroyed. Mids and bass are heavily compromised. I have lost sustain and even stacked compression won't bring it back. I thought dual wiring for both series and parallel would identically preserve the series tone and just add the flatter parallel tone without ruining the series sound. Live and learn. i hope I can restore things to before I got fancy. If you have a good sounding les Paul etc, don't even think about messing with the wiring. Just buy a Tele or something.
Sorry to hear that. Are you sure it wasn’t accidentally wired out of phase? It should exactly sound the same as it did before the mod when it’s in series mode.
I turned my 1983 Washburn force 2 into an HSH setup with on/off/on DPDT (neck) split coil or full bucker and (bridge) pup in/out of phase. Mid single coil has on/off push button switch. Each pup with own vol. Mid and bridge pups thru stacked tone pot. 13 distinct tones from switches plus vol blending (independent wiring), treble bleeds. Logical layout on pick guard, and easily user friendly. All original parts still intact. Dubbed “Frankenburn”, this guitar NOT for sale!🎸
I bought a P.R.S. It is Korean, but I love the neck, I love the feel. It is exactly right for my hands, I recently learned the Jaguar, or Jazzmaster, had Series/Parallel switches, so fender really had it right. Other Fender guitars had Phase switches or a Wheel (Dial) to dial-in the right amount of Phase tone, I guess. I have a dual/single coil switch on another guitar, and a phase switch and a "Blower Switch" Another guitar has a Tone cap mod a different value Tone cap, pull the potentiometer and You have a different value Capacitor. I chose a low tone. Do you have a Schematic? I can find schematics on custom wiring websites for 15 Dollars.I think if I had a Blower switch and a Phase Switch to What you have I would be done.I have an Italian "Parked Wah" and Mid-boost Pick-guard And a David Gilmour Sa1 Pickguard. Do you like your pick-ups? I know a lot of people who practiced, and built guitars and bought equipment during covid-19. Thank You.
Well done. Did / do you need to add circuitry to level the various gain levels when using the different combinations? Do the pickups have different output levels depending on series/ parallel, etc? Thanks!
That‘s a beautiful guitar! And sounds very good! Was searching sound examples for coil split vs parallel. I like my bridge pup like it is. Have only the neck pup splittable on already not muddy sounding humbucker (HH). Happy accident: in middle position the split neck and bridge pup have a quacky out-of-faze sound. My question is, if neck pickup in parallel gives me noticeably more volume and fullness compared to split, the hum beeing alteady almost not hearable. What do you think? Is it worth? (because I don‘t want to drill a unnecessary hole in the front wood...) Cheers✌🏼
Thanks for your reply. A push/ pull or push/ push pot can be used for series/ parallel switching for one pickup. I did this on my Les Paul and like it very much. Softer brighter sound with no hum. Maybe I'll demo that next.
Cool guitar Did you get the general idea for this from the Red Special guitar? That is single coils and out phase but has the 3 pickups and in series and parallel.
I gave the guitar back to my brother. I won't have it here for any more demos any time soon. I f the sound just needs to be a bit brighter and cleaner than a full humbucker sound, parallel is a great way to go.
I had my Les Paul modes with series/parallel. You get some nice tone variations similar to single coil pickups without 60 cycle hum. But single coils have their unique tones as well. I like what you're doing with that guitar.
There is only one row of mini switches missing: the in or out phase switch....to have al the possible options of this setup... without any extra Optional active eq boosts... I would like to see a video about such a guitar... I dont know how many possibilties that would be... it will take some time to calculate all the possible combinations on that.
We did this guitar a long time ago. RUclips had just become a thing. There were lots of options I wasn’t even really aware of yet. That said, I’m really not a fan of the out of phase sound. There is room for that if you can adjust the volumes of each pickup separately…. Add three switches and 2-3 volumes? That would be something. Thanks for watching and the good comment.
@@charlescampbell6167 yes actually that is True. You create so many possible option with a lot of disturbed sounds you will never use. At the end it will be so difficult to know what you are exactly doing. Ans most of the time you will only 3 to 7 settings I guess. For out of phase you can use an eq pedal or something to create that effect... I guess you will only use it for some intro part... or something... unless you are called brian may... who uses it in a nice way!
I don't believe 3 way switches can work. The series/ parallel switch requires several post on the switch itself to reconfigure the pickup wiring. A six post 2 way switch can be used to control coil tap on 2 separate pickups. There's a bunch of diagrams on line for different switching options, depending on what you're trying to do. It can be a lot of fun figuring these things out, if you're into wiring projects. Thanks for your reply and thanks for watching!
Id like to ask about the mid position humbucker, would it sound as an alternative bridge humbucker? I was thinking on modding a Tele with a bridge hotrails in the middle
I do love the option of split/series/parallel. I have quite a few guitars with this mod. I'm wondering if there is a benefit to separate switches rather than on/on/on for the split/series/parallel? I can see how having them all in a row would eliminate confusion. I just came across the 3 way switch mod and started using it.
We were after the Airplane cockpit look, but three way switches could absolutely keep things cleaner. As long as each switch is wired the same, should be easier to keep straight, I would think.
I did this project back in 2013. Using caps and resistors for partial coil splitting and tone shaping was not in my radar yet. We also already had enough switches, so phase reversing switches were off the table too. (Besides, I don’t much like the out of phase sound unless he pickups have individual pots to blend them,…. again, more stuff). Perhaps you’ll like t his video I did Recently: Using Capacitors and Resistors for Tone Shaping. I may have lost my Mind. 2- 6 Way Rotary Switches. ruclips.net/video/12dBnrvJ6iE/видео.html
I wonder if you can elaborate... I'm after the best 2 and 4 position that I can create... I'm not sure how you got a 2 and 4 position with just one humbucker... what I want to know is can I get double, or ie two 2 and 4 strat positions on one guitar with 2 humbuckers... thanks. I like Bob"s guitar; it's really got me thinking! cheers, stu
with videos like the above to watch and more I have discovered there are humbuckers with the adapted wiring out there that you can coil split; but what's the point I realized when you can tone blend the strat that I want ie 3 single coils... thanks for the inspiration
I pulled the schematics for each part from the internet and then put it all together. there was some trial and error. There are slso basic wiring books out there. I have one put away somewhere that was published in the early 70's. I gave the guitar back to my brother, and no longer have any pictures available. Thanks for your replay. I hope you find what you need.
Antonio if you find links to a wiring diagram that is close to this can you please post a link here. I'm also thinking about doing something very similar to this and I actually like the toggle switch idea. Thanks
I just dig around the internet to fond diagrams. This was done so long ago, I don't have my notes. Also keep in mind that different pickups will be marked differently,... so there is sometimes some trial and error. I've had a lot of error to overcome. :)
I wire my guitars so the north coil is the on coil in single coil mode. I find its most similar to a an S type guitar. That said, I'm also most fond of 22 fret necks, so the coil can be under the octave.
I agree that split coil humbuckers rarely sound like a true single coil. I know my ears play games with me too, because of the volume drop and the thinner sound (less midrange). Thanks for your thoughts.
This actually proves that you don't need to buy a new set of pickups to change the sound of your guitar. If it's too muddy, you may just need change the wiring to 50's style and add the switch/pushpull pot for series/parallel/split sounds. Such a simple mod with a price less than $30 dollars will make your guitar sound noticably different and save you hundreds because of no need to buy new pickups
I also modded one guitar to have all 12492 "binary"-combinations of 3 humbuckers running in each individually either in serial-coils, parallel-coils, split slug coil or split screw coil. 99% of those combinations don't sound good or much different from the usual sounds. Stuff like middle-pickup in parallel-mode running phase reversed serial into neck-pickup serial-coil-mode in parallel with phsse reversed bridge-pickup. Firstly, a split humbucker on its own never sounds very exciting. Rather get something like a Warman G-Rail. Secondly, the only really cool and significantly differently sounding unusual combination is: neck serial into bridge (in or out of phase), both in full humbucker. Honest to god, the rest are meh. Of the "usual" combinations of humbuckers the only worthwhile mod is to split the humbuckers when two are in parallel. Lastly, single coils offer way more useable sounds when run in serial in or out of phase, especially if you blend them in. My main sound I use nowadays is a single coil neck-pickup running serial into a very hot bridge singlecoil out of phase, with a 250k in parallel with the bridge pick up, so I can blend from neck-only to neck-bridge serial out of phase. Ps: humbuckers sound shitty in the middle position.
This project was done nine or 10 years ago. It was just meant to be fun. I totally agree that it’s best just to figure out the sounds you like, wire it that way. Take away some of the confusion.
@@charlescampbell6167 and it's a pretty cool project and thanks for sharing this video! I just wrote my comment for anyone, who's thinking about doing something similar and is expecting to find thousands of unique sounds.
hello charlie alright i watched your video and i like i'm from brazil .... can you send me the wiring diagram? .... don't forget i'm a layman in reading drawings and electronic projects you can do it in a draft thank you .... .
I wired up this guitar around 9 years ago as of Feb. 2021. I don’t have the schematics I drew up for this design, but all this stuff is available on line. If you look up series/ parallel switching, many clear diagrams come up. Also try coil splitting, guitar wiring, HHH wiring, HSS wiring. There’s some trial and error, but you can usually come up with something that makes some sense. This was meant as a fun project. Not all the sounds are fantastic. It’s best to figure out what sounds you really want, then figure it the wiring from there. Five great sounds is much better than 999 pretty good sounds.
If you’re referring to the series/ parallel switch, it changes the wiring from the pickup. A humbucking pickup is wired in series. (The first coil is wired directly into the second coil). This gives the heavier humbucker sound you’d expect. When switched to parallel mode, each coil of the pickup runs independently. The sound is like 2 single coil pickups pushed together. The hum is still cancelled because of the coils reverse wind from each other.(which is what “bucks” the hum).
If the question was about how the switching overrides the split coil setting when switched to parallel,… that’s just how this wiring configuration works.
Did that to a Strat back in the 70's. Gave me 36 different sounds. Only problem was, they all weren't that different. Ended up only using about 3 of them. After listening to this, I rest my case...
a cheap strat and an eq gets you every tone you could want lmao
Yup, same here. Not as much as this guy but I really only used 3-4 sounds.
Some folks just love to solder.
This guitar would be a nightmare at a gig!
@@lucasc5622kinda disagree but fair point
One guitarist who's not afraid to experiment!
One guitarist who can’t leave things well enough alone 😆
When I saw the thumbnail for this video, I thought it was photo-shopped clickbait. I was delighted when the video started and I saw that thing was real!
I just did something similar to a Squier Bullet strat. I used 3 way switches so that each switch had a series, parallel and split position. 3 switches for 3 humbuckers. And I reordered the pickups in the mode switch so that the bridge was in the center position, giving it a position where it shares with the neck. Also wired it so that one of the tone knobs works for both the bridge and the middle.
This gives me second-hand choice paralysis! Also super cool demonstration of the difference between coil split and parallel switching
The latest thing I'm playing around with is straight up taking the screw poles out of the pickup. Then that essentially leaves you with a single coil next to a dummy coil, which gives you more of a single coil sound but still hum cancels.
Charles, many thanks for posting this. I too am interested in 'unusual' wiring configurations, and I've tried some of the same ones you're using here. My 'test bed" is an early 2000''s Greg Bennett Malibu that I picked up for a small amount as "non-working" - which it wasn't, because the seller's son had (somehow) removed the head-end nut. And it was lemon-yellow - not everyone's cup of (lemon) tea. However, with a nut installed, I made up several different configurations. I didn't have a video camera back them, unfortunately, because it sure looked like science-fair project. I had the good fortune to be introduced to Alan Entwhistle over in the UK - he was friends with a chap who'd flown with my father as the radar operator during WWII in night fighters. Quite a few years ago now. I mention Alan because he had a lot of really interesting suggestions, some of which were things I'd not seen elsewhere. I began winding pickups also, because I wanted a coil-tapped single pickup and couldn't lay hands on one. Suppliers are a bit thin on the ground here in the Great White North, so it was "DIY and Try" I have enjoyed your earlier explorations.
I must say that the 3-humbucker setup looks pretty jazzy, especially with the custom pickguard. I made some 'experimental' pickguards out of copper=clad fiberglass PC board blank material, back when it was relatively inexpensive and I was closer to wholesale suppliers. Since then, I've found other, more "finished" looking methods, but it was good fun all the same. One thing I tried was anodizing aluminum, and I think that method is one I might re-visit, as materials for both anodizing and powder coating are much easier to get nowadays.
Anyhow, I wanted to thank you very much for showing this project at it's current stage. It's a good looking instrument as well as having a really amazing variety of tone options. One of these days I'll get a video camera, and perhaps post some pics of some of my less-dreadful work. I also have a 'portable' pedal-board that uses cordless power tool batteries. They work quite well, and they're readily available, so swapping in a spare if needed is simple. I did a similar think to a "busking" amp. If I clean up the pedalboard a bit, might be presentable (too many pedals, some very old). Seeing what you've done with this guitar, humbuckers and switches is inspiring me to re-think my own multi-switch layout. I prefer toggles to blade switches, and I like the way you have those set up. Best regards, and thank you.
Thanks for al the sound demos. It really helped me to decide how I want to wire up my next guitar.
Thank you very much for this demo. Those pickups sound great and the options take it to another level. Got me seriously thinking about a handfull of mini toggles...lol
Excellent demonstration! You deserve far more views! Many cheers from Greece!
Thank you for the nice comment.
It is a new RUclips channel. I hope to make many useful videos in the future.
This could be a series with the amount of options for sound you could get...wow.
That's a good idea.
This is awesome. What a fun guitar and, like you said, great for the studio
Neck series 4:50
Neck parallel 5:00
Neck split: 5:10
Neck middle parallel 6:10
Oh man, watching your videos - you have gone to town on this one! 😄
That's a load of switches! Nicely soldered, very clean work! Do not drink and use! ;-)
nice demo good representation of what these switching mods can offer
And here I thought my Strat was crazy with my custom switching. Two singles in the middle and neck, stacked humbucker at the bridge. On/off for the neck. In phase/off/out of phase for the middle. Single/off/Dual for the bridge. I had to make a couple stickers for the three-ways to keep track.
Very nice and inspiring job, thanks for sharing!
This guitar has enough switches to give Brian May anxiety. All jokes aside, i really appreciate the level of detail and all of the info
I always wanted to build a strat like this one specifically for studio scenarios.
Nice clean wiring. I used on-on-on 2 x DPDT switches for series-single-parallel pickup configurations and a standard 3 way selector for a 2 pickup superstrat
This is, what I also wanted to say: On-On-On-switches to combine single, serial, parallel in one switch.
I did the same.
I think If you used push /pull pots 1 for each pickup for the in/out phase this would actual give you more control of the balance and tone making the split coils sound more like the matched set of single coils found on a Stratocaster. I like the ease of setting each pickup for splitting and on/off function using the three way switch's. I thought about doing that myself once before but never found a humbucker that would sound like a true single coil when split. but after hearing what you did is making me rethink the whole thing again and putting it on a Stratocaster. In the past I used a SG with a three pickup configuration with a Bigsby 5 on it, a freeway 10 position switch and 2 push/pull pots in the tone position. Now I'm thinking I should have used separate toggle switches like you did for a cleaner easier switching setup.
“Did you bring a Strat and Gibson for the session?”…… Yes 🤘🏼✌🏼
Parallel humbucking is cool
You remind me of me - I want to try all of the things!
I bought a MIK Mockingbird and put series/split/parallel switches on each humbucker.
I like the single coil sound on mine better than parallel, but I like how the parallel is noise-free while being close to the single coil sound.
Single coil is more scooped with glassy highs on my guitar.
It has DiMarzio Evolutions.
You bought Seymour pickups, did you see his switching system?
The pick up bezel or surround allows you switch between series/split/parallel and even which of the 2 coils by itself, 4 sounds per pickup, I built a 3 pickup Firebird, the switches made the wiring sooo much simpler, then I have an on/off switch for each PU like you,
But I used stacked volume and tone, for each pickup, instead of master tone and volume, so I can mix as well as select. But you have phase selection too. I use distortion always, the split or phased sounds are not my thing, hi power pickups is my game. But anyone could take my axe (or yours) and dial in a million sounds
Having a volume and tone for each means the pickups outputs don’t have to match, (you actually swapped a coil magnet To balance the output?!?....cool!)
That is a beautiful monstrosity. Love it !!!!
VERY nice sounding intro!
I have moded my one of my guitars (sold it) with dimarzio tone zone B and air norton N, added 2 microswitches with 2 positions between tone and volume pots which were replaced with push pull pots. That in combination with 3 way pickup selector switch gave me 44 pickup combination. It was great project and had WIDE range og tones. 1 micro and 1 pushpull were used for 1 pickup, with microswitch selecting inner or outer coil and with pushpull selecting seriall or parallel. On 80$ SX ash body guitar it sounded awesome. I will mod ma 50$ replica Strat this way when i grab some time and money for those Dimarzios😀🇷🇸 (Serbia = the 250$/month sallary country). When i asked Dimarzio and Seymore Duncan, they told it is probably possible to make that combo but they dont have diagram. My friend Eduardo from Brasil made it for me and it works great. Les Paul and Strat tones in one guitar. Marshall amp recomended😉
nice demo, and i really like the versatility of this guitar - it seems like it was made for the studio. With the lowest two pickups over 16k, you’ll never get good clean humbucking tone out of this, the split helps but seems like the rest is a bit wasted. i would probably do a custom 59 custom hybrid in the bridge and a paf style in the middle (alnico 2 or 5 depending on tone). That should give a little more bite and usability. And I’ll be honest, the sustain on that guitar is fantastic. I think i need one of these!
Holy cow..... Well done. I'd love to hang out with you and learn more.
I think you could set these pickups with The Seymour Duncan Triple Shots with less switches to make the switching less confusing.
Makes you wonder where the music fits in! The Free-Way switches plus push pulls gives you loads of options without all the mini toggles. In fact you can pretty much keep stock looks.
I'll take a switchboard any day, thank you
just what I needed. watching this to decide how im gonna wire a HH w/ coil split and 5 way switch
There are some really good schematics available on line, depending on what you think you might want to do. Just save the image.
Good lord, hat pickguard looks like the dashboard of an airplane.
Great instrument to own for sure… I dunno if I could remember all of its options though? The variety of options makes my mouth water. Thanks
I hope that you do the same exercise with HSS but all rail pickups. So more Hhh instead of Hss. Plus with Hss the middle pickup is lower so positions 2, 3 + 4 are lower output. AB the guitars from this would be fun.
You can do serial/parallel and coil split with one 3 position switch per PU. Much easier to manage. Parallel HB´er actually sounds quite good.
There’s a much easier way to wire that. 3 on on on toggle switches. One per pickup and a 3 way switch.
3 way switch selects the pickup, the toggle switches wired so they do series/ parallel / coil split. Easier to play too.
You’re right.
This guitar almost got a volume and tone pot for each pickup. My brother originally wanted as many “functional” knobs and switches as possible. This was pretty much just for fun.
I did a similar thing on a few of my guitars but had a phase reversal option on the middle pickup. So many widely varied sounds out of a single guitar.
What next?
A guitar with a patch bay!
Great video.
Would be a fantastic studio guitar!!!
Great video cool guitar. I’m making a Frankenstein Jackson Kelly. I’m putting in a sustainer in the neck but want so switching ideas.
Might get a little confusing live but I suppose you'd get used to it. Cool guitar. I like the gold pick gard with the candy apple red.👍🤘
That looks like so much fun. Do you have any instructional videos on how to wire those switches? Maybe something simple to start? I'm so intrigued by this stuff! Awesome work!
IMO not a very practical stage guitar but, this is like the *ULTIMATE* studio guitar!
Interesting. Quite a wiring job.
Good guitar for learning what configurations you want, but on a dark stage I wouldn't trust myself to get the switching right. I liked the parallel configurations better than the series.
Thank you for doing some distorted chords for neck. I couldn't find anything.
a guitar I borrowed from a friend had on/off/on switches which turned on a humbucker in one on position, and split the coil in the other on position. That could cut down on one row of switches
Thanks.
I designed a circuit that fits inside the Strat control cavity that can set each pickup in series humbucker, parallel humbucker, single north coil, or single south coil. Seymour Duncan has a diagram that covers 3 of those 4 configurations but does 1 thing mine doesn't (yet): series humbucker SOUTH polarity. Since series should be hotter than parallel, it makes sense to combine a SERIES NORTH polarity humbucker with a SERIES SOUTH humbucker in positions 2 & 4 (or whatever). I would expect it to be similar, but louder than conventionally combining North and South single coils. I'm curious what your impression is, comparing those.
I recently modified 2 lollar humbuckers (series) to series/parallel. I use 2 push pull knobs. The mod was done by an expert.The parallel sounds as expected. The great sounding original series tone is destroyed. Mids and bass are heavily compromised. I have lost sustain and even stacked compression won't bring it back. I thought dual wiring for both series and parallel would identically preserve the series tone and just add the flatter parallel tone without ruining the series sound. Live and learn. i hope I can restore things to before I got fancy. If you have a good sounding les Paul etc, don't even think about messing with the wiring. Just buy a Tele or something.
Sorry to hear that. Are you sure it wasn’t accidentally wired out of phase? It should exactly sound the same as it did before the mod when it’s in series mode.
This series of switches left my head split after falling parallel to the floor 😅
🤣
I turned my 1983 Washburn force 2 into an HSH setup with on/off/on DPDT (neck) split coil or full bucker and (bridge) pup in/out of phase. Mid single coil has on/off push button switch. Each pup with own vol. Mid and bridge pups thru stacked tone pot. 13 distinct tones from switches plus vol blending (independent wiring), treble bleeds. Logical layout on pick guard, and easily user friendly. All original parts still intact. Dubbed “Frankenburn”, this guitar NOT for sale!🎸
I bought a P.R.S. It is Korean, but I love the neck, I love the feel. It is exactly right for my hands, I recently learned the Jaguar, or Jazzmaster, had Series/Parallel switches, so fender really had it right. Other Fender guitars had Phase switches or a Wheel (Dial) to dial-in the right amount of Phase tone, I guess. I have a dual/single coil switch on another guitar, and a phase switch and a "Blower Switch" Another guitar has a Tone cap mod a different value Tone cap, pull the potentiometer and You have a different value Capacitor. I chose a low tone. Do you have a Schematic? I can find schematics on custom wiring websites for 15 Dollars.I think if I had a Blower switch and a Phase Switch to What you have I would be done.I have an Italian "Parked Wah" and Mid-boost Pick-guard And a David Gilmour Sa1 Pickguard. Do you like your pick-ups? I know a lot of people who practiced, and built guitars and bought equipment during covid-19. Thank You.
Well done. Did / do you need to add circuitry to level the various gain levels when using the different combinations? Do the pickups have different output levels depending on series/ parallel, etc? Thanks!
Good job! Do you need a pilots license to play that guitar lol! Good sound 👍
This reminds be of the Brain May Red Special guitar with extra features
That’s the reason why this is in my recommendations lol
i would love to see how thats wired up in more details
That‘s a beautiful guitar! And sounds very good!
Was searching sound examples for coil split vs parallel. I like my bridge pup like it is. Have only the neck pup splittable on already not muddy sounding humbucker (HH). Happy accident: in middle position the split neck and bridge pup have a quacky out-of-faze sound.
My question is, if neck pickup in parallel gives me noticeably more volume and fullness compared to split, the hum beeing alteady almost not hearable. What do you think? Is it worth? (because I don‘t want to drill a unnecessary hole in the front wood...)
Cheers✌🏼
Thanks for your reply.
A push/ pull or push/ push pot can be used for series/ parallel switching for one pickup. I did this on my Les Paul and like it very much. Softer brighter sound with no hum. Maybe I'll demo that next.
Cool guitar
Did you get the general idea for this from the Red Special guitar? That is single coils and out phase but has the 3 pickups and in series and parallel.
Nice. I was hoping to hear the bridge/middle and neck/middle combinations in parallel, too. Not just series and single.
I gave the guitar back to my brother. I won't have it here for any more demos any time soon.
I f the sound just needs to be a bit brighter and cleaner than a full humbucker sound, parallel is a great way to go.
I had my Les Paul modes with series/parallel. You get some nice tone variations similar to single coil pickups without 60 cycle hum. But single coils have their unique tones as well. I like what you're doing with that guitar.
That’s cool. Haha it’s got as many switches as a BC Rich Bich!
There is only one row of mini switches missing: the in or out phase switch....to have al the possible options of this setup... without any extra Optional active eq boosts... I would like to see a video about such a guitar... I dont know how many possibilties that would be... it will take some time to calculate all the possible combinations on that.
We did this guitar a long time ago. RUclips had just become a thing. There were lots of options I wasn’t even really aware of yet. That said, I’m really not a fan of the out of phase sound. There is room for that if you can adjust the volumes of each pickup separately…. Add three switches and 2-3 volumes? That would be something.
Thanks for watching and the good comment.
@@charlescampbell6167 yes actually that is True. You create so many possible option with a lot of disturbed sounds you will never use. At the end it will be so difficult to know what you are exactly doing. Ans most of the time you will only 3 to 7 settings I guess. For out of phase you can use an eq pedal or something to create that effect... I guess you will only use it for some intro part... or something... unless you are called brian may... who uses it in a nice way!
awesome job!
what about phase/out of phase mods?
Can i get a wiring diagram of how you did this
Great video! wonderfully explained! Thank you! Question- what do you think about using three 3-way switches instead of nine 2 way switches?
I don't believe 3 way switches can work. The series/ parallel switch requires several post on the switch itself to reconfigure the pickup wiring. A six post 2 way switch can be used to control coil tap on 2 separate pickups. There's a bunch of diagrams on line for different switching options, depending on what you're trying to do. It can be a lot of fun figuring these things out, if you're into wiring projects.
Thanks for your reply and thanks for watching!
@@charlescampbell6167 Thanks for all the useful information!
Id like to ask about the mid position humbucker, would it sound as an alternative bridge humbucker? I was thinking on modding a Tele with a bridge hotrails in the middle
what configuration you want? YES PLEASE
I clicked on this video just to see if the thumbnail was real..
With this setup I aways prefer parallel and split tones. I think the input gain is too hi
I do love the option of split/series/parallel. I have quite a few guitars with this mod. I'm wondering if there is a benefit to separate switches rather than on/on/on for the split/series/parallel? I can see how having them all in a row would eliminate confusion. I just came across the 3 way switch mod and started using it.
We were after the Airplane cockpit look, but three way switches could absolutely keep things cleaner. As long as each switch is wired the same, should be easier to keep straight, I would think.
you forgot about capacitors, you could put them in series and parallel for EQ shaping and half out of phase sounds.
I did this project back in 2013. Using caps and resistors for partial coil splitting and tone shaping was not in my radar yet.
We also already had enough switches, so phase reversing switches were off the table too. (Besides, I don’t much like the out of phase sound unless he pickups have individual pots to blend them,…. again, more stuff).
Perhaps you’ll like t his video I did Recently:
Using Capacitors and Resistors for Tone Shaping. I may have lost my Mind. 2- 6 Way Rotary Switches.
ruclips.net/video/12dBnrvJ6iE/видео.html
I wonder if you can elaborate... I'm after the best 2 and 4 position that I can create... I'm not sure how you got a 2 and 4 position with just one humbucker... what I want to know is can I get double, or ie two 2 and 4 strat positions on one guitar with 2 humbuckers... thanks. I like Bob"s guitar; it's really got me thinking! cheers, stu
with videos like the above to watch and more I have discovered there are humbuckers with the adapted wiring out there that you can coil split; but what's the point I realized when you can tone blend the strat that I want ie 3 single coils... thanks for the inspiration
Do you have a wiring diagram available?
I’ve been wanting to do a build like this for the tone variability for studio use what. Could I you give me the wiring diagram for it?
I pulled the schematics for each part from the internet and then put it all together. there was some trial and error. There are slso basic wiring books out there. I have one put away somewhere that was published in the early 70's.
I gave the guitar back to my brother, and no longer have any pictures available.
Thanks for your replay. I hope you find what you need.
Antonio if you find links to a wiring diagram that is close to this can you please post a link here. I'm also thinking about doing something very similar to this and I actually like the toggle switch idea. Thanks
You forgot in-phase and out-of-phase for each pickup 😁
Not a fan unless the pickups have individual volumes so they can be blended. (But I missed that too!😁)
brutal
Hi. Great wiring! is it possible to have the diagram?
I just dig around the internet to fond diagrams.
This was done so long ago, I don't have my notes. Also keep in mind that different pickups will be marked differently,... so there is sometimes some trial and error. I've had a lot of error to overcome. :)
Hi master, one doubt. on split mode whats the coil that is active on neck pickup?
I wire my guitars so the north coil is the on coil in single coil mode. I find its most similar to a an S type guitar. That said, I'm also most fond of 22 fret necks, so the coil can be under the octave.
There is argument that the slug coil sounds best in single coil mode though.
The Peavey - T60 is the same idea but less switches and better sound
God help you on a stage with that thing
Wiring diagram pleasee
I love the absurdity of this guitar and and the anxiety of all the options...😅
The bridge split sounds nothing like a new mim fender. In general it doesnt sounds like a fender. .
I agree that split coil humbuckers rarely sound like a true single coil. I know my ears play games with me too, because of the volume drop and the thinner sound (less midrange).
Thanks for your thoughts.
That’s a plane cockpit, not a guitar
This actually proves that you don't need to buy a new set of pickups to change the sound of your guitar. If it's too muddy, you may just need change the wiring to 50's style and add the switch/pushpull pot for series/parallel/split sounds. Such a simple mod with a price less than $30 dollars will make your guitar sound noticably different and save you hundreds because of no need to buy new pickups
.....and you though picking a show on Netflix was difficult.....
I also modded one guitar to have all 12492 "binary"-combinations of 3 humbuckers running in each individually either in serial-coils, parallel-coils, split slug coil or split screw coil. 99% of those combinations don't sound good or much different from the usual sounds.
Stuff like middle-pickup in parallel-mode running phase reversed serial into neck-pickup serial-coil-mode in parallel with phsse reversed bridge-pickup.
Firstly, a split humbucker on its own never sounds very exciting. Rather get something like a Warman G-Rail.
Secondly, the only really cool and significantly differently sounding unusual combination is: neck serial into bridge (in or out of phase), both in full humbucker. Honest to god, the rest are meh.
Of the "usual" combinations of humbuckers the only worthwhile mod is to split the humbuckers when two are in parallel.
Lastly, single coils offer way more useable sounds when run in serial in or out of phase, especially if you blend them in. My main sound I use nowadays is a single coil neck-pickup running serial into a very hot bridge singlecoil out of phase, with a 250k in parallel with the bridge pick up, so I can blend from neck-only to neck-bridge serial out of phase.
Ps: humbuckers sound shitty in the middle position.
This project was done nine or 10 years ago. It was just meant to be fun. I totally agree that it’s best just to figure out the sounds you like, wire it that way. Take away some of the confusion.
@@charlescampbell6167 and it's a pretty cool project and thanks for sharing this video! I just wrote my comment for anyone, who's thinking about doing something similar and is expecting to find thousands of unique sounds.
Overkill
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hello charlie alright i watched your video and i like i'm from brazil .... can you send me the wiring diagram? .... don't forget i'm a layman in reading drawings and electronic projects you can do it in a draft thank you .... .
I wired up this guitar around 9 years ago as of Feb. 2021. I don’t have the schematics I drew up for this design, but all this stuff is available on line. If you look up series/ parallel switching, many clear diagrams come up. Also try coil splitting, guitar wiring, HHH wiring, HSS wiring. There’s some trial and error, but you can usually come up with something that makes some sense.
This was meant as a fun project. Not all the sounds are fantastic. It’s best to figure out what sounds you really want, then figure it the wiring from there. Five great sounds is much better than 999 pretty good sounds.
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Far out.
3:00 #Question Explain ?
If you’re referring to the series/ parallel switch, it changes the wiring from the pickup. A humbucking pickup is wired in series. (The first coil is wired directly into the second coil). This gives the heavier humbucker sound you’d expect.
When switched to parallel mode, each coil of the pickup runs independently. The sound is like 2 single coil pickups pushed together. The hum is still cancelled because of the coils reverse wind from each other.(which is what “bucks” the hum).
I hope this helps.
If the question was about how the switching overrides the split coil setting when switched to parallel,… that’s just how this wiring configuration works.
Iron man guitar
I have never been more confused
LOL that guitar is disgusting. I gotta have one.
WHY?
Too many pointless bells and whistles for nothing special. I customize and build guitars and all are far superior to this exercise in futility.