Tweet
I have finally let go of my prior expressed concern about how/whether the major circuit in guitar wiring involves the amp or not, due to the help of a lot of kind souls here. I am starting to get a hand on schematics, and I have developed the sense that the most useful, non-confusing way to follow the primary circuits in guitar wiring is to start at the tip of the jack (positive) and work toward ground, once again due to a lot of assistance.
Now I'm getting in a position to focus on my real interest, which is figuring out some of the diagrams/schematics I've seen and am considering using in rewiring an HSS Strat-like Ibanez. I am not even certain I want to use the pickup selection mechanism I am currently studying, but I thought working through it, now that I have a better hand on this stuff, would be a good exercise.
So I spent too much of today ;D trying to compile a schematic view of the wiring that I started out with (I got it from GuitarElectronics.com). Then once I felt comfortable that at least I knew what I meant, I copy and pasted it 5 times, so I could follow the current through the super switch when set in each of the 5 positions to see how it did what it was supposed to do. As it worked out, positions 1 (bridge humbucker), 4 (neck & middle), and 5 (neck) all came out crystal clear.
The problems arose with positions 2 (north coil of humbucker & middle) and 3 (south coil of humbucker & neck). I have put up all of the positions as attachments, for the sake of anybody who might be interested, but I am most hopeful somebody with a good handle on this stuff will focus specifically on those two troublesome positions, 2 & 3, and see if you might help me sort out what is wrong or what I am missing. I don't know if my schematics are just as they should be, but I hope they are understandable. The humbucker is 4-wire, but it looks like 3, with the hot lead coming in top-right, the negative going off top left to ground, and the other 2 wires tied together as the single wire popping out at the bottom of the humbucker.
The problems I outlined on the diagrams, but I will describe them here in more detail:
In position 2, the switch allows the signal to pass through the 2 combined wires of the humbucker, thereby carrying current through the north coil to ground. That is supposed to separate out the north coil, and I can see in one sense where it does that. What I can't see, though, is how doing that keeps the current from still going through the south coil and back to ground, as that is another closed circuit, and I have no idea what it would mean to have the current getting to ground by both paths.
I find position 3 more confusing. The switch diverts the signal to and through the south coil and back to ground, by which that coil would be selected, as is the goal. The problem is, the plans show a jumper (in pole B in the diagrams) that conducts current also to the hot lead of the north coil, when we're supposed to be leaving the north coil out. It also directs current to the north coil through its negative lead (in the same way the current is conducted to the south coil). As such, I see current running to the north coil from both directions. Inasmuch as it does not lead to ground, I suspect it does nothing. I just don't understand why that jumper is there. Am I missing something? Does it play an important role I'm not yet aware of, or did someone likely draw it there by accident?
I'm sorry this is so long. I didn't know how to put it otherwise. Rob R
Now I'm getting in a position to focus on my real interest, which is figuring out some of the diagrams/schematics I've seen and am considering using in rewiring an HSS Strat-like Ibanez. I am not even certain I want to use the pickup selection mechanism I am currently studying, but I thought working through it, now that I have a better hand on this stuff, would be a good exercise.
So I spent too much of today ;D trying to compile a schematic view of the wiring that I started out with (I got it from GuitarElectronics.com). Then once I felt comfortable that at least I knew what I meant, I copy and pasted it 5 times, so I could follow the current through the super switch when set in each of the 5 positions to see how it did what it was supposed to do. As it worked out, positions 1 (bridge humbucker), 4 (neck & middle), and 5 (neck) all came out crystal clear.
The problems arose with positions 2 (north coil of humbucker & middle) and 3 (south coil of humbucker & neck). I have put up all of the positions as attachments, for the sake of anybody who might be interested, but I am most hopeful somebody with a good handle on this stuff will focus specifically on those two troublesome positions, 2 & 3, and see if you might help me sort out what is wrong or what I am missing. I don't know if my schematics are just as they should be, but I hope they are understandable. The humbucker is 4-wire, but it looks like 3, with the hot lead coming in top-right, the negative going off top left to ground, and the other 2 wires tied together as the single wire popping out at the bottom of the humbucker.
The problems I outlined on the diagrams, but I will describe them here in more detail:
In position 2, the switch allows the signal to pass through the 2 combined wires of the humbucker, thereby carrying current through the north coil to ground. That is supposed to separate out the north coil, and I can see in one sense where it does that. What I can't see, though, is how doing that keeps the current from still going through the south coil and back to ground, as that is another closed circuit, and I have no idea what it would mean to have the current getting to ground by both paths.
I find position 3 more confusing. The switch diverts the signal to and through the south coil and back to ground, by which that coil would be selected, as is the goal. The problem is, the plans show a jumper (in pole B in the diagrams) that conducts current also to the hot lead of the north coil, when we're supposed to be leaving the north coil out. It also directs current to the north coil through its negative lead (in the same way the current is conducted to the south coil). As such, I see current running to the north coil from both directions. Inasmuch as it does not lead to ground, I suspect it does nothing. I just don't understand why that jumper is there. Am I missing something? Does it play an important role I'm not yet aware of, or did someone likely draw it there by accident?
I'm sorry this is so long. I didn't know how to put it otherwise. Rob R
Attached Files
Comment