KraftyBob
Well-Known Member
I just converted my SSS Strat to an HSS and a friend of mine likes how it sounds. He’s thinking of doing the same to his – or rather have me rewire his guitar as he doesn’t know how. He has the Deluxe SSS which has a mini switch in the pick guard that enables the bridge pup when the 5-way is in position 4 & 5. He’s fine though with just wiring positions 1 & 2 like I have mine and not using the mini switch at all – which is:
Pos 1 – Full Humbucker – no coil split option
Pos 2 – Humbucker split coil and middle
Both of our Strats have the standard 5-way, 2 stage switch and below is how I wired my guitar so that when I switch to position 2 it automatically splits the humbucker. The red is my guitar, blue is the change I’m thinking about for his. I’m wondering, though, if I can take advantage of the mini switch and put it in-line with the black & white wires going to the 5-way switch and give him the option of a single coil in position 1?
Here’s how I’m thinking it will work:
Switch Off:
- Pos 1: full humbucker bridge (signal passes through mini switch to the 5-way)
- Pos 2: Split humbucker & middle pup (automatic)
Switch On:
- Pos 1: Single coil bridge (one coil is grounded before it gets to the 5-way)
- Pos 2: Split humbucker & middle pup
My thought is in position 2 one coil in the humbucker is grounded either at the mini switch (on), or at the 5-way switch (mini switch off so the signal passes through to the 5-way). What I don’t want to do is introduce some type of ground loop or something that will mess it up. I’ve done a lot of wiring, soldering, etc. but I’ve always followed wiring diagrams – not designed them.
I’d like to go with this approach vs. just wiring the mini switch as a coil split as the majority of time he’ll go from humbucker to split automatically in position 2 and not have to push the switch each time. For the occasions that he may want a single coil in the bridge this would allow that option too.
Interesting to note that my guitar came with (3) 250K pots, while his has a 250K volume pot and (2) 500K pots for tone. Maybe because of the mini switch to add the bridge pup to positions 4/5? I think we’ll go with all 250K pots for this project.
Thanks in advance!
Pos 1 – Full Humbucker – no coil split option
Pos 2 – Humbucker split coil and middle
Both of our Strats have the standard 5-way, 2 stage switch and below is how I wired my guitar so that when I switch to position 2 it automatically splits the humbucker. The red is my guitar, blue is the change I’m thinking about for his. I’m wondering, though, if I can take advantage of the mini switch and put it in-line with the black & white wires going to the 5-way switch and give him the option of a single coil in position 1?
Here’s how I’m thinking it will work:
Switch Off:
- Pos 1: full humbucker bridge (signal passes through mini switch to the 5-way)
- Pos 2: Split humbucker & middle pup (automatic)
Switch On:
- Pos 1: Single coil bridge (one coil is grounded before it gets to the 5-way)
- Pos 2: Split humbucker & middle pup
My thought is in position 2 one coil in the humbucker is grounded either at the mini switch (on), or at the 5-way switch (mini switch off so the signal passes through to the 5-way). What I don’t want to do is introduce some type of ground loop or something that will mess it up. I’ve done a lot of wiring, soldering, etc. but I’ve always followed wiring diagrams – not designed them.
I’d like to go with this approach vs. just wiring the mini switch as a coil split as the majority of time he’ll go from humbucker to split automatically in position 2 and not have to push the switch each time. For the occasions that he may want a single coil in the bridge this would allow that option too.
Interesting to note that my guitar came with (3) 250K pots, while his has a 250K volume pot and (2) 500K pots for tone. Maybe because of the mini switch to add the bridge pup to positions 4/5? I think we’ll go with all 250K pots for this project.
Thanks in advance!
