guitar electronics

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kingofpain678
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Kingofpain678

Kingofpain678

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ok so last night i finished repainting my guitar. its a floyd rose guitar with two humbuckers, 1 volume knob, 1 tone knob, and a 3 way switch i filled in the old volume and tone knob holes and the switch hole and now im gonna drill new holes to make the setup like a gibson sg. each pick up will have its own volume and tone knob.

here is my question: if i install another 3 way switch and if i have the switch set in the middle position does that mean that by changing the volume/tone of each pickup i could vary the level of volume/tone from each pickup to get a wide array of tones???

i dont know if im wording this right... but hopefully someone will understand what i mean...... hopefully....
 
and i REALLY dont wanna install a 5-way switch like some fender and ibanez guitars.
 
Kingofpain678 said:
ok so last night i finished repainting my guitar. its a floyd rose guitar with two humbuckers, 1 volume knob, 1 tone knob, and a 3 way switch i filled in the old volume and tone knob holes and the switch hole and now im gonna drill new holes to make the setup like a gibson sg. each pick up will have its own volume and tone knob.

here is my question: if i install another 3 way switch and if i have the switch set in the middle position does that mean that by changing the volume/tone of each pickup i could vary the level of volume/tone from each pickup to get a wide array of tones???

i dont know if im wording this right... but hopefully someone will understand what i mean...... hopefully....
Click to expand...

Yes, You can get many different sounds by mixing the 2 pickups together.
VP
 
The way you are doing it sounds backward. Why would you paint the guitar before drilling the holes? :confused:
 
yeah i dont really know why i didnt drill first...:eek:

i guess cause im just in such a rush to get so much done.

and yeah thats want i want to do is mix the two pickups together but is a 3 way switch the best way to get complete control of how much of each pickups tone is coming through?
 
Kingofpain678 said:
yeah i dont really know why i didnt drill first...:eek:

i guess cause im just in such a rush to get so much done.

and yeah thats want i want to do is mix the two pickups together but is a 3 way switch the best way to get complete control of how much of each pickups tone is coming through?
Click to expand...

It seems to work well on all my Gibsons, but a master volume would be nice so your mix of the 2 pickups would all be controlled by a single knob.
ViP
 
Kingofpain678 said:
if i install another 3 way switch and if i have the switch set in the middle position does that mean that by changing the volume/tone of each pickup i could vary the level of volume/tone from each pickup to get a wide array of tones???
Click to expand...
Yes, that's how it works.
 
ugh. i hope i described it the right way.

sorry for being an idiot :(

i just cant seem to put my idea into the right words.

oh well. i hope you guys knew what i meant. and of course thanks for the input :D
 
Kingofpain678 said:
ugh. i hope i described it the right way.

sorry for being an idiot :(

i just cant seem to put my idea into the right words.

oh well. i hope you guys knew what i meant. and of course thanks for the input :D
Click to expand...
Well, let me describe the way it's supposed to work.

With the most common Gibson setup (as in a Les Paul standard or SG), you'll have two pickups (usually humbuckers), a three-way selector switch, and one volume and tone control for each pickup.

When the three-way switch is selecting either the neck or bridge pickup individually, the volume and one tone controls corresponding to that pickup will be operative. When the three-way selector switch is in the middle (combined) position, both pickups and all 4 controls are operative, with the controls affecting the pickup to which they are assigned.

In that combined position, you can roll off the tone to each pickup individually as well as set the volume for each individually. You just need to play around with the controls to see how the overall volume and tone is affected.

Some players like all that versatility, and some think it's way too much and would rather just have one volume and tone. Or just a volume, with no tone pots.

Anyhow, that's how it's supposed to work. Good luck with the project.
 
Oh, by the way, I think the web sites for Gibson, Seymour Duncan, and other guitar and pickup manufacturers have wiring diagrams so you should check 'em out. :)
 
alright good. thanks for the help! :D

i was a bit confused about the controls when the switch was in the middle position but i get it now.

;)
 
Zaphod B said:
Oh, by the way, I think the web sites for Gibson, Seymour Duncan, and other guitar and pickup manufacturers have wiring diagrams so you should check 'em out. :)
Click to expand...

Seymour Duncan has GREAT wiring diagrams.



There is something I didn't see discussed here yet.

If you wire your guitar up like a Les Paul/SG, you can't use the volume pots to blend between the two pickups when you are using both. Volume controls are a thing called a voltage divider, which sends the unused bit of signal to ground. With the stock LP wiring you aren't actually grounding out the pickup, but are instead grounding the output jack. This means that when you are in the switches center position, you have two master volume controls, and no individual volume controls. The idea was that you would use them for two different sounds using each pickup individually.

If you want to control the relative level of each pickup, you need to wire your volume pots like the volume pots in a Jazz bass, with the pickup going to the center lug, and the output coming from the un-ground outer lug. But of course, then you would need a master volume control somewhere along the line (could be a volume pedal, of course).

Personally, I hate having more than one volume controls on a guitar, but to each his own. Or more than one tone control, for that matter. Just give me a master volume, a master tone, and a pickup switch, and I'll be happy. Even my strat only has one active tone control (the other one is a dummy push/pull pot to turn on my neck pickup when I'm using the bridge or bridge and middle pickups).


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Light said:
If you wire your guitar up like a Les Paul/SG, you can't use the volume pots to blend between the two pickups when you are using both. Volume controls are a thing called a voltage divider, which sends the unused bit of signal to ground. With the stock LP wiring you aren't actually grounding out the pickup, but are instead grounding the output jack. This means that when you are in the switches center position, you have two master volume controls, and no individual volume controls.
Click to expand...

Light, that does not correspond with my experience.

On all three of my Les Pauls of various vintages, when the pickup selector is in the middle position, the volume controls do indeed seem to affect the individual pickups. This is observable by the fact that varying the volume controls to each pickup can produce a wide tonal variation. This is particularly noticeable on my LP Special, which has mismatched pickups (bridge is wayyyy hotter than the neck)- you can balance out the tone of the guitar by backing off the bridge pickup volume. Granted, when you roll either volume control all the way down, the overall volume goes to zero.

Or maybe I'm just misunderstanding your statement.:confused:
 
light i think your getting what im trying to say but you completely lost me in the specifics.

and you said that "If you wire your guitar up like a Les Paul/SG, you can't use the volume pots to blend between the two pickups when you are using both."

so i couldnt have say 90% of the bridge pickup and 10% of the neck? cause thats what im trying to do, be able to go from 100% neck or 100% bridge or ANYWHERE inbetween to be able to achieve a huge variety of tones.
 
When the switch is in the middle position, you can get many combinations of sounds blended between the 2 pickups. The only problem is if you want to turn down the blended sound at the guitar you would have to turn down both volumes by the same amount to maintain your blended sound. That is where a master volume would be nice.
ViP
 
ohhhh ok i get it. i was wondering why people were saying i would want a master volume control but i get it now. ill just get a volume pedal... i have wanted one for a while now anyways and this is just the excuse to get one :D
 
Do a search on "fifties wiring" for Gibson style controls - it's more better. Also look into the difference between audio and linear taper on the pots.

I'm no expert so I can't describe either or which is better I just know that on a lot of Gibsons the pots are much more like an on/off switch than a fader.


lou
 
Kingofpain678 said:
ohhhh ok i get it. i was wondering why people were saying i would want a master volume control but i get it now. ill just get a volume pedal... i have wanted one for a while now anyways and this is just the excuse to get one :D
Click to expand...

Volume pedals are great for doing just that, I use mine instead of rolling down my guitar volume to get cleaner tones.
VP
 
wha????

do volume pedals not work like that or something????
 
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