Advice: what's the best way to make series connection for two single coils?

FriskyDingo

I have my tele kit with two high output pickups and the usual 3 switch. I would like an option to place them in series rather than parallel for that "fatter" sound. 
Other than a 4 way switch, what other methods would be feasible? Separate switch? Push/pull? 
Thanks

Roland

You can do it with a four way, as long as it has two tracks of contacts (some switches only have one). You can do it with a push/pull on either the Tone or Volume knob, but it only works if the selector switch is in the right position. In the wrong position you get silence.

The choice is a personal one. I’ve made guitars with both methods. I find the four way switch more intuitive (for me), and less likely to leave me with no signal as I burst into a blistering solo.

Funkfingers

A DPDT on/on switch can be wired in so that it only operates when the traditional three-way selector switch is in the middle position. A push-pull pot does exactly the same thing only without needing to make any new holes in your guitar.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/tech-tips?tip_id=34071

FriskyDingo said:

tele kit with two high output pickups

Your high output pickups should already sound pretty "fat". Linking them in series could result in a loud, mushy tone.

If your pickups are both dual coil noise-cancelling types, it might be worth splitting their respective coils and only combining one coil from each pickup for the series mode.

It is possible to rejig the existing selector switch to provide Neck / Both in series / Bridge but I shall have to scratch my head until I remember how the circuit goes (or I wear through my skull).

ICBM

Roland said:

You can do it with a four way, as long as it has two tracks of contacts (some switches only have one). You can do it with a push/pull on either the Tone or Volume knob, but it only works if the selector switch is in the right position. In the wrong position you get silence.

If you get silence in any setting it’s not done right.

FriskyDingo

The 4 way seems the easiest way I'm just worried about putting it on series setting when I want neck pick.
Is the push pull difficult to do? 

ICBM

I prefer to wire it with series at the bridge end as that’s the more natural ‘hit for lead’ direction, and it’s also easier to separate the grounds on the bridge pickup than the neck - if it doesn’t have a baseplate it’s not necessary at all.

Roland

ICBM said:

Roland said:

You can do it with a four way, as long as it has two tracks of contacts (some switches only have one). You can do it with a push/pull on either the Tone or Volume knob, but it only works if the selector switch is in the right position. In the wrong position you get silence.

If you get silence in any setting it’s not done right.

Doesn’t that depend on pickup polarity and wiring?

Funkfingers

Then, of course, there is always the Blend Pot option. Bwa-ha-ha-haaaa!

ICBM

Roland said:

Doesn’t that depend on pickup polarity and wiring?

No. It depends on working out the circuit correctly .

I did one yesterday.

FriskyDingo

Funkfingers said:

A DPDT on/on switch can be wired in so that it only operates when the traditional three-way selector switch is in the middle position. A push-pull pot does exactly the same thing only without needing to make any new holes in your guitar.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/tech-tips?tip_id=34071

FriskyDingo said:

tele kit with two high output pickups

Your high output pickups should already sound pretty "fat". Linking them in series could result in a loud, mushy tone.

If your pickups are both dual coil noise-cancelling types, it might be worth splitting their respective coils and only combining one coil from each pickup for the series mode.

It is possible to rejig the existing selector switch to provide Neck / Both in series / Bridge but I shall have to scratch my head until I remember how the circuit goes (or I wear through my skull).

I do want to try them in series just to hear the difference. They are an oil city liquidator and Seymour duncan quarter pounder. The push/pull option or four way switch sound best option so I don't have to drill more holes

FriskyDingo

Funkfingers said:

Then, of course, there is always the Blend Pot option. Bwa-ha-ha-haaaa!

I'm not in on the joke? Is that sarcasm or just difficult to do? 

FriskyDingo

Anyone tried these? Slightly expensive but the options!
https://m.thomann.de/gb/freeway_switch_3b3_01_black_barrel_tip.htm

Roland

This is cheaper https://www.axesrus.co.uk/Axesrus-Guitar-Super-Switch-5-way-p/lps-5super.htm

ICBM

Roland said:

This is cheaper https://www.axesrus.co.uk/Axesrus-Guitar-Super-Switch-5-way-p/lps-5super.htm

Those don't fit in a standard Tele control cavity.

Funkfingers

FriskyDingo said:

Funkfingers said:

Then, of course, there is always the Blend Pot option. Bwa-ha-ha-haaaa!

I'm not in on the joke? Is that sarcasm or just difficult to do? 

Some Stratocaster owners like to reconfigure their controls. One treble roll off pot becomes the Master Tone. The second pot is repurposed to become a blend control, connecting one of the pickups in series with a second pickup.

To do this on a Telecaster, it would be necessary to add a third pot on the control plate. 

FriskyDingo said:
I do want to try them in series just to hear the difference.

In that case, simply temporarily solder the series link using the conductor wires of the pickups.

FriskyDingo

That blend option sounds a bit too advance for me, so I'll pass there

Funkfingers

FriskyDingo said:
Oil City Liquidator and Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder. 

You have not mentioned which pickup is bridge/Treble position and which is neck/Rhythm. Either way, temporarily solder the white conductor from the bridge position pickup to the black conductor of the neck position pickup. 

In this state, the series signal will reach the selector switch via the "hot" output conductor of the neck position pickup. Shifting the selector switch to the Bridge Only position will shut off the signal.



Given the d.c. resistance stats for OCP Liquidators and Duncan QPs, whichever permutation you have is going to yield a combined notional output of at least 26k Ohms.

In series, out-of-phase, might prove interesting in a Brian May Red Special kind of way.

FriskyDingo

There is a wire on the Seymour duncan which can be cut in case of phase problems, which their site does mention

ICBM

It's much easier to do it using the bridge pickup as the 'upper' coil (non-grounded) because as we've already found out, it doesn't have a baseplate so the ground to the bridge is already done with a separate wire.

So connect the bridge pickup black wire to the neck pickup white wire instead of to ground, and that will give you the series sound in what was the bridge position.

Funkfingers

FriskyDingo said:

There is a wire on the Seymour duncan which can be cut in case of phase problems, which their site does mention

That can only be a jumper wire for grounding the metal parts - when present - of each pickup via the black output conductor cable. 

Please DO NOT cut any cables on either of your pickups.

If your neck/Rhythm position pickup has a metal cover, there ought to be a short wire between the soldering eyelet for the black output conductor and one of the three tabs that secure the metal cover to the lower fibreboard plate of the pickup. De-solder this wire at the tab rather than the eyelet. Bend the jumper wire away from the metal tab. Maybe, even, insulate it. Finally, solder a new insulated wire to the tab on the metal cover. Run this through to the control cavity. Ground the other end to the chassis of the volume pot.

ICBM

Funkfingers said:

If your neck/Rhythm position pickup has a metal cover, there ought to be a short wire between the soldering eyelet for the black output conductor and one of the three tabs that secure the metal cover to the lower fibreboard plate of the pickup. De-solder this wire at the tab rather than the eyelet.

I wouldn't do that - I would snip it very carefully at the eyelet. That makes it far easier to re-connect if you ever need to than trying to solder it to the cover tab, which is almost impossible without a very powerful iron.

But it's *really* easier to do this using the bridge pickup, at the very least as a trial. You will not need to cut or undo anything since the bridge pickup already has a separate ground anyway.