StRanger7032 Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Got a soldering workout today! These things were a pain to wire up, but they add a whole new dimension to the sound of the guitar when the coil split is engaged. I bought these to install in my Gibson SG, but the body was too slim and they didn't fit in the cavity. While I was looking at the SG and my G-400 side by side last night I realized that the G-400 body is thicker. Sure enough, the push/pull pots fit in the G-400 just fine. I used a wiring diagram from Seymour Duncan, which I had to modify slightly since my wiring kit is modeled after a vintage Gibson rather than a modern one. Now I'm going to use the audio taper volume pots I took out of the G-400 to replace the linear taper ones in my SG (don't ask why I ordered linear pots in my kit in the first place). A win for both guitars! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pesh Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Got a soldering workout today! These things were a pain to wire up, but they add a whole new dimension to the sound of the guitar when the coil split is engaged. I bought these to install in my Gibson SG, but the body was too slim and they didn't fit in the cavity. While I was looking at the SG and my G-400 side by side last night I realized that the G-400 body is thicker. Sure enough, the push/pull pots fit in the G-400 just fine. I used a wiring diagram from Seymour Duncan, which I had to modify slightly since my wiring kit is modeled after a vintage Gibson rather than a modern one. Now I'm going to use the audio taper volume pots I took out of the G-400 to replace the linear taper ones in my SG (don't ask why I ordered linear pots in my kit in the first place). A win for both guitars! Do love reading about little projects like this; especially the successful ones! Congratulations on the new set ups! It's a shame that the push-pull (or push-push?) switches didn't fit the cavity. Have a look into the CTS push-pulls (from StewMac); these look like they're a bit shorter in the barrel section, so might fit your SG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StRanger7032 Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 Do love reading about little projects like this; especially the successful ones! Congratulations on the new set ups! It's a shame that the push-pull (or push-push?) switches didn't fit the cavity. Have a look into the CTS push-pulls (from StewMac); these look like they're a bit shorter in the barrel section, so might fit your SG Thanks for the link! Those might do the trick. I may have to give them a try on the SG. I just can't stand knowing that my Seymour Duncans have abilities I'm not taking advantage of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pesh Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Thanks for the link! Those might do the trick. I may have to give them a try on the SG. I just can't stand knowing that my Seymour Duncans have abilities I'm not taking advantage of. You and I are one and the same; I quite like having the option of all that tonal variety, just because. Whether I'll use it or not is irrelevant! Although I'm trying to cut down on my need to have 3 switches for each pickup; I'm doing a build at the moment and I've ordered only 1 push-pull for a phase reverse, for a Greenie tone, and the rest of the controls are standard pots (big deal for me!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpruceTop Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Good Job! I've done a few of those. Keep in mind in case you don't know that you can cut either the screw coil or the non-screw coil. The position (forward or back) of the hot coil makes a huge difference to the tone. With Duncan and most GFS, if you grounded the red/white, you cut the non-screw (inside position) coil. Ground the green/black to cut the non-screw coil. I tend to like the outside (front coil neck HB and back coil br HB) coils on. The simple way to test the sound difference is to turn the pu's around in the rings, re-wire if you like something different from how you wired it. Also, you'll quickly know which ones are hot by using a tuning fork. Sort of Gretsch sounds can be had with both back coils cut. Works best with a guitar that doesn't have the front HB moved back behind the harmonic like the SG. ie Les Paul, 335. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StRanger7032 Posted December 5, 2015 Author Share Posted December 5, 2015 Good Job! I've done a few of those. Keep in mind in case you don't know that you can cut either the screw coil or the non-screw coil. The position (forward or back) of the hot coil makes a huge difference to the tone. With Duncan and most GFS, if you grounded the red/white, you cut the non-screw (inside position) coil. Ground the green/black to cut the non-screw coil. I tend to like the outside (front coil neck HB and back coil br HB) coils on. The simple way to test the sound difference is to turn the pu's around in the rings, re-wire if you like something different from how you wired it. Also, you'll quickly know which ones are hot by using a tuning fork. Sort of Gretsch sounds can be had with both back coils cut. Works best with a guitar that doesn't have the front HB moved back behind the harmonic like the SG. ie Les Paul, 335. I had to check after reading your post. I grounded the green and bare wires, so does that mean the inside coils are active when I engage the split? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpruceTop Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Try hovering a tuning fork (vibrating) over the pickup while the guitar is amplified. The pickup will amplify the tuning fork. Just observe where (which coil) the coil-cut pickup amplifies the tuning fork. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StRanger7032 Posted January 12, 2016 Author Share Posted January 12, 2016 Try hovering a tuning fork (vibrating) over the pickup while the guitar is amplified. The pickup will amplify the tuning fork. Just observe where (which coil) the coil-cut pickup amplifies the tuning fork. I tried switching the red and green wires today and failed miserably. I ended up with the full humbucker when the knob was pulled up, and a horrible thin sound when the knob was pushed in. The wiring diagram shows the green wire only being hot for phase switching on Seymour Duncans. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpruceTop Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 I tried switching the red and green wires today and failed miserably. I ended up with the full humbucker when the knob was pulled up, and a horrible thin sound when the knob was pushed in. The wiring diagram shows the green wire only being hot for phase switching on Seymour Duncans. Any ideas? Thin sound could be out of phase. In my experience, the SD wires you can switch are red and black or green and white. But if you originally had black to the pot (+), green to ground and red/white to the p/p pot (ground)… Try the red to + (pot) and white to ground and green/black to the p/p switch (ground). This assumes that the other pu has black or red to ground to keep them in phase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StRanger7032 Posted January 19, 2016 Author Share Posted January 19, 2016 Thin sound could be out of phase. In my experience, the SD wires you can switch are red and black or green and white. But if you originally had black to the pot (+), green to ground and red/white to the p/p pot (ground)… Try the red to + (pot) and white to ground and green/black to the p/p switch (ground). This assumes that the other pu has black or red to ground to keep them in phase. Nailed it! Thanks for the help. I had to switch the red for the black, and the green for the white. Everything works normally now and I have the top coil when its split. I only did it on the neck to get a Tele-like sound. I left the bridge with the standard wiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Glad you got it sorted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StRanger7032 Posted January 19, 2016 Author Share Posted January 19, 2016 Glad you got it sorted! I'm relieved to finally get it figured out, since this is the same wiring I plan to do when I install the neck humbucker on the Tele I bought recently. Now if I could only find a way to install coil splits on my SG (body is too thin for any push/pull pots and the Triple Shots don't work on an SG). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpruceTop Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Good job. I love those victories. You can leverage and build on the experience. The electronics mod'ing became addictive to me. Different pu's, coil cutting... There are a lot different tones available other than the stock ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 ... Now if I could only find a way to install coil splits on my SG (body is too thin for any push/pull pots ...). I can confirm that none of my SGs would allow for using any of the push/pull pots I found to be available as aftermarket parts, and none of my L6S guitars, too. However, the Gibson Kirk Douglas "Captain" SG in 2013, and the Gibson SG Standard 2014 and 2015 came with coil splits through push/pull pots. They must have done that anyhow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StRanger7032 Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 I can confirm that none of my SGs would allow for using any of the push/pull pots I found to be available as aftermarket parts, and none of my L6S guitars, too. However, the Gibson Kirk Douglas "Captain" SG in 2013, and the Gibson SG Standard 2014 and 2015 came with coil splits through push/pull pots. They must have done that anyhow... I opened up the back of my 2016 LP with push pull pots and it has the CTS ones that someone posted a link to already in this thread. They are still too big for the SG. I'll see if someone in the SG subforum can open up theirs and have a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.