TRBboy Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 I have a Sandberg Basic, which has a single MM humbucker. Whilst I love the bass, I got to thinking that it would be much more versatile if I could split the pickup to use in a single coil mode. I haven't had chance to have a rummage inside yet, but I'm guessing that as long as the pickup is four conductor, I could wire in a toggle switch to do Parallel/Single coil/Series, like a Stingray with a three-way switch. Is this right? If it is, could I get a toggle that would do the job, or would I have to get a blade style switch like a 'ray? Would much prefer a toggle if at all possible..... Anyone got any thoughts on this? Your opinion is much appreciated! Ta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Series/Parallel is ok but you might want to experiment with it first with your bass as it might not seem worth the agro. I find in the MM spot it doesn't have a massive impact (just loud/quiet to put it crudely) but in the P spot it yields more definable results. A push/pull knob would allow you to include a switch into your circuit without having to drill any fresh holes... plus it's reversible if you decide not to go with it. If you wanted to go and do it anyway, I use a 3 way DPDT (on/on/on) switch for it on my guitars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 [quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1322771821' post='1455789'] I have a Sandberg Basic, which has a single MM humbucker. Whilst I love the bass, I got to thinking that it would be much more versatile if I could split the pickup to use in a single coil mode. I haven't had chance to have a rummage inside yet, but I'm guessing that as long as the pickup is four conductor, I could wire in a toggle switch to do Parallel/Single coil/Series, like a Stingray with a three-way switch. Is this right? If it is, could I get a toggle that would do the job, or would I have to get a blade style switch like a 'ray? Would much prefer a toggle if at all possible..... Anyone got any thoughts on this? Your opinion is much appreciated! Ta [/quote] I've just done that very thing. It took a 3 pole rotary switch, but I can select either coil, both series or both parallel. No idea how it sounds as the bass has no neck or strings. I'll let you know on Sunday :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 [quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1322772830' post='1455816'] Series/Parallel is ok but you might want to experiment with it first with your bass as it might not seem worth the agro. I find in the MM spot it doesn't have a massive impact (just loud/quiet to put it crudely) but in the P spot it yields more definable results. A push/pull knob would allow you to include a switch into your circuit without having to drill any fresh holes... plus it's reversible if you decide not to go with it. If you wanted to go and do it anyway, I use a 3 way DPDT (on/on/on) switch for it on my guitars. [/quote] Out of interest: In the MM position, do you hear a significant difference between the two windings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 I can never remember which position is which! Rear parallel and best for me, middle (single coil?) I don't care for at all, front is mainly just louder and cuts through quite nicely for the odd bass solo (series?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 [quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1322772830' post='1455816'] Series/Parallel is ok but you might want to experiment with it first with your bass as it might not seem worth the agro. I find in the MM spot it doesn't have a massive impact (just loud/quiet to put it crudely) but in the P spot it yields more definable results. A push/pull knob would allow you to include a switch into your circuit without having to drill any fresh holes... plus it's reversible if you decide not to go with it. If you wanted to go and do it anyway, I use a 3 way DPDT (on/on/on) switch for it on my guitars. [/quote] Thanks Ou7shined, I guess I'm more interested in splitting it to use as a single coil than switching to series really, although if it's easy I may as well do it all at the same time! I don't have any measurements to back this up, but I think the pickup on my Sandberg might be slightly further forward than on a 'ray, looking at the distance between the bridge saddles and pickup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 [quote name='bremen' timestamp='1322772947' post='1455818'] I've just done that very thing. It took a 3 pole rotary switch, but I can select either coil, both series or both parallel. No idea how it sounds as the bass has no neck or strings. I'll let you know on Sunday :-) [/quote] Hmmmm...... Interesting! That sounds like what I want to do. The main thing for me is I'd like to get a nice single coil pick sound, preferably using the neck coil if possible. Let us know what it sounds like! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 [quote name='bremen' timestamp='1322773536' post='1455831'] Out of interest: In the MM position, do you hear a significant difference between the two windings? [/quote] I don't think I've tried it in that position.... matron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 [quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1322774398' post='1455847'] Thanks Ou7shined, I guess I'm more interested in splitting it to use as a single coil than switching to series really, although if it's easy I may as well do it all at the same time! I don't have any measurements to back this up, but I think the pickup on my Sandberg might be slightly further forward than on a 'ray, looking at the distance between the bridge saddles and pickup. [/quote] Fair doos. Yeah I think it seems to fall somewhere between the MM and P spots. You might end up with a usable sc P tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 [quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1322775063' post='1455865'] Fair doos. Yeah I think it seems to fall somewhere between the MM and P spots. You might end up with a usable sc P tone. [/quote] Oooohhh! That would be ideal! I was expecting you to say that there would be no chance of getting anywhere near that sort of tone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 [quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1322775256' post='1455870'] Oooohhh! That would be ideal! I was expecting you to say that there would be no chance of getting anywhere near that sort of tone! [/quote] Well I wouldn't say it will nail it... but it might get close. I can get a solid sc P tone with my L-1000 when I go to split. Here's a rough comparison between my pup position and yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 (edited) Just had a look there are 4 wires; the green (and bare) are attached to the back of the vol, the black is attached to the circuit board (?) on the vol, and the red and white are taped off (possibly soldered together). The vol is push/pull active/passive so I don't know if that would cause problems? So, the question is; how the hell can I wire this up to a toggle switch! (remember, mainly want to just split to single coil, neck side) I'm not very good at understanding electronics........HELP! Edited December 1, 2011 by TRBboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 (edited) Your red and white should be where you introduce the split. Red will be one coil, white the other. Choose which side you want to go for (trail and error is cool as it's 50/50) and wire your switch so that it disengages the red/white connection while sending your chosen colour to the board where that black goes in for one of the colour selection or to the earth/pot for the other - this can be determined with a multimeter. If it's not the coil you want (tap test with a metal object - Allen key) switch to the other colour. Edited December 1, 2011 by Ou7shined Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 [quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1322778667' post='1455920'] Your red and white should be where you introduce the split. Red will be one coil, white the other. Choose which side you want to go for (trail and error is cool as it's 50/50) and wire your switch so that it disengages the red/white connection while sending your chosen colour to the board where that black goes in for one of the colour selection or to the earth/pot for the other - this can be determined with a multimeter. If it's not the coil you want (tap test with a metal object - Allen key) switch to the other colour. [/quote] Thanks man, that sounds doable, just gotta get my head around what that actually looks like! Is there likely to be a schematic for that online anywhere? I find it easier that way, it's like wire-by-numbers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 [quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1322780715' post='1455959'] Thanks man, that sounds doable, just gotta get my head around what that actually looks like! Is there likely to be a schematic for that online anywhere? I find it easier that way, it's like wire-by-numbers! [/quote] Here's a simple one for split coil only... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 [quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1322782242' post='1455978'] Here's a simple one for split coil only... [/quote] Awesome, thanks again! Now I know you say "simple", but how do the colours correspond? (i really am that useless!) I'm guessing black at one end, green at the other and then white and red in the middle? Completely wrong probably! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 [quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1322787116' post='1456016'] Awesome, thanks again! Now I know you say "simple", but how do the colours correspond? (i really am that useless!) I'm guessing black at one end, green at the other and then white and red in the middle? Completely wrong probably! [/quote] No you are spot on. There's no hard and fast rules about north and south but using the fact that you have a green wire linked to your earth wire you could look at it like this.... north start = black north finish = red south finish = white south start = green bare/shield = self explanatory I'm just guessing at which way round the red and white are but you can work it out more accurately for yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 [quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1322787591' post='1456018'] I'm just guessing at which way round the red and white are but you can work it out more accurately for yourself. [/quote] At the risk of sounding stupid; does it matter? Aren't they soldered to the same terminal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Fair point but it kind of does in as much as they designate which coil is which. In my example black and red are one coil and green and white are the other. Also in that diagram they are running in series before you throw the switch and you need to know which is which if you want to include a parallel option too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 [quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1322789551' post='1456030'] Fair point but it kind of does in as much as they designate which coil is which. In my example black and red are one coil and green and white are the other. Also in that diagram they are running in series before you throw the switch and you need to know which is which if you want to include a parallel option too. [/quote] Would the pickup be wired in parallel as standard? I thought that series gave a thinner sorta sound, which isn't what I want really. Is it possible to wire up as above but in parallel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 [quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1322776229' post='1455886'] Well I wouldn't say it will nail it... but it might get close. I can get a solid sc P tone with my L-1000 when I go to split. Here's a rough comparison between my pup position and yours. [/quote] That Wunkay is wonderful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 (edited) [quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1322812018' post='1456053'] Would the pickup be wired in parallel as standard? I thought that series gave a thinner sorta sound, which isn't what I want really. Is it possible to wire up as above but in parallel? [/quote] They just come as they are. For example Stingrays are wired in parallel but SUBs are wired in series... same basic pups but just different wiring options. From what you've said, you have 2 wires joined but not connected to anything else this would indicate that they are wired in series which gives you the "thicker" sound option. If you took your white and sent it to the black and took the red and joined it to the green you would then be running it in parallel - easily done with a simple [url="http://static.zoovy.com/img/guitarelectronics/W500-H540-Bffffff/H/series_parallel.jpg"]switch[/url]... at this point selecting a single coil gets a bit more complicated but it's not impossible. edit : oops got them arse about tit... head fully out of bin now.... hopefully. Edited December 2, 2011 by Ou7shined Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 [quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1322812562' post='1456055'] That Wunkay is wonderful [/quote] It is but it's not mine though. That's an '82. I have an earlier '80 one with chrome hardware.... and a lot more ... ahem .... "mojo". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 [quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1322821029' post='1456151'] It is but it's not mine though. That's an '82. I have an earlier '80 one with chrome hardware.... and a lot more ... ahem .... "mojo". [/quote] Damn that GAS & then I remembered this clip, Randy Meisner I believe - [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQPLT1Za8Es"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQPLT1Za8Es[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 [quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1322820746' post='1456143'] They just come as they are. For example Stingrays are wired in parallel but SUBs are wired in series... same basic pups but just different wiring options. From what you've said, you have 2 wires joined but not connected to anything else this would indicate that they are wired in series which gives you the "thicker" sound option. If you took your white and sent it to the black and took the red and joined it to the green you would then be running it in parallel - easily done with a simple [url="http://static.zoovy.com/img/guitarelectronics/W500-H540-Bffffff/H/series_parallel.jpg"]switch[/url]... at this point selecting a single coil gets a bit more complicated but it's not impossible. edit : oops got them arse about tit... head fully out of bin now.... hopefully. [/quote] So....... when I wire the switch in as per the diagram, will the pickup still be working the same as it does now, when it's in Humbucking mode? Also, just wondered how sure you are that that diagram's correct, because I've bought a switch and I'll have a go at it tomorrow night if you think it'll work! Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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