therealting Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 My OLP 5-string originally came wired with a vol-vol-tone setup, but would tend to hum if the two volume knobs were not set at exactly the same level. This was generally tricky to do, so I pretty much always had them both fully on or fully off. I decided to rewire the bass with a single volume and tone, and use a mini-toggle for parallel / split wiring on the humbucker. I ordered a DPDT switch (it was a pack on 5 on eBay), some cloth-covered push-back wire, and they arrived a couple days ago. While I was at it, I decided to get some copper foil to do a full shielding job. The soldering in the bass is pretty bad... I'm not very good at soldering myself, but I don't do it very often and certainly not for a living, but I think the wiring is neater now than it was, in spite of the added wires required for the switching. I quite like the new look - I replaced the middle pot, so it now has the two knobs on the "outside", with the mini-toggle between them. Plugging in, I found out that the cheap pickup in the OLP had incorrect colour coding, so I was getting phase-cancellation. Switched the wires around, no problem. End result - the bass sounds much better than it did! In parallel mode, it sounds just like it did before, except now I have full control over the volume without fumbling or hum. The series mode has a little more volume and has a nice midrangey quality which works well for fingerstyle. I think everyone who owns one of these OLP passive basses should consider this mod... it costs practically nothing and makes the bass much, much more versatile! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 [quote name='therealting' post='36575' date='Jul 24 2007, 09:14 PM']End result - the bass sounds much better than it did! In parallel mode, it sounds just like it did before, except now I have full control over the volume without fumbling or hum. The series mode has a little more volume and has a nice midrangey quality which works well for fingerstyle. I think everyone who owns one of these OLP passive basses should consider this mod... it costs practically nothing and makes the bass much, much more versatile![/quote] What a good idea. I've had problems getting rid of the 'hum' too. Do you have a circuit diagram? If you have any spare switches I'll take off your hands - PM me and let me know how much you want for it. Kind regards, Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealting Posted July 26, 2007 Author Share Posted July 26, 2007 (edited) [quote name='pete.young' post='37155' date='Jul 26 2007, 08:36 AM']What a good idea. I've had problems getting rid of the 'hum' too. Do you have a circuit diagram? If you have any spare switches I'll take off your hands - PM me and let me know how much you want for it. Kind regards, Pete[/quote] If you're near West London then you could come by and pick one up for a quid or something... otherwise you may find it easier just to buy a batch from the seller I used. These are the ones I got: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160136460751"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=160136460751[/url] Five switches for just over four quid shipped, difficult to argue with that. As for circuit diagrams, I used a combination of these two diagrams: [url="http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/WDUH01101"]http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/WDUH01101[/url] [url="http://alexplorer.net/guitar/mods/serpar.html"]http://alexplorer.net/guitar/mods/serpar.html[/url] Edited July 26, 2007 by therealting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 [quote name='therealting' post='37198' date='Jul 26 2007, 10:10 AM']Five switches for just over four quid shipped, difficult to argue with that.[/quote] That's very cheap. On reflection I'll see if I can find a black one, to match the rest of the hardware. [quote]As for circuit diagrams, I used a combination of these two diagrams:[/quote] Smart. Thanks very much for this info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlbbb Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Just to drag this topic up again... Is the switch a 2 position or 3 position? At first I thought it would be a three position (on-on-on) DPDT giving you either coil or both. Now it seems its just two position and always gives both coils, but in series or parallel? Having typed that, I had a moment of clarity after I re-read the topic title. D'oh! Looking at an MM3 in the For Sale section and this would be a definite mod should I buy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoo Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 (edited) Why not use a 3 position switch to give series / parallel / single coil for even more variety? [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=ssp"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wirin...p?schematic=ssp[/url] [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=musicman_3way"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wirin...c=musicman_3way[/url] Edited June 1, 2008 by stoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlbbb Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 (edited) That could definitely be a good idea. I get paid next Friday, so I'd be looking into buying the bass then. I really wanna do either the series/parallel or the ser/par/split mod, although I'm not a dab hand with wiring, so I'll have to make sure I'm 100% certain before I go ruining my bass! Edited June 2, 2008 by karlbbb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.gif.9ad672bb8b84505709f76b39c8c256ec.gif)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.