Problem with EMG HZ pickup wiring

[ForbiddenWytch]

Been a while since I've posted one of these!

 

Hey everyone, could do with a bit of help. Yesterday I decided to re-wire my Jackson bass with a 3 way mini toggle on each of the EMG 35HZ pickups so that I had series/parallel/split options. Found a diagram online and after doing a bit of research found that EMG use the same colour coding as Dimarzio for their passive HZ pickups but when I wired them up, the bridge pickup worked as it should & the neck pickup just didn't work.

 

I wired both pickups in the exact same way so I don't know if I've made a simple mistake or if I've really balls'd it up! 

 

This is the diagram I used:

 

As said, the bridge pickup works fine and the switch works fine for that one (the output is a bit low but that could be down to my dead strings) but the neck pickup doesn't work. There's a very faint signal from the neck pickup so I know the pickup and wires aren't dead, I've obviously just made a mistake somewhere. The switch is passing signal too so it's not a broken/faulty switch.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated, especially as I have a gig on Friday and would like to use the bass but if not, I'll use my 5 string.

 

 

 

[Acebassmusic]

I've just done a similar change to my Roscoe adding a DPDT to the electronics. I used one 12-pole switch which is like 2 of your DPDT glued together and operated via one lever.

 

 

To wire it up I used the following diagram from Bartolini which seems to align with your colour coding. The bridge and neck switches are wired up slightly differently so that when you're in single coil mode it still has some hum cancelling properties (from what I understand).

 

 

I couldn't determine if the Dimarzio switch you mention is Type 1 or 2 as it makes a difference to the connections made internally. Might be worth checking out.

 

 

Hope this helps, Mike

[ForbiddenWytch]

Hello Mike,

 

First off, many thanks for your reply as i think that diagram will help a lot! 
i should add the switch isn’t a Dimarzio switch, I just found that EMG use the same wire colour coding as Dimarzio, the switches are the standard DPDT ON-ON-ON 3 way mini toggles and judging by your 2nd diagram, they’re type 2 as the top left lug is left unused. Both switches were from the same retailer bought in the same transaction so can’t see them being different types to one another (I hope!) 

 

I’ve noticed some slight differences in the way the diagram from Dimarzio and the diagram from Bartolini is wired up so I’ll try swapping the coloured wires first.

I think you’re right about the single coil hum cancelling thing too, I reckon that’s where I’ve balls’d it up. I’m going to pull the bass apart again tonight or tomorrow and have a go at it with the diagram you’ve provided. Whatever way the bridge pickup is wired up, I’ll go with the opposite diagram for the neck pickup. 
 

There was nothing on the EMG page to suggest they were RW/RP but it would make total sense that they are. Tbh, the EMG pages are extremely unhelpful anyway.

 

Thanks again for your reply.