Obscure pickup wiring...help

hey, im new here, just found these forums, had a quick browse n it seems like you guys know what you're on about and could possibly help me?

i'm just about to order a KA motherbucker and a P90 for my strat (yeh yeh, im copying matt bellamy from muse, whatever :P )and i was reading about this guy who rewired the 5 way selector switch just for the MB! i really like this idea, but this guy is just ignoring my requests for help/schematics :angry: so anyway, i hope someone can help, his setup is as follows

okay.. pickup wiring etc.. as you know, the motherbucker has 4 coils, and i wanted to use them all in many ways, so i made a schematic with the fender 5way super switch and 2 push/push pots... it works this way:
the fender super switch is just for the motherbucker
first pos: 1 coil (the one, near to the bridge,so singlecoil sound, very tele-like)
second pos: 2 coils (both near the bridge, kind of lead sound)
middle pos: all 4 coils (you can change parallel/serial wiring with one of the push/push pots)
fourth pos: 2 coils (both "near" the neck pickup, out-of-phase)
fifth pos: 1 coil (near the neck pickup, out of phase)
the other push/push pot is for switching the neck pickup off or on

so bascially, im competant with a soldering iron, but i have NO idea how id go about wiring the MB or the P-90 into this position. so what im asking is for someone who knows alot mroe than me about wiring than me to possibly do me a nice little diagram or even to just explain to me what to solder where and how to not short my guitar or blow myself up :D

i also wanna modify this idea slightly, instead of the two push/pull pots to turn the P90 on or off and to activate seriel/parellel wiring, i want to put in an on.off mini switch in the place of the 1st tone pot and have a 3 way mini switch in the 2nd tone pot space that will select parellel/seriel/off so i have the option of the P90 with all MB positions :cool:

im totally comprehensive of compontents etc. i just dont get how to wire things 100% :P and i also havn't ever looked properly at a 5 way switch before. but i have got experience with soldering etc, its just this particular circuit im having problems with

oh also, i'd prefer the bridge positions at the postions closer to the bridge i.e/ where the bridge pickup is on a regular selector, it just makes more sense to me to have the bridge options closer to the bridge, but its not all that important. and will i need to buy a SUPER switch or can i use the exsisting normal one in my strat? :D


cheers in advance

DB

[font=trebuchet ms]Hmm, where to begin...

This is something you'd better work out on your own, so that you can be sure you get the coil combinations you want.

There are some wiring diagrams at the DiMarzio website. Select the PICKUP button at the top of the page. Select the model you are interested in. Then select the WIRING DIAGRAMS button.

StewMac has the Super Switch.

I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you, but what you're asking is far too complicated for a simple text-based reply. Spend some time studying the switch, and drawing wiring diagrams. As you get a better understanding of how it works, you may decide that there are other combinations that you would rather have. At the very least, you will know a lot more about your guitar than you did before.[/font]

hmm, thanks it is a VERY complicated design, but i know ill be happy with that exact setup :) one thing though, if im wiring it to 5 different positions, does that mean i just need to split each of the 8 wires on the MB so that i can connect it right? would i get a junctionbox? or could you just take asnother wire off a solder point of the previous one? for example, solder the first position on (front rail, out of phase) and then take the wires from thoses lugs, to the next position along with the ones from the other rail?

oh also, the 4 wires in a MB, except the grouding, are these hot and earth for each rail? if so, which ones which?

i think i can wire alot of that pretty well, the only couple of things that are niggling though, are, how do i connect it to a dpdt on/off/on mini switch for seriel/parellel? im not actually sure how the lugs are arranged on one either? so the 1st question is how do you wire a standerd HB in parellel/seriel to a switch?

and secondly, the phasing confuses me :( i dunno if the guy made a mistake (hes german, writing in english) but i wouldnt know how to make the front 2 rails out of phase with each toher using just 4 wires :confused: the one rail alone will be easy...i take it all KA pickups will be wound the same way in order to make them automatically in phase with each other, so i just do the reverse phase wiring in the instructions to make the front reversed phase for when i use the P90

[font=trebuchet ms]If you examine the diagrams in the DiMarzio website (you obviously haven't looked at them yet), you will soon understand most of what you're asking about. This is not something I can readily describe in text, so please study those diagrams. The wires are simply the ends of each coil. Terms like 'hot' and 'earth' are not intrinsic to the device. They are things you define by the way you connect them.[/font]

ah ok cheers....i was gonna look at them, but then i decided to have a look inside mty guitar halfway through my post...then i snapped a string puttin the Pg back on, then i got stressed, then i couldnt find my spare strings then my gf calmed me down n i just talked 2 her....sorry :D

[font=trebuchet ms]Relax, man. It's a guitar, not a job interview.[/font] :)

hehe just annoyed cos its a really cool idea, but i dont get the wiring...that dimarzio site heped alot actually thanks, as the MB is effectively just 2 HBs in the same case, i used the wirindg diagram for H x H on a 5 way switch! i think if i could work out which lugs on the switch do what, then i could adapt that design quite easily! the "both" position is sorted...although i dont know whether its in series or parellel on the diagram....do you know? would i put the switch in between the selector and the pickup? actually the switch has confused me...i know how to wire it in series, just solder the first 2 ends (green/red) together and tape off...but how do i simulate that in a switch?

after that, i have the bridge one, thats totally fine on its own, next the neck side of the bridge hotrail,well thats almost the same as the the 2 inside coils it has in the diagram, just leave out the neck position.

the 2 necks out of phase...would be...the same as in ther diagram, only i switch the red and green leads to change the polarity?

the last one! for this, same as the one for the outside coils, only remove the connections for the back HB?

hope that all makes sense? all i need now, is just the positions of the selector and how to wire the switch!

oh one final question:

http://www.dimarzio.com/Text/Wiring/TwoHumbuckers5WayMultiple.pdf

the dimarzio switch used there....is that the same as a 5 way super switch? looks it, but i cant really tell :confused:


cheers for the help btw, you dont know how much easier this was thanks to you :D

[font=trebuchet ms]The DiMarzio switch looks a bit different mechanically from the StewMac switch, but I think they function in the same way. These are called 4-pole, 5-throw (4P5T) switches. Each section has a common terminal (pole), which can be connected to any of 5 different terminals (throws). These names are carried over from long ago ("Throw the switch") so it can get confusing. Anyway, in the diagram, the terminals at the end of the switch look to be the 4 common terminals for the groups of 5 terminals located inboard from them. I'm sure this would be easier for you to get your head around if you had the actual switch in your hand. Since you are determined to do this setup, I suggest buying either the DiMarzio part, or the StewMac Super Switch, and sitting down with it and sussing out how it all goes together.

Good luck![/font]

http://www.guitarnuts.com/index.php

Join this site and put the same question on their forum or e-mail the guy. He knows what he's talking about. And he might be able to give you a diagram.

thanks, but i dont seem to be getting many replies :eek: i do understand the switch more though and the ONLY thing i dont get now is the parellel/series wiring! i'v changed my mind slightly on how the switches will work though, im gonna have an on/on/on switch for P90/MB/both and then an on/on for parellel/series, but i stil dont understand how to wire a switch for that?

Originally Posted by: donbenjy... the ONLY thing i dont get now is the parellel/series wiring! ...

[font=trebuchet ms]The DiMarzio wiring instructions for a 4-wire humbucker shows how. Try the wiring diagram for the Dual Sound humbucker.[/font]