Possibly Craziest wiring idea yet.

[Davey Rock]

Ok here's my idea

3 humbucker
2 vol
2 tone
6 way freeway switch
3 mini switches (coil split)
3 more mini switches (phase/out of phase)
3 more mini switches (killswitch for each pickup)
6 way varitone Gibson switch
Two thumb stoppers foam pads for treble and bass side (gretsch string mutes)
2 outputs for stereo and mono
Yet ANOTHER mini switch (toggle between piezo bridge or magnetic humbucker)
3 tone switches for each pickup (gretsch mud switches)


Roast me if you wish
GO!

 

[Brek]

Lol.

 

[Bobby Mahogany]

Pics when it happens.

 

[Davey Rock]

I actually came up with a schematic for how it would look on an estimate style Gibson. I've heard of something called the made to measure program basically where a specific company orders custom built guitars just how you want it specd. Now I expect to pay upwards of 6k just as a guess but if I have the money then I don't have a problem spending it. But for now, when I get and es style guitar, preferably an epiphone Lucille (already has varitone route and open back cavity so it will be easier to wire) and get it done for testing. If I can find what I drew up, I'll post it here. It essentially looks like a 355 had a snobby baby with a white falcon.

 

[BKS]

Something like this?

 

[Blues_Verne]

Back in the day when Iwas offering musicianscustomshop service I had a test rig TELE with all that crap in it. Helped alot to find some serious unusual combinations and circuitry. The last incarnation alighted 2012 when I started using NSF/UK made Freeway 3x3 switches.
Here is what they look like taken apart.

One day a customer spotted the "crazy" tele in my workshop, studied it a few minutes and with a strange look in his face dropped the best comment: "So from playing music you changed to playing knobs and buttons!?"

 

[Davey Rock]

Something like this?
View attachment 494106

May as well behoping I can get it looking organized

 

[Davey Rock]

Back in the day when Iwas offering musicianscustomshop service I had a test rig TELE with all that crap in it. Helped alot to find some serious unusual combinations and circuitry. The last incarnation alighted 2012 when I started using NSF/UK made Freeway 3x3 switches.
Here is what they look like taken apart.

View attachment 494107

One day a customer spotted the "crazy" tele in my workshop, studied it a few minutes and with a strange look in his face dropped the best comment: "So from playing music you changed to playing knobs and buttons!?"

Nice man. I love those little anecdotes

 

[Bobby Mahogany]

Back in the day when Iwas offering musicianscustomshop service I had a test rig TELE with all that crap in it. Helped alot to find some serious unusual combinations and circuitry. The last incarnation alighted 2012 when I started using NSF/UK made Freeway 3x3 switches.
Here is what they look like taken apart.

View attachment 494107

One day a customer spotted the "crazy" tele in my workshop, studied it a few minutes and with a strange look in his face dropped the best comment: "So from playing music you changed to playing knobs and buttons!?"

Nice man. I love those little anecdotes

Which brings me to:

My thoughts exactly!

I have witnessed a number of "Tone/wiring combinations searches" over the years
and every time the most important part was eventually forgotten:
Music and the fun of making it.
It's nice to have some pickup combinations / different tones in a guitar
but in the end, how many different tones do you need to make music and have fun?
And I'd rather change guitars for certain songs then pursue the unobtainable, ie.:
all the "tones" in one guitar.

And by the way, all of the tone searchers I met, after they came up with push/pull switches,
pup splits and the likes, usually stuck by one or two combinations while playing.
All the rhetoric's went out the window when it was time to really play.
So...



I hope you get some fun and happiness playing with switches and knobs just the same!

 

[LeftyF2003]

Sounds like you need one of these

 

[smk506]

Which brings me to:

My thoughts exactly!

I have witnessed a number of "Tone/wiring combinations searches" over the years
and every time the most important part was eventually forgotten:
Music and the fun of making it.
It's nice to have some pickup combinations / different tones in a guitar
but in the end, how many different tones do you need to make music and have fun?
And I'd rather change guitars for certain songs then pursue the unobtainable, ie.:
all the "tones" in one guitar.

And by the way, all of the tone searchers I met, after they came up with push/pull switches,
pup splits and the likes, usually stuck by one or two combinations while playing.
All the rhetoric's went out the window when it was time to really play.
So...



I hope you get some fun and happiness playing with switches and knobs just the same!

Yup, friend of mine had a custom guitar built with all kinds of custom wiring; adjustable coil splitting, phase switches, etc.

In pretty much no time at all he was using it like a tele with cool splitting; master volume, master tone, pickup selector and coil split. Everything else just became stuff he has to deal with.

 

[Lungo]

I’ll go one better.

7

 

[CB91710]

Sounds like you need one of these

Yep... that was all the rage in the 80s.
I had a Hondo H1 that I added a Strat single in the neck position and wired it up with 5 toggles... did everything OP suggested.
Never used any of that crap... I don't even use the P-P pots on my SG.
Split humbuckers don't sound like single coils... if I want a single coil sound, I grab one of my Strats or Teles. If I want a humbucker, I grab one of my Gibsons.

IMHO, waste of time, over-complicated, and in general, a failure waiting to happen at just the wrong time.

 

[Lungo]

All joking aside, I get the idea of modifying and making a guitar versatile and all that. I’ve wired my Les Paul with push-pull pots for coil splitting and then swapped to a single volume knob wiring. On top of that I must have gone through at least half a dozen pickup sets.

Whatever someone wants to do to their guitar is up to them. Have fun with it and experiment. Share your experiences here.

 

[mrblooze]

I did an experiment with a 2012 LP Studio Shred like that. I pulled the Burstbuckers and replaced them with my own hand wound pups, installed a 6 way Freeway and a push pot, and ended up with 6 pickup combinations that I could coil split.

A lot of tone variation for one guitar. Though as someone pointed out, split bucks do not sound like single coils.

Playing it... We'll, if you want to sound one specific way, you don't need it. One guitar is enough. But who plays anything the exact same way twice? Improv is all about looking for the boundaries and then pushing. It's just a different tool to push with.

That said, it's not the first guitar I reach for when I get an idea.

So... Was it worth it? I like it, but it's definitely not for everyone...

 

[MATTM]

Me? When I want single coil sound, I'll pick up my Strat or Tele,. Otherwise, my LPs are wired as intended without any extra switching, push/pulls or the like. I understand the allure of the possibilities, but even something like the JP wiring scheme (4 push/pulls) borders ridiculousness in practicality.

And I'm not attempting to discourage the eager modders out there. Some great tones in history have been discovered by crazier ways...

 

[CB91710]

but even something like the JP wiring scheme (4 push/pulls) borders ridiculousness in practicality.

Agreed.
It would seem practical for the studio where you have time to "fiddle"... but then you're also going to need the most exacting tone and will likely reach for a Strat/Tele/335/175/P90....
On stage, nobody further away than two inches is going to care.
Hung around with bands through the 80s that had nothing but a Les Paul and a SuperStrat, and they did their entire set on the bridge humbucker, regardless of what artist or band they were covering.
The dance floor was packed and everyone had a good time.
Nobody knew or cared that they were hearing "Cocaine" on a Les Paul when Eric played it on a Strat.

 

[Blues_Verne]

I’ll go one better.


View attachment 494165 7

Where's the bottle opener???

 

[Davey Rock]

I did an experiment with a 2012 LP Studio Shred like that. I pulled the Burstbuckers and replaced them with my own hand wound pups, installed a 6 way Freeway and a push pot, and ended up with 6 pickup combinations that I could coil split.

A lot of tone variation for one guitar. Though as someone pointed out, split bucks do not sound like single coils.

Playing it... We'll, if you want to sound one specific way, you don't need it. One guitar is enough. But who plays anything the exact same way twice? Improv is all about looking for the boundaries and then pushing. It's just a different tool to push with.

That said, it's not the first guitar I reach for when I get an idea.

So... Was it worth it? I like it, but it's definitely not for everyone...

True. Most hums don't sound like singles when split but one things keeps me driven. I watched a bc rich video for their new guitars and by God I SWEAR the coil split on the shredzilla sounded almost identical to a telecaster. Crazy man.

 

[CB91710]

True. Most hums don't sound like singles when split but one things keeps me driven. I watched a bc rich video for their new guitars and by God I SWEAR the coil split on the shredzilla sounded almost identical to a telecaster. Crazy man.

That's not impossible.
If the 'buckers are high gain... 14k... then when the coils are split, you're going to drop into the 7k range of a conventional single coil.
But also keep in mind that is going to carry with it a 3db signal drop