Members Timfever Posted October 27, 2014 Members Share Posted October 27, 2014 So I recently picked up one of those special Guitar Center Exclusive (though I think they're also a Musician's Friend exclusive! ) SG Standards that came with push pull volume pots for coil splitting on each pickup. I wasn't quite digging the 498T (They're cool pickups, but I've got high gain amps etc and am a metal guy so the vintage high endiness isn't for me at the moment) so I replaced it with a SD SH-15 (which, BTW, is one bad ass freaking pickup...dear lawd!!!). At first I just tried to replace the wires as they had been hooked up with the 498T. As anyone with any experience with Gibson's practices knows all too well, THAT DIDN'T WORK... So I figured that I'd use the SD diagram (duh!). Got it working, but only sporadically. I check my connections and after noticing I have the bare wire hooked up kinda shoddily, I disconnect it to resolder it and..it all starts to work fine. So I find that pretty amusing and go to mask it off or whatever. Except it is still cutting out, and -- I forgot to mention tiis-- there's a lot of hum going on (it was like that with all of the stock stuff too). A lot of hum. The kind you get holding the guitar at certain angles etc. So I guess my question is--which freaking wiring diagram do I use? I guess I'd like to use the slug coil of the lead pickup while it's in single coil/tapped mode. The push-pull pots are unmarked except for "6C1" at the top, and are the DPDT style with the typical 3 lugs at the very bottom, along with a goofy looking tab deal at the top. I included a few pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted October 27, 2014 Members Share Posted October 27, 2014 There is no standard wiring color code for pickups. You either have to visit the manufacturers site and download their diagrams, or you have to figure it out the hard way with a meter. You can figure out which wires connect to the two coils but you wont know the polarities so you can get the two coils wired out of phase with itself or wired out of phase with the other pickup in the guitar so there's allot of trial and error trying to figure it out without the diagram. They have most of them listed here. http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/schematics/schematics.php?schematic=color_codes For your pickup you probably connect the north start to the hot side, south finish to ground. Then you connect the north finish and south start together. Those two link the two coils in series and also act as your coil tap so they likely connect to your coil tap switch which grounds the south coil leaving only your north coil working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Timfever Posted October 28, 2014 Author Members Share Posted October 28, 2014 Damn man...I've seen that chart a million times and only after you referred to it did it start to seem relevant or make sense... I just tried rewiring it a la the Gibson wiring (how the 498 was set up) translated into Seymour Duncan wiring...before the red was the hot output to the first lug and tone pot, green and white went to the middle left lug on the front, and the bare and black were the ground; I had the SD's black/hot going lug #1 etc, white and red to the middle left lug, and green and bare to ground... Dead silence. But then I disconnect the bare and it suddenly sounds awesome but gets psychotic hum from all kinds of stuff--everything from holding it at different angles to whacky stuff like, you know, your...fingers...touching...strings... I think I'll try what you said... This new gee-tar of mine is way too purty to be used as an expensive acoustic...! And the SD Alternative 8/SH-15? YOWZA...If anyone wants something like a classic '57 or PAF but with more output, you're just a masochistic for not trying one of these. and I know you prefer lower ouput deals, but don't let the 17.6K DC Resistance fool you...it isn't another over-the-top, fizzy ass, cookie-cutter/generic high output pickup like most. they have a great, unique sound with definition and versatility that words cannot adequately describe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Timfever Posted November 1, 2014 Author Members Share Posted November 1, 2014 So while I'm hopefully much less annoying to y'all than when I first appeared here, I am just resigned to how whenever I ask a question like this, I am gonna end up looking or feeling silly...hey--if you're afraid of finding out you're wrong, than this world will NOT be kind to you...lol. And when it comes to my areas of expertise (politics, foreign affairs, Middle Eastern history, and weight training etc...) I have zero patience with people for people with that mindset...I trust y'all feel the same. Anyhow, get this: this whole time the problem was that janky ass connection from the the threeway selector...this is where a LOL would go, but I feel more lime "strangle the cost-cutting Nazis at Gibson." So I have it all rewired according to Seymour Duncan's simple diagram (the one that comes with their pickups...), & it's working...but the coil split isn't. I went ahead and ordered a new pot for it (since the original now looks like a wino with the shakes did it lol), but that's an emergency precaution for the time being. See, when I originally had it set up (with this wiring set up) the coil tap worked fine...so I'm all confused now. Anybody got an idea what could be wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Timfever Posted November 1, 2014 Author Members Share Posted November 1, 2014 Okay, I've got it wired up like you recommended with that stupid wire popping out of the three way switch somewhat tamed and it's working better and coil tapping. Still humming like crazy (not the one spot in the room hum...it's like 29/30 spots in a room!). I have every lead and connection done and looking/feeling pretty bullet proof so...every time I look at that oh-so-elegant factory wiring (like the ground to the bridge pot--LOL it's got stray wires everywhere...I'm tempted to disconnect and redo it with some semblance of stability...). I have a very good feeling about it though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Timfever Posted November 2, 2014 Author Members Share Posted November 2, 2014 Aiiiyeet…am I missing something here? Cause this here diagram and what I’m working with in this here 2009 SG standard do not, shall we say, jive… http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=coil_splitting Granted, I don’t expect a freaking diagram to be a perfect artistic representation of whatever set up with which you’re dealing. But day-yum, playah! Their good old fashioned, standard depiction of a volume or tone pot, with the relevant grounding and bent lugs, etc, is a damn fine and way more than adequate portrayal—when you’re dealing with these push pull DPDT monstrosities, on the other hand, HELL TO THE NO. I have no idea what they’re even saying here. I mean, should I bend the last lug back and use it for the ground, etc…? Even if that isn’t how it’s set up now (It came with a 498T, I've installed a SD SH-15, so who freaking knows...)? Or were they just too lazy to change their default pot illustration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted November 4, 2014 Members Share Posted November 4, 2014 Yes you bend the lug back and solder it to the can. Realize you have to heat the can and lug up very hot before you add the solder. Otherwise you will get a cold solder joint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Timfever Posted December 11, 2014 Author Members Share Posted December 11, 2014 Dude--where are my freaking manners? I'm all done with that project (officially as of last week, when the smoke mirror pickguard arrived), and have been for awhile. Let's just say that posting on forums with my phone isn't exactly practical as it ought to be, and I haven't been on my laptop much lately. But thanks WR...I was quite confused looking at that control cavity and that weeny plastic model-looking potentiometer thing and ready to throw in the towel (whatever that means in this context...), especially with the coil taps, and I'm glad I didn't. They work great with the current pickups (a 490R and Duncan SH-15...believe it or not those two are pretty well balanced too--sometimes the 490R even sounds louder!), and uh...that isn't always the case. In my experience coil taps are best with higher output pickups (I mean you end up with a 2-3k single coil with most PAF styles, so you pretty much have to change your amp settings), but OTOH, most high output pickups sound fizzy and obnoxious! It can be a little tricky to get that right. Oddly enough whatever was going on with the noise and cut outs just stopped for some reason when I switched it's pickguard. Yeah, lil' bit weird. Lil' bit. Anyhow, here's the finished product (oh, and it sounds freaking amazing!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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