I have a 74 Harmony H906 I'm rewiring.

[Bubba Lee]

It has two 3 wire humbuckers two spdt on off switches a volume and a tone. I have two dpdt slide switches a push pull pot and a dual pot. I'm trying to find a wiring diagram to wire the humbuckers. Could anyone lead me to the wiring diagrams 

[badpenguin]

7 hours ago, Bubba Lee said:

It has two 3 wire humbuckers two spdt on off switches a volume and a tone. I have two dpdt slide switches a push pull pot and a dual pot. I'm trying to find a wiring diagram to wire the humbuckers. Could anyone lead me to the wiring diagrams 

The question is: what kind of wiring are you trying to achieve? Series/parallel? Phase? Standard wiring? 

[daddymack]

As I guessed, the OP has been looking around for help in other places as well as here. I'm sorry to say that these basses were never particularly 'popular', and Harmony now is not Harmony then, so copies of wiring diagrams from ~50 years ago are going to be challenging [if not impossible] to find.  Based on the date, this was likely built in Japan, and not Taiwan, but it was still an inexpensive 'starter' bass. On the plus side, the p-ups are likely DeArmonds [often marked as 'Rowe' on Harmony instruments up to 1975], and they are probably worth more than the bass.

Have you tried contacting the new owners?  https://www.harmony.co/pages/contact

Not that I would expect them to have the diagrams, but 'one never knows, do one'?

Without knowing what the final wiring 'goal' is [as bp asked above] there isn't much to be done.

Are you returning this to 'original' wiring?  I have to think not, with the push/pull pot you mentioned...but that makes at least one of the switches redundant.

With an instrument this old and of little monetary value, why not ditch the original faceplate? Then you are no longer married to the on/off switches and 1V/1T arrangement.

 

[isaac42]

FWIW, I'll throw my two cents in.

3-wire humbuckers are signal (hot), neutral and ground. I would expect a bass like this to be wired with each pickup going to a switch, then the outputs of the switches to the volume and tone pots. Pretty simple.

You don't say what kind of switch is on the push-pull pot. If it's a DPDT, you could use it for a series-parallel switch. Series ought to give you a particularly fat sound.

That's sticking with the original pickguard and control arrangement. If you're willing to ditch the original pickguard, you could do more. Independent volume controls, for instance. Volume/pan/tone.

What do you want to do?

[Bubba Lee]

On 11/10/2022 at 9:21 AM, badpenguin said:

The question is: what kind of wiring are you trying to achieve? Series/parallel? Phase? Standard wiring? 

I don't know exactly. I just know that I don't want go back to standard wiring. I have two dpdt slide switches one dpdt push pull pot and one blend pot. I'm trying to incorporate in my Harmony H906. I've contacted the Harmony website, and they don't have any thing on the H906 bass anymore. 

[Bubba Lee]

On 11/10/2022 at 11:09 AM, daddymack said:

As I guessed, the OP has been looking around for help in other places as well as here. I'm sorry to say that these basses were never particularly 'popular', and Harmony now is not Harmony then, so copies of wiring diagrams from ~50 years ago are going to be challenging [if not impossible] to find.  Based on the date, this was likely built in Japan, and not Taiwan, but it was still an inexpensive 'starter' bass. On the plus side, the p-ups are likely DeArmonds [often marked as 'Rowe' on Harmony instruments up to 1975], and they are probably worth more than the bass.

Have you tried contacting the new owners?  https://www.harmony.co/pages/contact

Not that I would expect them to have the diagrams, but 'one never knows, do one'?

Without knowing what the final wiring 'goal' is [as bp asked above] there isn't much to be done.

Are you returning this to 'original' wiring?  I have to think not, with the push/pull pot you mentioned...but that makes at least one of the switches redundant.

With an instrument this old and of little monetary value, why not ditch the original faceplate? Then you are no longer married to the on/off switches and 1V/1T arrangement.

 

I have asked them about my 74 Harmony H906. They don't have any thing about it, on it, or anything having to do with that bass. She's beast of a bass. I have the push pull pots, the original spdt switches, a blend pot, I just bought two dpdt slide switches. Both humbuckers are chrome with 4 pole screws, and a red, white, and a bare wire from both pickups. I'm teaching myself how to rewire guitar and bass.  So, I'm just experimenting with what I have here. I've already had the neck humbucker from a Les Paul installed with volume pots both with the treble bleed circuit.  

[isaac42]

A few thoughts.

There are six permutations possible with two pickups: both in series, neck only, both in parallel, bridge only, both in series with polarity reversed ("out of phase") and both in parallel with polarity reversed. I find the last two pretty much useless for bass.

With the original control layout, you could have one, the other or both. The push-pull pot could implement series/parallel.

You don't say what value the pots are. Higher values accentuate the resonance peak. I think it gives the sound more character, but it can be overdone. 500K, even 1M are worth a try.

A capacitor can be wired in series with one of the pickups to roll off the low end. Rickenbacker does this. It used to be undefeatable, but now they have a push-pull switch to defeat it.

A diode can be wired in place of the tone cap to provide some asymmetrical clipping, adjustable with the tone control.

[badpenguin]

8 hours ago, Bubba Lee said:

I have asked them about my 74 Harmony H906. They don't have any thing about it, on it, or anything having to do with that bass. She's beast of a bass. I have the push pull pots, the original spdt switches, a blend pot, I just bought two dpdt slide switches. Both humbuckers are chrome with 4 pole screws, and a red, white, and a bare wire from both pickups. I'm teaching myself how to rewire guitar and bass.  So, I'm just experimenting with what I have here. I've already had the neck humbucker from a Les Paul installed with volume pots both with the treble bleed circuit.  

Ok, but you never answered the question of WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WITH WHAT YOU HAVE? 

If you want to have it stock, without the push/pulls and additional switches, just using the dpdt slide switches, then it's easy. Bare wires to ground, Ignore the white wire completely, red to center of slide switch, one side of the slide switch to the volume pot blah blah blah. Like this diagram shown here, just ignore the stuff BEORE the vol and tone control:

2 Humbuckers/3-Way Toggle Switch/1 Volume/1 Tone (guitarelectronics.com)

 

Now if you want to add stuff, like coil tap, phase, which is stupid on a bass IMHO, series/parallel, etc, you HAVE to figure out what you want, and we can help guide you. But without direction, there's nothing we can do.

Edited November 12, 2022 by badpenguin

[daddymack]

This is the early 70's 'hockey stick' head bass, right?

Could you show us a pic of the pickguard?

[Bubba Lee]

7 hours ago, badpenguin said:

Ok, but you never answered the question of WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WITH WHAT YOU HAVE? 

If you want to have it stock, without the push/pulls and additional switches, just using the dpdt slide switches, then it's easy. Bare wires to ground, Ignore the white wire completely, red to center of slide switch, one side of the slide switch to the volume pot blah blah blah. Like this diagram shown here, just ignore the stuff BEORE the vol and tone control:

2 Humbuckers/3-Way Toggle Switch/1 Volume/1 Tone (guitarelectronics.com)

 

Now if you want to add stuff, like coil tap, phase, which is stupid on a bass IMHO, series/parallel, etc, you HAVE to figure out what you want, and we can help guide you. But without direction, there's nothing we can do.

I want a series parallel and coil tap. I have the right stuff to get it done. But, don't exactly know how to wire it. Plus I'm keeping the the slide switches. 

 

[Bubba Lee]

1 minute ago, Bubba Lee said:

I want a series parallel and coil tap. I have the right stuff to get it done. But, don't exactly know how to wire it. Plus I'm keeping the the slide switches. 

 

I understand totally... Like I said before. I'm teaching myself how to do this. So I'm just experimenting with what I have. Just curious about the tones. 

 

I've have a push pull on my generic Pbass. With the stock Rogue SX100B my Generic Pbass. 

[badpenguin]

1 hour ago, Bubba Lee said:

I want a series parallel and coil tap. I have the right stuff to get it done. But, don't exactly know how to wire it. Plus I'm keeping the the slide switches. 

 

Ok, series/parallel can't be done on a 3 conductor pickup. It would need to be rewired to a 4 conductor. You CAN do a master series/parallel using the 3 conductor pickups. (Instead of each pickup being s/p, both pickups can be used to create a "super humbucker" pickup. ie: Gibson EB3L 4 way switch.)

So, that leaves the 2 slide switches, one push/pull for master series/parallel and volume, and one push/pull for coil tap on both pickups and tone. The blend pot can be used if you want to cut a 3rd hole in the pickguard. The 2 dpdt sliders or the spst sliders are for pickup on/off. (Your choice, go for the new dpdt. Just saying, why use 50 year old switches when you have new ones?)

Let us know your thoughts.

[Bubba Lee]

56 minutes ago, badpenguin said:

Ok, series/parallel can't be done on a 3 conductor pickup. It would need to be rewired to a 4 conductor. You CAN do a master series/parallel using the 3 conductor pickups. (Instead of each pickup being s/p, both pickups can be used to create a "super humbucker" pickup. ie: Gibson EB3L 4 way switch.)

So, that leaves the 2 slide switches, one push/pull for master series/parallel and volume, and one push/pull for coil tap on both pickups and tone. The blend pot can be used if you want to cut a 3rd hole in the pickguard. The 2 dpdt sliders or the spst sliders are for pickup on/off. (Your choice, go for the new dpdt. Just saying, why use 50 year old switches when you have new ones?)

Let us know your thoughts.

I've got only one push pull pot, a dual pot (not a blend pot). Plus the two dpdt slide switches. 

This is what I'm trying to get from this little beast. Now she was already a beast. Really deep lows, and clean highs. Without having to use thicker gauge strings. Just multiplied by a million. 

You know what I have, and what I have. Could you help me out with that? 

[isaac42]

12 hours ago, badpenguin said:

Ok, series/parallel can't be done on a 3 conductor pickup. It would need to be rewired to a 4 conductor. You CAN do a master series/parallel using the 3 conductor pickups. (Instead of each pickup being s/p, both pickups can be used to create a "super humbucker" pickup. ie: Gibson EB3L 4 way switch.)

So, that leaves the 2 slide switches, one push/pull for master series/parallel and volume, and one push/pull for coil tap on both pickups and tone. The blend pot can be used if you want to cut a 3rd hole in the pickguard. The 2 dpdt sliders or the spst sliders are for pickup on/off. (Your choice, go for the new dpdt. Just saying, why use 50 year old switches when you have new ones?)

Let us know your thoughts.

Individual pickups can't go series/parallel, but it could be done between the two pickups.

And are you sure about ignoring the white wire completely? Seems to me that the red wire would be hot, the white wire neutral, and the bare wire grounded to the housing. If I'm right about that, then the white wire has to come into play at some point, or you won't have a complete circuit.

[badpenguin]

1 hour ago, isaac42 said:

And are you sure about ignoring the white wire completely? Seems to me that the red wire would be hot, the white wire neutral, and the bare wire grounded to the housing. If I'm right about that, then the white wire has to come into play at some point, or you won't have a complete circuit.

The white wire, in 90% of pickups, is the tap wire. (Ibanez in the 90's used the opposite. White hot, red tap.) IF not using a coil tap, the white wire is taped off and ignored.

 

[badpenguin]

 

7 hours ago, isaac42 said:

Individual pickups can't go series/parallel, but it could be done between the two pickups.

And no. Humbuckers CAN be wired in series, such as Gretsch pickups from the 60-80's. Instead of joining the end of coil one coil to the start of the other coil, as in a Gibson, the start of both coils are hot, and the ends are grounded. It's a brighter sound compared to a parallel humbucker.

 

19 hours ago, Bubba Lee said:

I've got only one push pull pot, a dual pot (not a blend pot). Plus the two dpdt slide switches. 

This is what I'm trying to get from this little beast. Now she was already a beast. Really deep lows, and clean highs. Without having to use thicker gauge strings. Just multiplied by a million. 

You know what I have, and what I have. Could you help me out with that? 

Ok, you said blend earlier, so that's how I got confused.

Assuming your push/pull is a 500KB pot, and your stacked/concentric pot is a 500KA pot, we will use the p/p as volume, and the concentrics as 2 tones. 

 I SUCK PROFESSIONALLY at any kind of drawing, even with a computer, so bare with it.

 

Let's start at the first two switches. Very simple on/off, center tabs get soldered, then go to volume pot. One side of the first switch goes to the pickup hot. In this case, your red wire. That same wire will go to the push/pull. See? The drawn red wire is your bridge pickup. Should make sense. Oh, and the pink "blobs" are the capicitors. If this works, and it should, then we can add coil taps later on.

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by badpenguin

[Bubba Lee]

35 minutes ago, badpenguin said:

 

And no. Humbuckers CAN be wired in series, such as Gretsch pickups from the 60-80's. Instead of joining the end of coil one coil to the start of the other coil, as in a Gibson, the start of both coils are hot, and the ends are grounded. It's a brighter sound compared to a parallel humbucker.

 

Ok, you said blend earlier, so that's how I got confused.

Assuming your push/pull is a 500KB pot, and your stacked/concentric pot is a 500KA pot, we will use the p/p as volume, and the concentrics as 2 tones. 

 I SUCK PROFESSIONALLY at any kind of drawing, even with a computer, so bare with it.

 

Let's start at the first two switches. Very simple on/off, center tabs get soldered, then go to volume pot. One side of the first switch goes to the pickup hot. In this case, your red wire. That same wire will go to the push/pull. See? The drawn red wire is your bridge pickup. Should make sense. Oh, and the pink "blobs" are the capicitors. If this works, and it should, then we can add coil taps later on.

 

I just learned that I don't have humbuckers I have fakebuckers. They look like humbuckers. I took the cover off the neck pickup. There's only one coil with a red and white wires coming from the coil,  and bare wire soldered to the base plate. I have figured out how I'm going to wire it. Thank you for your help. I do appreciate it 

[badpenguin]

Well, you can still use the same diagram. Just solder the white and bare together as ground.

[daddymack]

do the p-ups look like this?

[daddymack]

1 minute ago, badpenguin said:

Well, you can still use the same diagram. Just solder the white and bare together as ground.

beat me to it....

[Bubba Lee]

I totally agree with you. I want to drive myself to the cemetery when I die!

5 hours ago, badpenguin said:

 

And no. Humbuckers CAN be wired in series, such as Gretsch pickups from the 60-80's. Instead of joining the end of coil one coil to the start of the other coil, as in a Gibson, the start of both coils are hot, and the ends are grounded. It's a brighter sound compared to a parallel humbucker.

 

Ok, you said blend earlier, so that's how I got confused.

Assuming your push/pull is a 500KB pot, and your stacked/concentric pot is a 500KA pot, we will use the p/p as volume, and the concentrics as 2 tones. 

 I SUCK PROFESSIONALLY at any kind of drawing, even with a computer, so bare with it.

 

Let's start at the first two switches. Very simple on/off, center tabs get soldered, then go to volume pot. One side of the first switch goes to the pickup hot. In this case, your red wire. That same wire will go to the push/pull. See? The drawn red wire is your bridge pickup. Should make sense. Oh, and the pink "blobs" are the capicitors. If this works, and it should, then we can add coil taps later on.

 

I just learned that I don't have humbuckers I have fakebuckers. They look like humbuckers. I took the cover off the neck pickup. There's only one coil with a red and white wires coming from the coil,  and bare wire soldered to the base plate. I have figured out how I'm going to wire it. Thank you for your help. I do appreciate it 

[daddymack]

please come back so we can see it put back together

[isaac42]

On 11/13/2022 at 3:38 PM, badpenguin said:

 

And no. Humbuckers CAN be wired in series, such as Gretsch pickups from the 60-80's. Instead of joining the end of coil one coil to the start of the other coil, as in a Gibson, the start of both coils are hot, and the ends are grounded. It's a brighter sound compared to a parallel humbucker.

I can see I wasn't clear.

A humbucking pickup is typically wired with the coils in series. A four wire humbucker can be wired six different ways, one coil, the other coil, both in series, both in parallel, and series and parallel "out of phase", which I don't find useful.

But a three wire humbucker (two wires and a ground) cannot be. However, two three wire humbuckers can be wired together in the six ways listed above.

[daddymack]

^ but all moot since he had single coils in a hb housing....

[isaac42]

True!