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Another wacky idea...

MovinTarget

MovinTarget

Jan 30, 2018
8,332
24,870
Maryland, USA
#1
I saw somebody on TB that had a very interesting bass with a strat-style pup config and it got me thinking...

So suppose I had 3 splittable HB, or better yet, 3 sets of Single coils mounted at hum-cancelling pairs and have them mounted similar to a Fender Strat...

Still with me?

Could I then wire them alternating between TWO 5-way switches so each one effectively operates like a standard Strat (one is NSN, the other is SNS)...

Finally, run the signals from the two switches through a B/V/T...

Would this be a horrible, wasteful idea?
 
#2
Totally doable. Would be an interesting experiment. I predict it won’t be terribly practical in a live context, but it might illuminate subtleties useful in the studio.
 
#4
Could be quite hummy. There'll be switch positions where you have two north coils or two south coils. Plus, the combos will all be in parallel.

Interesting idea though.

I saw an old PRS bass form the 90's that had three singles plus a dummy coil. IIRC, the 5-way rotary switch always had hum-cancelling combos.

Perhaps you could do something similar, but with a splitable HB in the centre...?
 
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#5
I'm trying to picture the utility/practical significance, but it might be interesting...

Just out of curiosity, I mapped out all the combinations. The numbers correspond to switch positions for the two switches, which create the 5x5 matrix. Colors represent active coils, with blue N oriented coils, and yellow S oriented coils. Funny, all the hum-cancelling combinations are on the diagonals. Assuming I did it right, it looks like this:
upload_2019-6-24_22-35-37.png


That's even without blending options... you could also add a series/parallel switch :p

Actually, the fact the hum-cancelling combinations are on diagonals would facilitate the usefulness in practice/live. If the two switches were next to each-other, hum-cancelling options could be chosen by selecting identical settings (e.g., both in position 1), or the opposite settings (e.g., one in position 1, the other in position 5).
 
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#6
MovinTarget said:
I saw somebody on TB that had a very interesting bass with a strat-style pup config and it got me thinking...

So suppose I had 3 splittable HB, or better yet, 3 sets of Single coils mounted at hum-cancelling pairs and have them mounted similar to a Fender Strat...

Still with me?

Could I then wire them alternating between TWO 5-way switches so each one effectively operates like a standard Strat (one is NSN, the other is SNS)...

Finally, run the signals from the two switches through a B/V/T...

Would this be a horrible, wasteful idea?
Click to expand...
I think itd be amazing
 
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#7
JeezyMcNuggles said:
That's literally the diagram for a strat. if "you" spent any more time than a Google search, im sorry.
Click to expand...

Well, yes and no since it is effectively wire two strats with opposing pole orientations. So its useful in that regard, probably more useful than me trying to describe it. The beauty of it would be that, unless you "solo" one blade switch or the other (via the balance control) it would be almost always hum cancelling. While a 5x5 matrix is a lot of options, it should be a relatively easy learning curve to understand what position combinations activate which coils since it is in itself visually representative...

Crap, I might have to save up some scratch and try this...

Thanks all!
 
#8
sikamikanico said:
Actually, the fact the hum-cancelling combinations are on diagonals would facilitate the usefulness in practice/live. If the two switches were next to each-other, hum-cancelling options could be chosen by selecting identical settings (e.g., both in position 1), or the opposite settings (e.g., one in position 1, the other in position 5).
Click to expand...

Well, if you always keep the switches at the same position, sure, but if I understand correctly, you would get hum cancelling even if you had them in, for example, positions 1/5 or 5/1, which would amount to a Jazz config (albeit physically more distant from one another).

The more natural Jazz config would be soloing one or the other at position 4, yes, but as you pointed out, 3/3 would be like a precision, and 2/2 would be like an SG (HB at Neck and Mid)...

Yeah I know it wouldn't emulate every last known/popular bass tone out there, but it could approximate several...

As for Series/Parallel, I'm torn as I would love to maximize the utility but, there might be too much volume stuff to consider. Do I add a single switch for the blended signal to be parallel/series? or one for each set of coils?

Part of the appeal originally was that I could potentially have a whole bunch of useful options without having a ton of controls, just 2 5-way blades + V/B/T
 
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#9
MovinTarget said:
So suppose I had 3 splittable HB, or better yet, 3 sets of Single coils mounted at hum-cancelling pairs and have them mounted similar to a Fender Strat...
Click to expand...
MovinTarget said:
I wonder if I really would be better off with jazz pups since HB coils solo'd are supposed to be a bit weaker... I guess I could also mix them a little...
Click to expand...
So the pickup options would be three splitable parallel-coil humbuckers or six single coil pickups? And you're thinking of using jass pickups? Holy moly, it's going to be a tight squeeze.

I have a three-pickup jazz (custom order from Warmoth). I pulled it out and measured. The pickups are about 1.25" wide at the mounting ears. Those mounting ears are 1.5" apart between pickups on my bass, so there's room (barely) for two pickups between my three existing pickups. There's not enough room between the bridge pickup and the bridge for a sixth, but there's enough room (barely) toward the neck to crowd everything in that direction about 1/2" which would leave you room (barely) at the bridge for a sixth pickup.

six pickup prject.jpg
 
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#10
Lol this is what I was pondering today... HB don't have the oomph per coil that SC have, but conventional jazz pups would take up more space...

I can take the ears off one side each and effectively make them dual coil sets by epoxying them (carefully) together and get some space back... Ideally I'd be able to get rid of all the ears and have a way to mount them from the sides like soapbars...

Perhaps the best plan would be to literally cram the matched pairs into something like a BC-sized shell...
 
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#11
MovinTarget said:
As for Series/Parallel, I'm torn as I would love to maximize the utility but, there might be too much volume stuff to consider. Do I add a single switch for the blended signal to be parallel/series? or one for each set of coils?

Part of the appeal originally was that I could potentially have a whole bunch of useful options without having a ton of controls, just 2 5-way blades + V/B/T
Click to expand...

Series-parallel wiring was more of a joke. I like the simplicity of your basic scheme - two switches, three knobs. I'd maybe even go without the blend knob, just volume-tone. Or maybe just volume. :)

BlueTalon said:
So the pickup options would be three splitable parallel-coil humbuckers or six single coil pickups? And you're thinking of using jass pickups? Holy moly, it's going to be a tight squeeze.
Click to expand...

I think dual-coil humbuckers designed for parallel/splittable operation would work. For one, Nordstrand makes them like that, and I'm sure they'd consider combining their jazz coils in the same housing (thought it might cost some extra $$). That would also facilitate string spacing considerations, though at that point we'd be at cost of a custom job.

For a proof-of-concept model, I think three sets of cheap jazz pickups would work, gluing them together like MovinTarget suggested.
 
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#15
MovinTarget said:
Let me see if I can get this proto-typed first, then I'll see about making it look good...
Click to expand...
I actually think the zippered effect would look pretty cool. But I agree about the prototype. I had an idea of my own that I had to prototype -- I learned a lot of lessons in doing the proof of concept, including what I would do differently next time, but I found that the main idea worked, and that was the important thing.
 
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#16
BlueTalon said:
I actually think the zippered effect would look pretty cool. But I agree about the prototype. I had an idea of my own that I had to prototype -- I learned a lot of lessons in doing the proof of concept, including what I would do differently next time, but I found that the main idea worked, and that was the important thing.
Click to expand...

I'm looking at covered Jbass sets on ebay, generic chinese ones where you can't see pole pieces and they run about $11/set... I'm hoping they are so cheap they actually use the same form factor for neck and bridge, lol...


My other problem is I have *another* project (super short scale headless travel bass made of home-roasted maple) to finish before I do this one...
 
#17
One thing the different lengths would do for you is eliminate the possibility of confusion. If you have six identically sized cheap pickups from China, and let's say they have the same color of wires and they're identified as "bridge" or "neck" with a piece of tape or something, it might be possible to confuse them. And then if you get a couple of them mixed up in the making of your prototype, your whole experiment could be maddeningly chaotic.
 
#18
BlueTalon said:
One thing the different lengths would do for you is eliminate the possibility of confusion. If you have six identically sized cheap pickups from China, and let's say they have the same color of wires and they're identified as "bridge" or "neck" with a piece of tape or something, it might be possible to confuse them. And then if you get a couple of them mixed up in the making of your prototype, your whole experiment could be maddeningly chaotic.
Click to expand...

Well, if I epoxy them into pairs and the wires are color coordinated, hopefully I can figure it out... lol
 
#19
MovinTarget said:
So suppose I had 3 splittable HB, or better yet, 3 sets of Single coils mounted at hum-cancelling pairs and have them mounted similar to a Fender Strat...
...
Could I then wire them alternating between TWO 5-way switches so each one effectively operates like a standard Strat (one is NSN, the other is SNS)...
Click to expand...
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