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DiMarzio Model J series/parallel help please?

C

chunger

Jan 10, 2006
637
14
Albany, CA
www.studio939.com
Disclosures
Chunger basses by Studio 939
#1
Hi,

I'm an electronics newbie who up until now has just been following pretty diagrams I find online. I've had a lot of success lately doing series parallel wiring with a push pull pot located at the neck pickup pot for passive jazz basses.

p26820074-5.jpg


I have installed DiMarzio DP123 Model J pickups in one of my friend's basses and we are wanting to try a configuration that lets us select series or parallel for the individual pickups as well as let us do series/parallel globally between the 2 pickups utilizing push/pull pots on the 3 standard knobs so the bass looks "stock" still.

Neck vol pot: push -> neck pup series | pull -> neck pup parallel

Bridge vol pot: push -> bridge pup series | pull -> bridge pup parallel

Tone pot: push -> 2 pickups parallel | pull -> 2 pickups series

I've made an attempt to adapt one of the Seymour Duncan wiring diagrams to do this, but since I don't know much about electronics, there's a good chance there's something fatally wrong with this scheme. I was wondering if anyone who actually knows what they're doing can look this over and possibly point out the problems.:ninja:

p200279722-6.jpg
 
#3
Hi,

From your images it looks as if the pickups only have two leads comming from them. If this is the case then I don't think you can wire the individual pickups in series/parallel, only the pair. The pickups will need to have four leads per pickup to do what you want.

Now, i just had a look at dimarzio's site and the specs for your pickups state they are 4 wire but they do not have any wiring diagrams, but they do for the Area J's which are also a 4 wire pickup. I would assume you could use the Area J's with wiring diagram with the Model J's to get what you want. See

Invalid Link Removed

I've wired my Squire VMF with Area J's to their dual sound diagram which I'm 99% sure is series/parallel per pickup and between the pickups.

Craig
 
#4
BSOD said:
Hi,

From your images it looks as if the pickups only have two leads comming from them. If this is the case then I don't think you can wire the individual pickups in series/parallel, only the pair. The pickups will need to have four leads per pickup to do what you want.

Now, i just had a look at dimarzio's site and the specs for your pickups state they are 4 wire but they do not have any wiring diagrams, but they do for the Area J's which are also a 4 wire pickup. I would assume you could use the Area J's with wiring diagram with the Model J's to get what you want. See

Invalid Link Removed

I've wired my Squire VMF with Area J's to their dual sound diagram which I'm 99% sure is series/parallel per pickup and between the pickups.

Craig
Click to expand...

The pickups in the picture are not clearly not DiMarzio Model Js. The covers and pole pieces are different.
 
#14
what was the overall consensus on the wiring you did on this job? also this is a noob question but what difference does a push/pull pot do on the tone knob (obviously both in series vs both in parallel) when you can simply keep both volume knobs pushed/pulled? or is it simply for convenience when not mixing in between one pickup that is series and another in parallel,vice versa.
 
#15
Depending on the pickup used, the push/pull yielded a lot of useful tonal variations. We ended up using a custom Nordstrand NJ4SE in this bass through this harness which gave a better result (does not go harsh and thin when in parallel mode).

Truth be told, the player reports that he is not using any of the "other" options ~99% of the time and goes global series more often than the rest of the configurations, but the options are all useable and they are there. Just a lot of them to choose from and the tone of the instrument in the standard configuration is great.

No harm in trying though. It's a fun way to set up a bass. Recommend the NJ4SE as it is a bit on the "overwound" side and gives a pleasant parallel sound out of the individual pickups.
 
#17
Hi guys.... I have similar wiring on my Dimarzio Model J. I followed the diagram given by DiMarzio, but their diagram has the neck pickup *volume pot turned off when both pickup is in series mode (globally). Anyone knows how I can turn off the bridge pickup *volume pot instead? Attached is the diagram supplied by DiMarzio.

*UPDATE: sorry for the misleading info.... left out the keyword earlier on. I'm looking for a wiring diagram that turns off the bridge pickup VOLUME pot when in series mode (globally)
 

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#19
spo_man said:
It doesn't turn off the neck pickup. They are both on in series. It means that the bridge pot controls the volume for both in series.
Click to expand...


Hi, thanks for pointing it out. My bad. What I meant was the original wiring diagram turns off the neck pickup VOLUME pot when in Series Mode (globally). I wish to have the bridge pickup VOLUME pot turned off instead. And I can't seem to find the wiring diagram any where. I've asked Dimarzio 3 times and they never responded. So hopefully I can get some answer here.
 
#20
Ngiau said:
Hi, thanks for pointing it out. My bad. What I meant was the original wiring diagram turns off the neck pickup VOLUME pot when in Series Mode (globally). I wish to have the bridge pickup VOLUME pot turned off instead. And I can't seem to find the wiring diagram any where. I've asked Dimarzio 3 times and they never responded. So hopefully I can get some answer here.
Click to expand...

All you have to do is swap the order of the pickups.
 

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