Gibson SG Bass Wiring

[Hayden T]

I am re-wiring my SG bass and need some input!

I do not want to drill any holes in the guitar. I will use stacked knobs to have a volume and tone for each pickup.

Since this strategy leaves me with an extra hole, I need a way to fill it. I want to put the 4-way switch from the vintage EB basses.

Pictured below is a '67 EB-3 I found on google. Keep in mind that my bass only has three holes (volume for each pickup, and master tone), this one has five total.

With four positions (in no particular order),
1) bridge pickup
2) neck pickup
3) both pickups
4) ?

What I need help deciding is what to do with position four. I started on a p bass and found dialing in tone to be pretty straightforward. It has taken me a while to figure out this SG bass. Not to mention the fact that I will be adding a tone control for each pickup (not sure if that will make dialing in a tone easier or harder). The point is that I will not pretend to have a specific tonal goal for position four on the selector switch. I certainly do not even know all my options. Would love to hear some options and ideas. A mute? Blower mod (unlikely)? No wrong answers!

Thanks!

 

[iiipopes]

The four positions on an EB-3 rotary switch are not conventional. They all in one way or another interact with a choke coil to change the tone of the pickups. There are two variations Gibson used on this theme, depending on the era of the EB-3.
Here is the 1st series: Gibson EB3 circuit schematics (series 1) >> FlyGuitars
Here is the 2nd series: Gibson EB3 circuit schematics (series 2) >> FlyGuitars
If you want to emulate the choke coil wiring, you can't get a choke coil anymore. The closest is to get a Bill Lawrence - Wilde Q-filter for bass. It is the closest available. I am putting one in an EB-0 project I'm doing. since it is a one-pickup guitar, and I have three controls, I am going to wire it volume-Q-tone, so I can adjust each parameter, rather than the hard wiring of the choke coil on the original EB-3 circuits.

 

[ctmullins]

What's your goal @Hayden T ? The SG bass comes stock with a VVT arrangement; converting this to VTVT can be done, but be aware that when both pickup volumes are full up, both tones will act as master tones.

And if you already have individual volume controls for each pickup, do you really need/want a pickup selector switch too? That's how the Les Paul guitars are wired, but IMHO this is less useful on bass.

 

[ChristoMephisto]

The tones will only interact if the volumes are set the same or close to each other
A forth option instead of the mid range choke is to add a bass cut to the neck pup by adding a series cap.

 

[fig]

What I need help deciding is what to do with position four.

That would be the 'Producer' position, same concept as Lee Sklar's 'Producer Switch'. Wiring is easy, peasy. There isn't any wiring.

"...Warwick, who built him one of their Star Basses, but with a one-off custom switch. “I call it my producer’s switch,” explains Lee. “If I’m on a session and the producer asks me to get a different sound, I make sure he sees me flip this switch and then I just change my hand position a bit. There are no wires of anything that go to this switch. It's a placebo, but it’s saved me a lot of grief in the studio.”"
The truth behind Lee Sklar's custom 'producer's switch'

If you're doing just regular gigging and have no studio work or a producer, then it's the 'Bandleader' position. Comes in handy when they say, "That doesn't sound quite right.". Make sure they see you turn the switch, shift your hand position, and they're happy again.



I'll just move along now...