i posted something a while back about wiring my customized p bass with its 3 pickups in a neck/middle, neck/middle/bridge, and a middle/bridge set up with a selector switch. thinking back on it i figured an easier way to do it would be to just wire the neck and bridge pickups with an on/off/on switch and just have my middle pickup on all the time. i also wanted to have my knobs vol/vol/vol/tone to keep some flexibility in my tone. i know i keep asking for diagrams but im pretty sure this will be the last time so if any one could hook up up with a diagram to hook all this up it would be really cool. btw thanks for the folks that took the time to read/reply to my last post, i ended up having to go out of town so i couldnt make replys.
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new wiring idea
- Thread starter fender_mod
- Start date
Sounds like a cool Idea. But I would have no idea where to begin. I'll keep an eye on this post too, I think.
okay update. ive actually taken the time to try and figure this one out for myself based on the help from what others have already told me coupled with my own genius. some one please let me know if this will work. i havent decided whether i want to keep the on/on/on 3 way les paul style switch to get all 3 pickups at once or use an on/off/on to use 2 pickups at most. either way let me know if is workable.
I don't mean to rain on your parade but what you get tonally will depend on the pickup spacing you choose. I saw a 3 pickup Jazz bass on ebay some years back and decided to try that out on my pickup tester bass. I found that when I got the spacing right for the outer pairs (neck/middle and middle/bridge), the neck/bridge set were so far apart that there was lots of phase cancellation and the bass sounded crappy with that combination. I also found that the difference between the tone of the outer pairs wasn't as large as I expected. Neck/middle was more bassy and boomy while the bridge/middle was more bright and growly but I ended up abandoning a 3 pickup design. I've never played an Urge bass so it might work well if you cram all 3 pickups together like that.
the imput is appreciated but like i said i was thinking about having an on/off/on selector switch to get at most 2 pickup combos. ive realized all 3 at once would be a little much even if the third pickup is all the way next to the neck. all i really want to know is if the wiring will work.
Why not go with a jazz bass / musicman humbucker arrangment. That will effectively you 1 p/u at the neck and your choice of s/p or single coil on the bridge with a splitter. It's a proven combination. Also double bucks are popping up everywhere around me. Music man Bongo's, Warwick $$. Just wish I could buy the twin buck bongo myself. It sure beats any jazz arrangment I've toyed with. Personal thoughts there is all.
Anyways to the point of my post. Now correct me if I am wrong here. But I thought the whole idea of the P-Bass p/u's were humbucking. And the split P is an advancement in humbucking on the P-basses. So two different humbucking p/u's. Would effectively take up more space than the Musicman style humbucker. Which is an even more advance humbucking p/u design orginated by Leo Fender.
How ever I do need to note. I have seen a few basses over the years. With 3 different single P p/u's. All of them were supposted to be wired like a 3 p/u guitar.
Anyways to the point of my post. Now correct me if I am wrong here. But I thought the whole idea of the P-Bass p/u's were humbucking. And the split P is an advancement in humbucking on the P-basses. So two different humbucking p/u's. Would effectively take up more space than the Musicman style humbucker. Which is an even more advance humbucking p/u design orginated by Leo Fender.
How ever I do need to note. I have seen a few basses over the years. With 3 different single P p/u's. All of them were supposted to be wired like a 3 p/u guitar.
You are wanting to wire up a three pickup bass with what are essentially single-coil pickups - one hot wire and one ground wire. Why not go with something similar to the pickup selector of a Stratocaster? You would have your neck, neck/middle, middle, middle/bridge, and bridge selections. There are even possibilities for adding a neck/bridge and all on if you add a mini-toggle switch. You'll find all the wiring diagrams and wiring help you need here: Guitarnuts.com wiring menu. Their forum is a really great place to get ideas as well: Link Removed.
The attached diagram should be of some help.
The attached diagram should be of some help.
LoveThatBass
Supporting Member
