Series Parallel Switch mod on EMGs

[newbold]

A friend of mine has a J bass with EMG's - with the Quick Connect plugs - and he's looking to sell it to me. I asked him if he could add a series/parallel switch on it, but he is curious how to do it.

Link Removed

It looks like the 'quick connect' is on the end of the lead to the pickup itself, and not on the wiring harness.

Any help would be appreciated here.

 

[newbold]

Would it be the typical s/p switch install considering there's a power lead?

 

[SGD Lutherie]

The active EMG's don't do series/parallel. The connection has a hot and ground and the battery connector. You also can't run the two pickups in series with each other.

I believe the EMG-HZ pickups can be wired for series/parallel. They have a 5 pin connector, two wires for each coil, plus ground.

 

[newbold]

Boo-Urns.

 

[Micolao]

I believe the EMG-HZ pickups can be wired for series/parallel.

can someone explain HOW?
I've got a pair of EMG HZ MM

 

[Rickett Customs]

The active EMG's don't do series/parallel. The connection has a hot and ground and the battery connector. You also can't run the two pickups in series with each other.

I believe the EMG-HZ pickups can be wired for series/parallel. They have a 5 pin connector, two wires for each coil, plus ground.

It could be done with the "TW" series though, right Dave? They're 5 pin, unlike the DC's

 

[line6man]

can someone explain HOW?
I've got a pair of EMG HZ MM

The HZ pickups are passive.
You would wire them the same way as any other passive pickup.

To answer the original question.
Coil splitting is not possible with EMG pickups unless they have a four conductor output (well, 5 with the V++​)

Master series/parallel switching is also not possible, as the pickups need a a connection to ground in order for the active portion to receive battery power.
Series wiring would remove the ground of one pickup and connect it to the hot of the other.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

It could be done with the "TW" series though, right Dave? They're 5 pin, unlike the DC's

The TW series has two complete EMG pickups in one case, such as a CS and J.

You can switch between them for a fake coil cut, or even use them both at the same time, but you can't run them in series, since you do not have access to the coils, only the output from the preamps.

The original question was regarding the J pickups.

 

[Rickett Customs]

The TW series has two complete EMG pickups in one case, such as a CS and J.

You can switch between them for a fake coil cut, or even use them both at the same time, but you can't run them in series, since you do not have access to the coils, only the output from the preamps.

The original question was regarding the J pickups.

Ok, I see.

 

[Micolao]

The HZ pickups are passive.
You would wire them the same way as any other passive pickup.

To answer the original question.
Coil splitting is not possible with EMG pickups unless they have a four conductor output (well, 5 with the V++​)

Master series/parallel switching is also not possible, as the pickups need a a connection to ground in order for the active portion to receive battery power.
Series wiring would remove the ground of one pickup and connect it to the hot of the other.

i'm sorry but i don't understand.
why they say:

The five pin connector allows multiple wiring combinations so you can get both dual-coil and single-coil tone with simple switching.
Link Removed
?

i'm having trouble with a couple of MMHZ i've monted and they sound waaaaaay too dark and muddy.
the pots are right

 

[SGD Lutherie]

i'm sorry but i don't understand.
why they say:

The five pin connector allows multiple wiring combinations so you can get both dual-coil and single-coil tone with simple switching.
Link Removed ?

i'm having trouble with a couple of MMHZ i've monted and they sound waaaaaay too dark and muddy.
the pots are right

You are using 500K pots?

Wire them in parallel like a real MM. Red and white connect to hot. Green and black connect to ground.

If you want to go from series to single coil, connect the black and white wires to ground. Parallel sounds close to single coil and doesn't hum.

HZs follow the DiMarzio wiring, so just follow this.

Invalid Link Removed

 

[Micolao]

SGD Lutherie can you tell me what's wrong in this?
don't mind the pot with the x on it, it's a high freq filter but i'm gonna cut it out.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

SGD Lutherie can you tell me what's wrong in this?

It looks OK, and I see you have the pickups in parallel already. Those are 500K pots?

Off hand I'd say check that the lugs on the tone pot, especially the one with no connection, is not touching the conductive paint! I'd put some electrical tape under the pot where the lugs are. If it is touching, you will lose high end as if you tone is turned down.

I'm not sure why you wired the pickups to the tone controls first, but it makes no difference in the circuit. I'd wire them to the volumes.

If everything is wired well, they might just be dark sounding pickups.

But I'd start by checking that nothing is touching that shouldn't be. If that doesn't help, unwire the pickups from the tone pots, and wire them to the volumes. Then leave the tone pots disconnected from the volumes and see if that helps. Then try connecting the tone pots.

Also make sure you haven't melted any insulation while soldering that might be making a short somewhere.

 

[guzzler]

I had read some people saying they liked the sound of the EMG-HZ humbuckers better when they were wired in parallel vs series. I wondered how the EMG HZ would be wired when in a bass from the factory. Like a Schecter Bass with the EMG HZ. It seems like I have seen a lot of the Schecters with the EMG HZ's and a 2 band preamp. Would those be like to be wired in series or parallel ? And when people are talking about the series and parallel wiring do they mean the 2 pickups in relation to each other or within each pickup and the 2 coils inside each pickup. Sorry if that is confusing.