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Topic: Need help wiring 5 way switch for 2 L-705 split coil pickups |
Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 14 Feb 2021 1:43 pm |
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Last year I bought a pair of new old stock Lawrence L-705 wide mount humbucking pickups for my 1983 Emmons push pull steel guitar. They each have split coils and 4 solid wires, plus a braided shield wire. I hope to replace the LXR-16 2 wire standard humbuckers that are in my Emmons, but can't figured out how to wire a 5 way lever switch to utilize the split coils. Any help with a schematic would be appreciated. In the meantime my old pickups are still in the guitar, with the original, aging factory 3 way lever switch (E9/E9+C6/C6).
Here is what I hope to accomplish with a 5 position switch:
- E9 humbucking
- E9 single coil
- Both necks on in single coil mode, but wired to cancel hum.
- C6 single coil
- C6 humbucking
Regarding the center switch position, when this guitar had single coil pickups, they were wired so that using the middle position for both necks on cancelled any hum. I want to have the same outcome with the 5 way switch.
If anybody reading this has done this type of conversion, especially with L-705 split coil pickups, I'd love to hear from you. An actual wiring and switch pin-out diagram/schematic would help me immensely.
Also, what is the best quality lever switch to buy for this use? I'd hate to go to all this hassle and have a cheap switch fail when I flick it hard to change coils or necks.
PS: I have been away from electronics for about 25 years. But, I still have my blue handle, 27 watt element Unger soldering iron and some thin rosin core solder. 
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Jerry Jones
From:
Franklin, Tenn.
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Posted 15 Feb 2021 5:54 am
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This wiring is from a previous post and should work fine.
Stew-Mac has an Oak Grigsby Super Switch that should work.
(Edited per below discussion)
Good Luck
North start = white
North finish = red
South finish = green
South start = black
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Jerry Jones
Last edited by Jerry Jones on 20 Feb 2021 5:29 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Thomas Stone
From:
San Francisco
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Posted 20 Feb 2021 1:41 pm
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I concur that the Oak-Grigsby Superswitch is an excellent choice. Make sure you get the 4-pole double-wafer variety with 24 solder lugs.
As far as the wiring goes, if:
North start = white
North finish = red
South finish = green
South start = black,
then the above diagram should work for you.
However, you do *not* want to reverse the black and white wires on one of the pickups. To get the middle position of split coils to be humbucking, you want to use the north coil of one pickup and the south coil of the other. If you reverse the black and white wires on one of the pickups, you will get the same polarity coils (two norths or two souths) in position 3, so they won't be humbucking. Incidentally, they will also be out of phase, which would give you a weak, tinny tone if the pickups were ever played together, although that of course is unlikely in your application.
Assuming the color codes are correct, I would wire it just like the diagram Jerry Jones has provided.
Last edited by Thomas Stone on 20 Feb 2021 3:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Jerry Jones
From:
Franklin, Tenn.
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Posted 20 Feb 2021 3:10 pm
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| Thomas Stone wrote: |
However, you do *not* want to reverse the black and white wires on one of the pickups. To get the middle position of split coils to be humbucking, you want to use the north coil of one pickup and the south coil of the other. If you reverse the black and white wires on one of the pickups, you will get the same polarity coils (two norths or two souths) in position 3, so they won't be humbucking, and they will also be out of phase, which will give you a weak, tinny tone. |
Seems to me that if you wire each pickup identically, then canceling one coil of each pickup (either both North or both South) would yield two identical active coils from each pickup (either both North or both South) and would not be hum canceling. Reversing the black and white wires on one pickup will result in one North coil and one South coil from each pickup being selected in position 3 and would be hum canceling. The coils would however be connected in parallel.
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Jerry Jones |
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Thomas Stone
From:
San Francisco
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Posted 20 Feb 2021 4:41 pm
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I find it easier to visualize signal flow with a schematic rather than a wiring diagram. The figure below shows a schematic version of the Guitar Electronics diagram, shown in the middle (No. 3) position. The left side represents their diagram as shown, the right side shows the black and white wires reversed on pickup L2. The yellow highlight shows the signal flow from ground to output in each case. Both figures show that position 3 delivers single coils, in parallel.
In the left diagram, you can see that the North coil of L1 and the South coil of L2 are active, and that in each case the flow from ground to output goes through the pickup from - to +, so they are in phase (not that phase matters in this application). This is the output we are seeking.
But in the right diagram, the active coils are both Norths, so there is no way they can be humbucking. Furthermore, in the L2 North coil, the signal flow is from + to -, so the pickups will be out of phase.
Important to note that in a coil splitting position like this, you want the White and Red wires from one pickup to be active, but in the other coil you want the Green and Black wires to be active. If you flip the Black and White leads, you get the White and Red wires active in both pickups.
This all assumes that the initial understanding of the color coding of the coil leads is correct, I am not familiar enough with Bill Lawrence pickups to be certain of that.
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Jerry Jones
From:
Franklin, Tenn.
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Posted 20 Feb 2021 5:27 pm
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OK I see, each pickup is not wired identically like the L-705 wiring..... with respect to how they are split. One grounds the center coil connection and the other uses center connection as output to achieve split coils. I now see in the original schematic that the switch #3 position was designated coil (N) and coil (S)
Edited my original post.
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Jerry Jones |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 28 Feb 2021 7:44 pm
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I have a question about these lever switches. Are they able to stand up to hard throws like the original Switchcraft switches? Is there one brand that is more mechanically durable than the others? I ask this after reading some reviews on one music supplies website where the reviewers said that the Oak Grigsby switch was more fragile than they expected.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Jerry Jones
From:
Franklin, Tenn.
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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