I'm in the midst of changing pickups of my other guitar, it originally had cheap Chinese overwound ceramic types in H/S/S format but this was unsuitable for my playing style. Replacements are two Japanese Jaguar pups and a Seymour Duncan Phat Cat P90 bridge. All used single coils with two wires a piece and have fairly good SG101 reviews, I'm hoping they'll do the trick.

The Guitar had three controls:
Shadow SH 124-500 Kill Pot with A500k resistance (push/push)
Alpha Pot Push/Pull A500k (tone)
JA three way switch (As found on Asian Epiphone Les Paul's etc.

Previous owner smashed the bottom of the Shadow pot off my replacement is a Alpha B500k. I assume it was done because of an internet rumour - Shadow push/push sucks tone... it was expensive item too!

Previous owner also unsuccessfully re-wired some of which was a very complex Humbucker splitting type loom. So I've decided to de-solder all parts and start from scratch. No schematic exists for this model that I can find.

I'd like a simple three way switching for the individual pickups with neck/bridge together by pulling up the push/pull tone control. I wouldn't expect anyone to draw out a schematic but if you can think of a guitar with this kind of configuration I'd be grateful because I can't find a thing as yet. I'd be grateful of any comment!

Last edited: Aug 02, 2014 11:14:56

Hi Ludobag. Thanks for your suggestion, yes I have already been to Seymour Duncan site - no luck because my guitar is cross between Gibson and Fender electrics.

I have looked hard - so I see wiring diagrams when I shut my eyes at night!

So my toggle switch is not good, do I need one with 4 contacts ?

LeeVanCleef wrote:

The closest you could get with what you currently have is use the toggle to select, say, bridge or neck or both, and then use the push-pull to alternate between this and middle pup only.

That would be absolutely fine.

If you want one switch to select any of the 3 single coils, and the push-pull to turn on both neck and bridge, you'll have to use a vintage Strat style 3 position blade selector instead of the toggle.

I don't think I can do that without a re-paint - not good but understood!

P.S. I can try to draw a schematic if you need one, but be warned I'm not very good with guitar wiring.

That would be splendid. BTW one my first thoughts when starting out on this mission was Dave Wronski's Telecaster wiring mod for 2 pickups. I prefer the idea of 2 pickups but the choices are router/re-spray or specially made pickguard, in the end it's easier to install a middle pup.

OK, here's my attempt.

All black wires (7) indicate a ground connection and must be connected together, preferably at a common point like the casing of one of the pots (star ground).

Pots & switches are represented as seen from below (I hope I didn't get the connections backwards, I sometimes get things mixed up at this stage).

Please note that one of the lugs of the tone pot is left unconnected (the one on the left on my schem), and one side of the push-pull DPDT switch is not used at all.

Also, you can use the push-pull as the tone pot if you prefer — in fact, that would make sense as you want to use an A pot for volume. This is very easily done since both pots are connected to the middle connector of the push-pull. On the above schem, move the switch part of the push-pull under the tone pot, and just remember to wire it to the center lug this time, not the left lug.

So here's what you should get if I didn't make any mistakes:
With the push-pull disengaged, the toggle will give you bridge/bridge+neck parallel/neck.
Engaging the push-pull will deactivate the toggle and thus the bridge and neck pups, activating the middle pup only.
Both the volume and tone pots are wired as master controls and will work on any pickup activated.

Hope it works

Old punks never die... They just become surf rockers.

Last edited: Aug 02, 2014 18:11:49

Don't thank me, thank DIY Layout Creator, a cool freeware program that allows you to draw schematics and circuit layouts easily. Well, "easily" is perhaps a slight overstatement since it has a few pesky bugs... But it's still a great tool.

As for the pots, you'll find that in the guitar world the American standard (A=audio/log, B=lin) is used unanimously.

There is much debate about A vs B pots for both tone and volume. The audio/log taper is what matches best the way the human ear perceives variations in volume. Therefore many guitar players prefer A for both, which is the standard configuration on Strats, Teles and Jaguars, but feel the tone control is less crucial, and so can live with a B in that position. I'm with them, I have a 10 band eq pedal for subtle tone adjustments, so I use the vol pot much more than the tone pot.

Others swear by the B-for-volume, A-for-tone formula, which is what you'll find on a stock Jazzmaster. The rhythm circuit, interestingly enough, uses 2 B pots.

I think the best way to go about this is to use whatever you think is best, and if it doesn't work for you just swap the pots around.

Old punks never die... They just become surf rockers.

Last edited: Aug 02, 2014 20:19:42

crumble wrote:

Just noticed your Monkey Lord comment

Yup, I thought the guitar looked familiar (or, perhaps more accurately, unfamiliar in a surf context ) and then remembered you posting about it. I had to go back and edit my comment again to mention it was the guitar's name, lest other members thought I was referring to something like this:

Old punks never die... They just become surf rockers.

Old punks never die... They just become surf rockers.

crumble wrote:

A couple of things didn't turnout as expected though. The volume is reverse action and middle pickup position(bridge and neck together) is less than half volume and sounds really strange.

Sounds like the neck & bridge pickups are mounted out of phase. Reversing the connections for one of them should do the trick.

As for the volume pot, I double checked and I'm pretty sure my diagram is correct. Note that the pots are represented as seen from below, i.e. with the bottom metal casing facing you (not the shaft), as is standard, which can look a bit confusing with push-pull pots. Here are some more detailed diagrams, with a different view for clarity.

Hope this helps

Old punks never die... They just become surf rockers.

crumble wrote:

I'm assuming the both blacks earth on the metal claw but I can't find a photo to confirm this as yet.

Yes, that's correct.

Old punks never die... They just become surf rockers.