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Vol, tone, 3 way toggle and 2 single coils?

Hi all.

Not posted on CBN in a while but glad to see that things are still going strong!

I need some help if you don't mind me asking. Can someone point me to a wiring diagram for two single coil pickups using 1 volume pot, 1 tone pot and a three way Les Paul type toggle switch, please? Not sure how I'd go about making the two singles hum cancelling (I think I remember hearing they can be but I can't be certain I'm remembering correctly) but that would be great if i could. Also, would I be better with 250k pots or 500k pots?

Thanks in advance for the help folks. Much appreciated, as always!

Best regards ,

Bear :0)

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on May 17, 2018 at 6:03am

electrically, i'm open to correction old fella, just pointing you in what i hope is the right direction

Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on May 17, 2018 at 7:27am

Permalink Reply by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear on May 17, 2018 at 7:44am

Thanks Paul. Exactly what I was thinking of! Much appreciated :0)

Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on May 17, 2018 at 7:51am

Your welcome, it's getting hard to find some wiring diagrams these days. LOL

This is pretty much the way I wire them except I wire from switch to lug 1 of volume(outside lug as shown), then middle lug of volume to lug 1 of tone, and then middle lug of tone to jack. Tone cap on tone pot is the same. This makes the tone pot operate better IMO.

Permalink Reply by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear on May 17, 2018 at 9:11am

That's really helpful first hand advice from personal experience there, Paul. I've just screenshot what you put for future reference. Thanks for the info on the tone capacitor remaining the same too. I nearly asked you about the capacitor but reread your comment. My powers of short-term memory retention are rubbish lately.

Thanks again for your kind help, I really appreciate it.

Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on May 17, 2018 at 9:37am

What are we talking about again? Hahaha

No problem, I'm happy to help out.

Permalink Reply by ILL GREEN on November 24, 2018 at 5:40pm

Interesting you would have the output jack connected to the tone pot. Usually, I ground the jack to the tone pot but I might try that one day.

I got most of my diagrams from the Seymour Duncan website. If you know which wire does what, you can use any of them for any job you need. Also, there are other websites like Throbak that have diagrams. Check your favorite pickup manufacturer's website, and there'll be diagrams on connecting them. Also, don't be shy to google the term "2 P90s, 1 volume, 1 tone, 3 way switch" you will get loads of diagrams ;)

Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on November 24, 2018 at 6:23pm

If you were speaking of the scheme I was talking about, I found it on the internet back in the early 90's labeled as "Modern Wiring". I haven't been able to find any layouts recently showing that exact scheme, but it works good. Use a A pot for volume if you like to do swells or a B pot for better volume control and a B pot for tone. This way seems to make the controls more responsive and interactive. I liked it so much that I've been doing it that way ever since.