Push/pull knobs as pickup on/off selectors -for each half of a MM pickup?

[FiveSixTeen]

Hi Dabbler,

I just wanted to say thank you for providing me with this information! This morning I made a mock-up of the circuit with a pair of switches and think that this is going to rock!

View attachment 2510736

With just a volume and tone control on my bass -but fitted to push / pull switches I'll have 4 different sounds and without any drilling for extra mini switches! I love your circuit because with the knobs down in their normal positions I'll have a standard, parallel Stingray sound, but then I can pull either up to cut out either coil and when both are up: get series as opposed to my original plan which would have just plunged me into silence!

This is what the internet was designed for: sharing knowledge and helping out your fellow (bass)man! Thanks to Hopkins and everyone else who has contributed -I'm forever grateful and reserve the right to bore you all senseless when I finally get this project finished with photos!

Have a great weekend to all,

Peace,

Rob.

Could you explain how you achieved this? Im new to wiring and I am having trouble wrapping my head around it. I understand how your original idea would work, and that when both knobs are up there would be no sound, but how did you achieve having it be in series with both knobs up?

 

[HalfManHalfBass]

All I can say is to study the diagrams earlier in this thread.

I just followed them and it resulted in parallel when the two switches are in the same direction, series when both are in the opposite and only one coil active when in opposing directions.

 

[FiveSixTeen]

All I can say is to study the diagrams earlier in this thread.

I just followed them and it resulted in parallel when the two switches are in the same direction, series when both are in the opposite and only one coil active when in opposing directions.

Ok i think i finally understand this. Here is the diagram that I made with a single humbucker pickup, when both push/pulls are down it is in series mode, when both are up it is in parallel, when the top one is up and the bottom one is down the rear coil is selected, and when the top one is down and the bottom one is up the front coil is selected. Does this work?

 

[HalfManHalfBass]

Ok i think i finally understand this. Here is the diagram that I made with a single humbucker pickup, when both push/pulls are down it is in series mode, when both are up it is in parallel, when the top one is up and the bottom one is down the rear coil is selected, and when the top one is down and the bottom one is up the front coil is selected. Does this work?

Yes, that looks about right. You may have to experiment a bit to see if your switches are the right way round before fitting them, i.e. both up are series and both down are parallel etc.

I no longer have the bass I built so I can't open it up to help you - plus I used CTS push / pull switches built into pots -which was really fiddly to solder and understand!

To be honest, I decided that after all the effort what often looks good on paper rarely is in real life! The ability to have either coil on its own in noiseless single coil mode seemed like a good idea but in practise the resulting tone (IMHO) from a coil split Musicman style pickup is very harsh and brittle sounding as opposed to the pleasant sound of say, a dedicated single coil Jazz bass style pickup. Therefore the bass spent most of its life in 'Musicman parallel mode'!

Good luck anyway.

 

[RedJag]

I did a similar thing in a double humbucker guitar once. I made one push pull split the neck, the other split the bridge, and the tone would put them in series or parallel. 99% of the time I leave everything normal. Consider whether it’s worth the effort to add the controls. Normal volume knobs feel better. Push pulls don’t have as much variety of design.