Ray5HH modding

[jdschrock]

Hey everyone, I've recently picked up a Sterling Ray5HH. It's my first Stingray style bass and overall I'm loving the humbuckers. However part of why I picked this up was seeing it reviewed by Lowend Lobster, and then seeing his Project Code Red mod on the Ray4HH. I really love the idea of having the split coils be push/pull via a master volume and master tone, but I didn't really like the ceramic EMG's that he used.

So here's my proposal, and I'm hoping you guys can help steer me in the right direction or let me know that it's just not possible. I'd like the setup to be something like the OBP2 wiring diagram below, complete with an active/passive switch. I'd also want to integrate a 3 way toggle instead of the current 5 way to just go between straight pickup combinations. I'm just not sure how to wire a master volume with push/pull coil splitting and a master tone with push/pull coil splitting into this setup. Hopefully my presentation makes sense, but I'm up for constructive criticism and education on what's possible with wiring. I also anticipate swapping out the pickups to some Alnico V's by either Seymour Duncan or Nordstrand, as they seem to be the only one's who produce a 5 string MM style pickup with 4 conductors for coil splitting.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[jdschrock]

Bueller?

 

[dwizum]

What you're looking for is pretty common for guitars, not so common for basses - although I've done it on a number of them. Run each pickup's 4-conductor cable to the push/pull and then the "hot" from there goes to your three way switch, which lets you have neck, both, or bridge - then you can push/pull each pickup's pot to split it in any of the positions where it's active.

There are some minor wiring differences if you use a full size three way switch (as would be seen on a Les Paul) or an on-on-on mini toggle switch, which are more common on basses.

Here's a version that shows the full size switch version:

The signal wire from the volume pot would go to the active/passive switch shown in your preamp wiring diagram.

 

[jdschrock]

What you're looking for is pretty common for guitars, not so common for basses - although I've done it on a number of them. Run each pickup's 4-conductor cable to the push/pull and then the "hot" from there goes to your three way switch, which lets you have neck, both, or bridge - then you can push/pull each pickup's pot to split it in any of the positions where it's active.

There are some minor wiring differences if you use a full size three way switch (as would be seen on a Les Paul) or an on-on-on mini toggle switch, which are more common on basses.

Here's a version that shows the full size switch version:

View attachment 4332825

The signal wire from the volume pot would go to the active/passive switch shown in your preamp wiring diagram.

Yeah, I used to have a 339 that was basically this setup. So thank you for the input. It's getting me closer to my goal. I guess what I'm trying to determine then is if any push/pull volume and tone pots will do the job then, and if I can still integrate an active passive switch to double my tone options and give me a backup if my battery dies. Any further insight is appreciated.

 

[dwizum]

Yes, any push/pull of the correct resistance and taper will work. The switch portion of a push pull pot is isolated from the pot portion so there is no need for any special part to do a specific function and you can use either switch for either pickup or any other switching function you need.

You can add in an active passive switch as a separate mini switch if you'd like. Generally I would defer to the preamp maker's suggestion on where it would go in the circuit.