Machines Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 (edited) I have a Cort GB95 which is pretty good, but I feel I can get more options from it quite cheaply, by adding a coil tap for the Seymour Duncan SMB-5D bridge pickup. I would want this to work in the same way it does on a Lakland 55-02. I have the Cort wiring diagram (below), how would I best approach this ? What i'm unsure of: Is the pickup currently wired in series or parallel ? With a 3 way on/on/on (single coil/humbucker/single coil), would I have any phase issues with the existing bridge single coil ? What colour wire goes where ? In the humbucker mode, would it be series or parallel (I think I prefer the latter). What i'm OK with Location of switch inside the base Soldering Thanks in advance. Lakland 55-02 wiring: Edited January 27, 2022 by Machines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 15 hours ago, Machines said: Is the pickup currently wired in series or parallel ? With a 3 way on/on/on (single coil/humbucker/single coil), would I have any phase issues with the existing bridge single coil ? What colour wire goes where ? In the humbucker mode, would it be series or parallel (I think I prefer the latter). 1. Looks like series to me, judging by the joined wires at the pickup. If it was parallel, then you'd have 2 separate wires coming from the pickup and going to ground and 2 wires going to hot. 2. Not if you wire it up correctly 3. Well, that's the crux of it isn't it? Far too in depth for a pithy answer here, plus you need to work out the answer to 4 first. Which leads me to... 4. Depends how you wire it. Preference? When you blend them at the moment, does the bridge pickup tend to dominate the sound at 50/50 blend because it's series and therefore beefier? If so, then you'd probably prefer parallel. However, there really isn't a lot of difference between parallel and single coil to my ears (apart from the potential for hum). For maximum flexibility I'd be thinking your switch positions should be single (pick a coil), parallel and series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 For seymour duncan pickups the black and white are one coil and the green and red are the others. Humbucker manufacturers handily have standardised on those 4 colours. Sadly they all mean different things! So this is what they mean per manufacturer: https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/latest-updates/humbucker-wire-color-translation Which is handy for some but honestly I would always buzz it out with a meter first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted January 28, 2022 Author Share Posted January 28, 2022 31 minutes ago, neepheid said: When you blend them at the moment, does the bridge pickup tend to dominate the sound at 50/50 blend because it's series and therefore beefier? If so, then you'd probably prefer parallel. However, there really isn't a lot of difference between parallel and single coil to my ears (apart from the potential for hum). For maximum flexibility I'd be thinking your switch positions should be single (pick a coil), parallel and series. Thanks for that, I think it is indeed series - does it overpower ? Hmm a little but would like to hear parallel to compare . I'm pretty sure I want SC/P/SC, which would approximately give me 60s vs 70s Jazz differences. I can get a switch easily and it looks like if i just copy the Lakland diagram, it will be OK 10 minutes ago, Woodinblack said: For seymour duncan pickups the black and white are one coil and the green and red are the others. Humbucker manufacturers handily have standardised on those 4 colours. Sadly they all mean different things! Same as the Lakland it seems, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 It's your bass, you do you. Just be prepared to be underwhelmed by the differences between the three options you have picked - possibly to the point of wondering why you went to the trouble of doing it in the first place. That has been my experience of single coil vs. parallel humbucker. Of course, differences may become more apparent when it interacts with the neck pickup but in isolation, differences are slight. Yes, the switch should go between the bridge pickup and the blend pot. Annoyingly I haven't managed to find a north/parallel/south diagram yet. Here's a diagram for north/series/south - https://guitarelectronics.com/1-humbucker-1-volume-north-coil-humbucker-south-coil/ I'll keep digging. I suspect that north/parallel/south is either difficult to wire or so similar that no-one bothers. Also, you might need a certain type of switch in terms of poles, single/double throw and on/off positions... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 Google is my friend - https://forum.seymourduncan.com/forum/the-pickup-lounge/315368-north-parallel-south-wiring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 I have had switching options for everything going, end up sticking with the one you like! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted January 28, 2022 Author Share Posted January 28, 2022 (edited) 37 minutes ago, neepheid said: It's your bass, you do you. Just be prepared to be underwhelmed by the differences between the three options you have picked - possibly to the point of wondering why you went to the trouble of doing it in the first place. That has been my experience of single coil vs. parallel humbucker. Of course, differences may become more apparent when it interacts with the neck pickup but in isolation, differences are slight. Yes, the switch should go between the bridge pickup and the blend pot. Annoyingly I haven't managed to find a north/parallel/south diagram yet. Here's a diagram for north/series/south - https://guitarelectronics.com/1-humbucker-1-volume-north-coil-humbucker-south-coil/ I'll keep digging. I suspect that north/parallel/south is either difficult to wire or so similar that no-one bothers. Also, you might need a certain type of switch in terms of poles, single/double throw and on/off positions... If it complicates the wiring beyond what i've seen so far, then series is probably less faff. My only experience with series vs parallel was on an L-2000, and I always went for parallel, but more due to the output differences to series vs single coil. EDIT: Ignore the that part, it didn't have single coil mode. Edited January 28, 2022 by Machines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 (edited) Although there is the option to have parallel and single coil on top of the series, I would choose only two out of three: series - parallel OR series - single coil Parallel and single are so close to each other that the difference is next to none. And how do I know this... Edited January 28, 2022 by itu series... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted January 28, 2022 Author Share Posted January 28, 2022 Definitely don't want series vs parallel, but chooses between the single coils as well would be the ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 The difference is not so big after all. You need lots of sounds, lots of pickup configurations is not the way. I think that a single coil and a humbucker (with coil tap) is the way. Beyond that it would be feasible to check the preamp. If you want not to drill more holes to the spalted top, buy a push-pull pot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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