Series /Parallel wiring advice required.

[B.Flat]

Is there anyone out there who could send me an easy-for-idiots wiring diagram for a series /parallel circuit ?

I have a DiMarzio PB & JB pickups, on which I would like to have series/parallel switching individually, and also between the two collectively, if that is possible.

The only caveat is that I want to do this with a rotary switch. I do not know what rotary switch would be required, so advice needed there.

Anyone who can help on this would be greatly appreciated!

[ezbass]

Someone here will certainly be able to advise you, but I have always found DiMarzio to have fantastic after sales service, maybe drop them a line.

[Woodinblack]

The wiring isn't an issue, it is how you want the series / parallel switching between the two and individually controlled - all by the same rotary switch? In which case what options would you want? 

 

Assuming you want all the options, so series on the p, series on the j, series on the connection (sss), all the way to parallel on all (ppp) means you need sss, ssp, sps, spp, pss, psp, pps, ppp which is 8 options, and you might also want to have only one pickup (another set of combinations).

Also it would affect your volumes - is this with one overal master volume or would you still want volume for both (in parallel between them, doesn't work in series between them)

 

I would also advise, although that is literally what I would do as I love switching (in fact I have a bass up there that has this), once you have found the sound for the pickup you will literally never change the individual pickup parallel series switch again

 

 

Anyway, if you want the full set of options and because you have gone past 6, you are going to need a 4 wafer switch, which is pretty deep - does the bass have enough depth for that?

 

[Downunderwonder]

It would be ten million times easier to use regular switches. Even I could work out that wiring. 

 

Bonus for being able to look at it and see what you have when you pick it up.

[neepheid]

Wiring rotary switches is a right royal PITA.  What you're asking for is a lot for a single rotary switch to handle.  There will be no "easy-for-idiots" wiring diagram - I'd be amazed if you found something ready made on the Internet for what you're asking and it's certainly beyond my ken to create it for you, sorry.

 

Are you wanting to use a rotary because you don't want to make extra holes in either the body of the bass or the pickguard?

 

I'd say wire it up regular first and see how you like the sound as is before moving onto experimenting with series/parallel.  I'd be surprised if you needed more than the ability to give each individual pickup a series boost - you can achieve that with push/pull (or push/push) pots if you don't want to make extra holes.

As someone who modded a G&L Tribute L-2000 to give 27 combinations of neck/both/bridge/series/parallel/single/passive/active/active with treble boost (with mini switches, not a rotary FWIW) I can tell you that while it was fun as a technical exercise I found one setting I liked (both/single (inner) coils/passive) and generally left it at that - the only solace coming from the fact that at least I found a favourite setting which is not normally available on the stock bass.

 

Could have spent all that time improving my playing...

[Woodinblack]

40 minutes ago, neepheid said:

Wiring rotary switches is a right royal PITA.  What you're asking for is a lot for a single rotary switch to handle.  There will be no "easy-for-idiots" wiring diagram - I'd be amazed if you found something ready made on the Internet for what you're asking and it's certainly beyond my ken to create it for you, sorry.

 

I can do the wiring diagram no problems. However, its not something I would want to wire myself, even if you can get it in the body of the bass!!

[neepheid]

24 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

I can do the wiring diagram no problems. However, its not something I would want to wire myself, even if you can get it in the body of the bass!!

 

That's a wiring diagram I'd love to marvel at.  My rotary skills topped out at working out the 4 way for a Gibson Ripper (both series, bridge only, both parallel, neck only - stock is series/out of phase) when I used a different rotary to the stock one.

 

Perhaps I'm selling myself short - maybe there's an element of CBA in my "beyond my ken"...

Edited May 18, 2022 by neepheid

[Sardonicus]

Silly question time...what does it mean when pickups are wired in series or in parallel?  How does it alter the sound?

[neepheid]

34 minutes ago, Sardonicus said:

Silly question time...what does it mean when pickups are wired in series or in parallel?  How does it alter the sound?

 

In a multi coil pickup (or multiple single coil pickups), wired in parallel means that each coil is treated separately and each coil is wired independently to the output - in parallel.  Wired in series means that the end of the first coil is wired to the beginning of the second coil and the summed output of that goes to the output.  Series as in one after the other.

 

If you want a facile simplification - parallel is a thinner sound than series - probably better for things like slapping.  Series is louder and has a thicker, beefier sound, accentuating bass and low mids.

 

There's a lot more to it than that but that's your starter for 10.

Edited May 18, 2022 by neepheid

[Woodinblack]

5 hours ago, neepheid said:

Perhaps I'm selling myself short - maybe there's an element of CBA in my "beyond my ken"...

 

You are selling yourself short, if you can work out how to do it with switches you can work out how to do it with rotary, its just that it is a bit more effort and there isn't much reason to be bothered how to do it unless someone actually wants to, and until now, that never happened.

Also, who the hell is going to remember what all the positions do on an 8 way switch - I know I wouldn't. Actually not 8 - 12 if you want off to be an option: sss, ssp, sps, spp, so, po, pss, psp, pps, ppp, os, op. technically also off off, but not such a great connection!

 

At some point when I have litterally nothing to do I will work it out, or if the OP is brave enough to want to wire it

 

 

1 hour ago, Sardonicus said:

Silly question time...what does it mean when pickups are wired in series or in parallel?  How does it alter the sound?

 

As above. Sound gets converted in both coils of a humbucker as an AC voltage. If those coils are in series the output of the coils is both of those AC voltages added together. If they are in parallel the output is both of those AC voltages averaged.

So the parallel output has a reduced output and a slightly softer sound.

 

TBH, as individual coils in a humbucker are very close to each other, they have mostly the same sound, so parallel / series on a humbucker makes little sound change apart from the output level. However between pickups, the sound is quite different so series parallel between pickups makes a lot more of a difference.

 

 

[B.Flat]

Thanks everyone for the advice so far.

Yes, I think I am in danger of going over the top, but I will explain a little.

I modded an Ibanez RS924. I put DiMarzios (jb +pb), a series/parallel/mute switch for each pickup,a Stellartone bass eleven working over both passive and active (separate switch) options and Volume and Balance concentric pot +three-way toggle.Photos attached

Best sounding bass I ever had but eventually the weight was too much for my elderly shoulder !

I now have a couple of early  Warwick  Fortress ones, one active, one passive. The passive is the 33rd of the first production run.

This is the one I want to mod; without closing the door on return to orig.

The plan is to put a Warwick three knob preamp with a series/parallel option on a rotary in the fourth hole.

On reflection on the  above comments I would be happy with 1) jb + pb both parallel,  2)both series,   3)jb parallel+pb series   4)jb series + pb parallel.

What rotary would do that ?

 

[Woodinblack]

5 minutes ago, B.Flat said:

On reflection on the  above comments I would be happy with 1) jb + pb both parallel,  2)both series,   3)jb parallel+pb series   4)jb series + pb parallel.

What rotary would do that ?

 

Its easier if you only have 4 way as you need fewer wafers. So you are ruling out the option of ever having either the J or P pickup on their own? Seems odd as that is the largest toneshaping option you can have.

[B.Flat]

I was assuming the balance control would effect single pickup options ?

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, B.Flat said:

I was assuming the balance control would effect single pickup options ?

 

The balance control won't work on series settings.

 

Oh hang on, you dont' have any series parallel options between the pickups in your descriptions, so I guess you would. 

[itu]

Here you can see my fretless 4. She has a step attenuator and a coil switch (ser/par/single). The switch (a Swiss Elma) is a two pole / three way.

 

You do not see screws, the magnets are under the copper foil.

 

Edited May 18, 2022 by itu

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, B.Flat said:

On reflection on the  above comments I would be happy with 1) jb + pb both parallel,  2)both series,   3)jb parallel+pb series   4)jb series + pb parallel.

What rotary would do that ?

 

So you can do that with a 4 pole / 4 way switch. Problem is for most normal rotary switches, the number of poles * the number of throws should be 12 or less (so 3 way 4 pole or 4 pole 3 way).

So you need a multi layer switch, which makes them harder (and more expensive) to find. You can get a 2 layer 3 pole 4 way and use that, or individual wafers, there are a few options, also stewmac have a 5 way 4 pole switch for just over a tenner that would do (you can generally block off a 'way') https://www.stewmac.com/electronics/components-and-parts/switches/rotary-switches/?pref_currency=GBP

 

[itu]

It is seen and heard many times, that all sound possibilities are not feasible. My fretless has three choices where two would be good. Ser/par or ser/single would be the best options. Yes, you can fill your bass with switches and pots, but at the end of the day you will use maybe two or three sounds only, just like @Woodinblack said earlier.

 

Long ago I saw an American bassist with Precision. The pots were removed and he had two switches in it: ON/OFF and TONE/OFF. He said that in the studio he may need the other switch, and live he sometimes needs both. Functional. Simple.

Edited May 18, 2022 by itu

[BigRedX]

Sometimes you don't know what options are actually going to turn out to be the useful ones until you have tried them all out (and also tried them when playing with your band). When I built my first guitar back in the late 70s I fitted as many passive tonal shaping options as I could to make the most of a single (coil-tapped) humbucker as  I couldn't afford a second pickup. In the end I only found three of them useful, but there was no way of knowing this in advance.

 

If I was doing the same again, I'd try and find some way of making all the options easy to try out, but also being able to just have the controls I actually needed once that trial period was over without the front of the instrument being full of unwanted knobs/switches/holes.