5 pickup Strat idea.

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Borrowing inspiration from this wire diagram, I have some ideas floating around for a 5 pickup Strat that allows you to truly switch between either a truly single coil, or stacked single coil over to a fully humbucking (side by side coils) pickups in the neck & bridge position using a standard 5 way blade switch & two mini switches. This would be a very useful guitar for studio applications in particular, but it would be a bit much for me to use live since I like to just flick once back & forth between bridge & neck pickups.

What I'm envisioning is something like:
S.D.Classic Stack switchable via a mini on/on/on switch to a S.D. lil 59'-Neck,
S.D. Classic Stack Plus-Middle,
S.D. Hot Stack Plus switchable via a mini on/on/on switch to a JB Jr-Bridge),

You can then adjust the pickup height of each individual pickup to match output volumes. For example, I always feel that when I split the coil of a hum bucker, the voicing is neither "truly" single coil in nature, nor is the output level compatible with the hum bucking volume. I can raise the height of the Classic stack in the neck/lower the Lil '59 until I feel that the volumes are matching more to my liking, and do the same with the bridge combination.

I can also have the option of using either or both pickups simultaneously via the mini on/on/on switch's. Having the Classic Stack in the neck simultaneously with the Lil 59 may yield some very useful tones while recording. Same theory with the bridge combination.

Using a universal pickup route, as is available on bodies purchased from Warmoth, using one of their standard Strat Pickguards in an HSH + a standard Volume/Tone drilled control pattern, this could be a non-invasive way of experimenting with such an option without butchering the guitar body itself.

Additionally, each position would be completely hum-cancelling (if using stacked single coils), which is very important.

I was concerned about magnetic pull, but considering the magnetic field on these types of pickups is a very narrow elliptical pattern, the adjacent coil from the separate pickup won't cause any phasing issues. With the side by side coils, that pattern is inward, towards the center of the pickup where its own 2 coils meet.

Also, the typical Strat control config of a Volume + 2 tones never has sat well with me for my simplistic desire for ergonomic function, I much prefer a master volume/tone (if I even use a tone pot at all) and the toggle. The other idea I had as an alternative option to having 2 mini on/on/on switches is to forego the idea of having both pickups on simultaneously, and just use a push/push or a push/pull potentiometer for each function, i.e., the Volume Pot switches the neck p/u from sc to hb, and the Tone Pot switches the bridge p/u from sc to hb. Would keep a cleaner look on the pick guard.

Thoughts?

 

[stratamania]

It sounds like an interesting idea. The diagram shows 4 pickups but the description talks about 5 pickups ?

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

It sounds like an interesting idea. The diagram shows 4 pickups but the description talks about 5 pickups ?

Yes, it does.  That is why I prefaced the post with "borrowing inspiration from this wire diagram".

 

[line6man]

My first thought was that this was sure to be another ridiculous and impractical scheme, but looking at your diagram, it is actually quite simple and practical. Basically, when the 3 way switch is set to one side, you have a standard Strat, and when it is set to the other side, you have a bridge humbucker. The middle position will give you the potential for cool new tones, and since the single coils are really stacked humbuckers, there will be no issues with humcancellation. The new options may or may not be worthwhile, but the option to switch between standard Strat switching and a bridge humbucker, alone, should be valuable.  :icon_thumright:

My personal preference would be to swap the two bridge pickups around, but this comes down to taste. My reason for this is twofold. Firstly, when soloing a bridge pickup, I would tend to favor the rail humbucker, so I wouldn't want it too close to the bridge or it would sound thin. Secondly, when blending with the middle pickup, I would tend to favor the stacked "single coil," so putting it further away from the middle pickup would give more of the phase separation that the "inbetween" settings on Strats are known for.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

That's the one thing that I'm unsure of, placing the humbuckers as the inside coil or the outside coil in their respective positions.

 

[stratamania]

It sounds like an interesting idea. The diagram shows 4 pickups but the description talks about 5 pickups ?

Yes, it does.  That is why I prefaced the post with "borrowing inspiration from this wire diagram".

Ah, got it. I thought I must have missed something...

 

[line6man]

That's the one thing that I'm unsure of, placing the humbuckers as the inside coil or the outside coil in their respective positions.

Does the stacked "single coil" bridge pickup have asymmetrically staggered pole pieces? If it does not, then it will be easy for you to physically swap the coils around without the need for any modifications to the wiring. You can try it both ways and leave it in the configuration that works best. Of course, this is assuming that you leave some slack in the wires. Some people cut the wires down to exact length, but that isn't good practice, as it makes things difficult later down the road. Always leave your wires long so that you can modify things in the future.

On the other hand, if you have a pickup that does have asymmetrically staggered pole pieces, then you would have to put it in the position closest the bridge, because the staggering would be unbalanced otherwise.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

That's the one thing that I'm unsure of, placing the humbuckers as the inside coil or the outside coil in their respective positions.

Does the stacked "single coil" bridge pickup have asymmetrically staggered pole pieces? If it does not, then it will be easy for you to physically swap the coils around without the need for any modifications to the wiring. You can try it both ways and leave it in the configuration that works best. Of course, this is assuming that you leave some slack in the wires. Some people cut the wires down to exact length, but that isn't good practice, as it makes things difficult later down the road. Always leave your wires long so that you can modify things in the future.

On the other hand, if you have a pickup that does have asymmetrically staggered pole pieces, then you would have to put it in the position closest the bridge, because the staggering would be unbalanced otherwise.

I'll have to check Warmoth's & Seymour Duncan's websites.  I think placing the single coil voiced pickups to the outside will yield the most Strat like character, which will tame up the humbuckers being the pickup located at the inner coil.  I'm toying with the idea of putting this config in a 7/8 "S".