How do you wire a 3-humbucker guitar with only three pots?

[Orange Tortex]

I’m thinking of building a 3-humbucker guitar for my next project. The problem is, the body shape I’ve chosen does not have enough room inside its back cavity to have four pots and a switch. The body shape in question is the star shape.

I can’t find any diagrams for 3-humbucker guitars that have less than four pots, though I just found a Gibson Mod Collection guitar that has three humbuckers, two volumes, one tone, and a 3-way toggle. One of the volumes is dedicated to the middle pickup.

So, how is this possible? In what way would I have to wire my future guitar to achieve this same result?

Here is the link:
https://www.gibson.com/Guitar/DMO5JG326/Explorer/Ghost-Pelham-Blue

 

[stratamania]

The answer is in the specs of the linked Explorer which has a master volume, master tone, 3 way selector and a middle pickup volume to blend in the middle pickup.

The 3 way selector is used to select between bridge, bridge & neck, neck.  The middle will always be on but is blended in via its own dedicated volume knob.

Do a search for Brent Mason Nashville Tele wiring as the logic is the same although the pickups and variety of switch differ it is otherwise the same idea.

P.S. Could you please acknowledge your earlier threads where answers have been provided.

 

[Orange Tortex]

The answer is in the specs of the linked Explorer which has a master volume, master tone, 3 way selector and a middle pickup volume to blend in the middle pickup.

The 3 way selector is used to select between bridge, bridge & neck, neck.  The middle will always be on but is blended in via its own dedicated volume knob.

Do a search for Brent Mason Nashville Tele wiring as the logic is the same although the pickups and variety of switch differ it is otherwise the same idea.

P.S. Could you please acknowledge your earlier threads where answers have been provided.

Thanks for the info. Sorry if I’m not responding to other threads, I’ll try to start responding to new ones. My current build is going great btw

 

[Rick]

Peruse this ... maybe you'll see something you like ...
https://www.freewayswitch.com/schematics-toggle/
Or this, my next guitar will probably get this, not a toggle or three pots but interesting for HBs and coil splitting ...

 

[Orange Tortex]

Peruse this ... maybe you'll see something you like ...
https://www.freewayswitch.com/schematics-toggle/
Or this, my next guitar will probably get this, not a toggle or three pots but interesting for HBs and coil splitting ...

Is that supposed to be one of those super switches? Interesting what you can do with those.

 

[Rick]

I don't know if I'd call it a "super-switch", but some clever guys in England came up with the product, and it's robust (at least mine are) and gives you options in a format that makes sense when you're playing.

 

[stratamania]

The answer is in the specs of the linked Explorer which has a master volume, master tone, 3 way selector and a middle pickup volume to blend in the middle pickup.

The 3 way selector is used to select between bridge, bridge & neck, neck.  The middle will always be on but is blended in via its own dedicated volume knob.

Do a search for Brent Mason Nashville Tele wiring as the logic is the same although the pickups and variety of switch differ it is otherwise the same idea.

P.S. Could you please acknowledge your earlier threads where answers have been provided.

Thanks for the info. Sorry if I’m not responding to other threads, I’ll try to start responding to new ones. My current build is going great btw

Please do so - some of your threads asking questions, people have spent time to respond and would be good to reply to your own thread and at least let people know they have not wasted their time.

If your current assembly project is going great then why not post a thread in Work in Progress and participate in that manner also.

Peruse this ... maybe you'll see something you like ...
https://www.freewayswitch.com/schematics-toggle/
Or this, my next guitar will probably get this, not a toggle or three pots but interesting for HBs and coil splitting ...

Is that supposed to be one of those super switches? Interesting what you can do with those.

A Super Switch is originally a Fender item that is a 5 way switch with 4 poles which gives a lot of potential for different wiring schemes.  The Freeway switches are a more recent development that have also a lot of switching possibilities but are their own thing.

 

[Orange Tortex]

The answer is in the specs of the linked Explorer which has a master volume, master tone, 3 way selector and a middle pickup volume to blend in the middle pickup.

The 3 way selector is used to select between bridge, bridge & neck, neck.  The middle will always be on but is blended in via its own dedicated volume knob.

Do a search for Brent Mason Nashville Tele wiring as the logic is the same although the pickups and variety of switch differ it is otherwise the same idea.

P.S. Could you please acknowledge your earlier threads where answers have been provided.

Thanks for the info. Sorry if I’m not responding to other threads, I’ll try to start responding to new ones. My current build is going great btw

Please do so - some of your threads asking questions, people have spent time to respond and would be good to reply to your own thread and at least let people know they have not wasted their time.

If your current assembly project is going great then why not post a thread in Work in Progress and participate in that manner also.

Peruse this ... maybe you'll see something you like ...
https://www.freewayswitch.com/schematics-toggle/
Or this, my next guitar will probably get this, not a toggle or three pots but interesting for HBs and coil splitting ...

Is that supposed to be one of those super switches? Interesting what you can do with those.

A Super Switch is originally a Fender item that is a 5 way switch with 4 poles which gives a lot of potential for different wiring schemes.  The Freeway switches are a more recent development that have also a lot of switching possibilities but are their own thing.

I’ll have to give them a look, maybe one will prove useful.