I've really tried, but I need some help! - E-model megaswitch question

[Spider]

Hi there,

I'm struggling with working out how to wire my Warmoth strat - I've got a DiMarzio Cruiser and a Fast Track 1 to wire to a E-model Megaswitch, one vol and one tone (I know, it's a 2-pickup Strat...).

The instructions with the Megaswitch tell me how to wire the 7 points, and mention ground wires, hot wires and coil tap wires. DiMarzio uses 4-conductor wiring, with red, black, white and green wires. The DiMarzio instrucitons say that red=hot, green/bare=ground, and black and white should be soldered together and taped. This makes sense for normal humbucker wiring with normal switches.

So here's my problem - the instructions for the Megaswitch assign wires to the 7 points - I can work out which are the hot wires (the red ones) but points 5 and 6 should have neck pickup coil tap and bridge pickup coil tap respectively. But I can't find any explanation as to what this means. I'm guessing it might be the black and white wires soldered together and connected to the wiring point, but I don't know for sure.

Can anyone help? Many thanks!

 

[Unwound G]

First off, DiMarzio Humbucker's wire colours are :-

a) Coil 1 - Red to Black
b) Coil 2 - White to Green

For  Megaswitch lug assignment :-

a) Red = Hot
b) Black joins to White = COIL TAP for Positions 5 and 6.
c) Green to any grounding surface like the back of control pots.

 

[Spider]

Thanks for that, I appreciate your help! Would you advise soldering the black and white wires together and using a jumper wire or just go straight on to the lug with both wires? What do think is the best way to deal with the bare ground wire? - I know it should go to the back of a pot but also it shouldn't touch other connections.

Many thanks again for clearing this up!

 

[Unwound G]

If you have heat shrink rubber tubing ( http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Supplies:_Wire,_cables/Heat_Shrink_Tubing.html ) it is better to solder white, black and another lead wire in a Y format together then insulate the connection using a short heat shrink tube.  This is because the eyelet of the Megaswitch is quite small and close to the corresponding lugs so a single wire will be much neater.  As for the bare ground wire, I usually strip a length of plastic sheath from another wire and use that to cover the bare wire to prevent it from touching other live connections.

 

[Spider]

Fantastic - I really like both those ideas! I'll have a go in the next few days and see what happens...

Many thanks again.

Spider