Wiring 3 humbuckers, 3 volume, 3 tone, 5 way switch wiring

[Ajonymous]

I'm trying to wire a guitar in the above configuration. I'm really not sure how to as I'm really new to guitar wiring. Also just curious if you guys would use 3 volume and 3 tone (I kinda want this guitar to be overkill) or would switch it up to something else. Any help appreciated!

EDIT: I want to wire them with bridge, bridge-middle, middle, middle-neck, neck. Also just curious if there are any cool push-pull pot mods you’d recommend

 

[rauchman]

Absolutely doable.  Route the "hot" from the pickup straight to the vol, then go to the 5 way switch.

Pickup Hot.......Vol.....5 way

If you're using one tone, then use the lead of the 5 way (common) that goes to the output, also run a wire to the tone off of this lead.

You can use pull pots for each vol knob to split each pickup / do phasing, etc.  You can also just designate 1 vol or tone knob as the push pull for all pickups

For the b, b/m, m, m/n, n, run each lead as you normally would for a single coil Strat setup to a 5 way.

Some great resources which have helped me....

LIndy Fralin Pickups - Workbench
https://www.fralinpickups.com/blog/

Guitar Electronics Wiring Diagrams
https://guitarelectronics.com/guitar-wiring-resources/

 

[JohnnyHardtail]

If it is a strat style guitar, my approach would be to simplify the controls.  It would help if you can explain what style of guitar, and what pickups you will use.

My own preference is to avoid using multiple volume controls.  Multiple volume controls adds additional loading to the pickups, and also adds series resistance with the pickup.  This means the notch position tones lose some brightness and clarity, so you could even loose the unique character of each position.  Its also very confusing for me to operate while playing.  For most applications I'd suggest having one Master volume control, and one Master Tone control.  You can add a second tone control, but its probably only needed if there is some imbalance between the combination of pickups you have selected.  I prefer to address that type of imbalance by adding a fixed resistor that is wired in parallel with any pickup that is excessively bright.  Variations of output level can be tuned by the pickup height adjustment.

There is a wiring diagram from Dimarzio that shows the basic concept of triple humbuckers and a 5-way blade switch.  Generally for full size humbuckers, you should forgo the 250k pots, and only use 500k.

https://d2emr0qhzqfj88.cloudfront.net/s3fs-public/diagrams/Strat%20Rail%20Hum%20Canceling%20Wiring.pdf

I often add provision for a coil split toggle switch.  It can be effective if you split the middle and bridge pickups in position 2, so you can get a notch position tone that sounds more like a strat.  Let me know if you have specific requirements, I will try to help with your wiring design if I can.

 

[Ajonymous]

It's a custom guitar I'm working on. I've built one before, but I used the EMG solderless pickups. This time I'm using wilkinson vintage alnico humbuckers. I'm definitely going to go with your suggestion of avoiding multiple volumes, so I guess it's going to be 3 humbuckers, 3 tone, and one volume with a five way switch. I'll also try the coil split for the middle and bridge pickups that you mentioned. If there's anything you'd add or change please let me know. Thanks so much for the help!

 

[rauchman]

Another thing to consider....

You can use 3 concentric pots or Fender S1 (basically 2 pots in one) and for each pot, basically both vol and tone in one pot, then have a separate switch setup for splitting.  This will give each pickup vol and tone controls.

https://guitarelectronics.com/cts-stacked-dual-concentric-audio-pot-250k-500k/
https://guitarelectronics.com/fender-500k-s-1-switching-volume-tone-control-solid-shaft/

Having said that, if asking for an opinion...

I've revised the electronics on the Warmoth Hybrid Tele that I made with 2 HB's and an SC in the middle.  Originally had separate Vol controls for each HB, with splitting capability for each and a shared Tone.  I've since gone to 1 master Vol and 1 master Tone, with 1 push pull for the Vol to split both HB's at the same time.  I found flipping switches and pushing/pulling was a lot to juggle when trying to quickly change tones during a song.  Simplifying all the trickery made the time involved for switching everything much less and less confusing, allowing for a very smooth transition of tones during a song.  But the spazz can be strong with me.  This newer setup takes out some of the spazz for me.

Should also add, if you plan to use the push/pull to split your HB's, you'll see a noticeable dropping of output when switching to SC.  I've used Fralin's resistor trick, which balances output very nicely.

https://www.fralinpickups.com/2018/10/17/using-resistors-in-guitars-101/

 

[stratamania]

.

You can use 3 concentric pots or Fender S1 (basically 2 pots in one) and for each pot, basically both vol and tone in one pot, then have a separate switch setup for splitting.  This will give each pickup vol and tone controls.

Despite the wording at the site linked an S1 is not two pots in one. It is one pot with a 4PDT switch attached to it. Now you could use the pot part for either a volume or tone control but not both. The 4PDT switch allows you to do some interesting switching but it is just similar to a push pull pot except it is 4PDT rather than a DPDT like most push pulls.

 

[JohnnyHardtail]

It's a custom guitar I'm working on. I've built one before, but I used the EMG solderless pickups. This time I'm using wilkinson vintage alnico humbuckers. I'm definitely going to go with your suggestion of avoiding multiple volumes, so I guess it's going to be 3 humbuckers, 3 tone, and one volume with a five way switch. I'll also try the coil split for the middle and bridge pickups that you mentioned. If there's anything you'd add or change please let me know. Thanks so much for the help!

The Wilkinson pickups I have seen are specified as 14.1k bridge, and 7.6k for the neck.  If so, I'm curious which one you will choose for the middle. 
Most 3 humbucker guitars use a second bridge pickup in the middle position, but not always.
I have some parts on order for my own triple humbucker build.    I will use a Duncan 59 bridge pickup for the middle position in my strat.
I was inspired by the Wayne Kramer strat, and also this custom built Suhr.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEvRFftlOo4

 

[Ajonymous]

I'll probably just go ahead and use a second bridge pickup as you said. I have to buy them in sets of two so I have two bridge and two neck pickups, so I can use either a bridge or neck.