Wiring up SD Phat cats

[Cletus]

Does anyone know where I can find a wiring diagram to wire two of them up to just one volume, one tone? The Seymour Duncan diagrams only have the 1 pup, one volume, one tone options.

Cheers all.

 

[Danuda]

I was wondering the same thing.  I just assumed it would be wired the same as the two humbuckers with 1 volume and 1 tone.

 

[Cletus]

It's much simpler than humbuckers, because you solder the one pickup wire to the pot via grounding the shielding on the back of the pot. The problem is getting them in the right configuration for my pots.

 

[Cagey]

Those wire just like single coils or simple humbucks. Do you have a pickup selector switch? Just look up any 2 humbuck or 2 single coil + 1 volume, 1 tone, and you're there.

 

[Cletus]

Those wire just like single coils or simple humbucks. Do you have a pickup selector switch? Just look up any 2 humbuck or 2 single coil + 1 volume, 1 tone, and you're there.

Cagey- great man, thanks! I don't know why the Duncan site has Phat Cats differently, just to confuse me Thanks again.

 

[Cletus]

Those wire just like single coils or simple humbucks. Do you have a pickup selector switch? Just look up any 2 humbuck or 2 single coil + 1 volume, 1 tone, and you're there.

:help: :help: :help:

All the single coil diagrams I can find have a fender type switch which baffles this amateur 

 

[Cletus]

Ok, I think this is as close as I'm going to get. http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=2singlecoils1vol1tone1switc

The grounding still doesn't seem right to me as the Phat Cats only have one wire and the braided shielding gets grounded. How you're supposed to do that when it goes straight out to the switch...eek.

I've emailed Seymour Duncan though, and if I'm real lucky they'll tell me more.

 

[DangerousR6]

Try this place.... :icon_thumright:
http://www.guitarelectronics.com/c=dTYl8rQQWrgoE9Voh7SIpKe2R/category/wiring_resources_guitar_wiring_diagrams.2_pickup_guitar_wiring_diagrams/

 

[Cletus]

Or this might work guys.

http://www.1728.com/guitar4.htm

 

[Cletus]

Thanks Dangerous. Can anyone explain how the grounding would work with the braiding being the normal ground for this pickup? If you go pup out>>>3-way switch >>>>>volume, how do you ground the pickups?

 

[Cagey]

The pickup winding only has two conductors brought out: the start and finish ends of the winding, which are just the opposite ends of one really long wire wound around some magnetic poles several thousand times. One end of the wire is always grounded (usually the finish winding). The shields and/or metal parts are also always grounded. So, those two conductors are always the same, electrically.

When those of infinite patience wind a pickup, they set up with a coil form on a winding apparatus, and affix a wire to it. That's the "start" lead. Then, they wind about a million miles of wire on the form, and at some point decide to stop. That's the "finish" lead. Usually, the "finish" lead and the various shields are tied together, either inside the pickup or outside, but it doesn't matter. As long as it's done. So, you may have two wires, or a wire and a shield, or two wires and a shield. It's all the same, really.

 

[Cletus]

The pickup winding only has two conductors brought out: the start and finish ends of the winding, which are just the opposite ends of one really long wire wound around some magnetic poles several thousand times. One end of the wire is always grounded (usually the finish winding). The shields and/or metal parts are also always grounded. So, those two conductors are always the same, electrically.

When those of infinite patience wind a pickup, they set up with a coil form on a winding apparatus, and affix a wire to it. That's the "start" lead. Then, they wind about a million miles of wire on the form, and at some point decide to stop. That's the "finish" lead. Usually, the "finish" lead and the various shields are tied together, either inside the pickup or outside, but it doesn't matter. As long as it's done. So, you may have two wires, or a wire and a shield, or two wires and a shield. It's all the same, really.

But the question is, if you go from each pickup to the 3-way, then to the volume, how do you ground everything properly? That's part I'm unsure of. I'm assuming that by soldering the pickups to the relevant lug on the switch, this would be the grounding required.

 

[Cagey]

In a situation like you have, switching is generally done on the "hot" leads, or the "start" windings. The grounds are all tied together. If there's any additional shielding, it's tied to the ground as well. Don't overthink it. There's a lot of silly talk about "ground loops" in guitars, or the advantage of using "star" grounding systems vs. buss grounding, etc., but don't pay any attention to it. The runs are too short and the currents and voltages too small for it to be an issue. As long as everything gets grounded, you're golden. The most important thing to keep in mind inside the control cavity and surrounding wiring is that no signal wires are exposed for any great length. They act like antennae. But, you have single coil pickups, so you've already got huge antennae exposed to the big, bad world of EMI no matter what you do. So, don't be surprised if the thing hums when you're done, unless the S/N ratio seems to be smaller than 10:1.

 

[Cletus]

In a situation like you have, switching is generally done on the "hot" leads, or the "start" windings. The grounds are all tied together. If there's any additional shielding, it's tied to the ground as well. Don't overthink it. There's a lot of silly talk about "ground loops" in guitars, or the advantage of using "star" grounding systems vs. buss grounding, etc., but don't pay any attention to it. The runs are too short and the currents and voltages too small for it to be an issue. As long as everything gets grounded, you're golden. The most important thing to keep in mind inside the control cavity and surrounding wiring is that no signal wires are exposed for any great length. They act like antennae. But, you have single coil pickups, so you've already got huge antennae exposed to the big, bad world of EMI no matter what you do. So, don't be surprised if the thing hums when you're done, unless the S/N ratio seems to be smaller than 10:1.

I've revisited this, and I'm still confused by it. If I send the single conductor from each pickup to the 3 way switch, how do I then ground the switch using the braided conductor? The pots and bridge will be grounded, and there will be the grounding wire coming from the switch to the pots, but there seems to me to be a missing bit of grounding in that the braided cover won't be grounded.

 

[Cletus]

Hey, can anyone (like, say, your man Cagey ) tell me whether this arrangement will ground the switch and pickups appropriately? The braid will be grounded to the pots (via the lugs which were mentioned in another thread.

I will have the pots, output jack and bridge grounded as per normal.

 

[Cagey]

That's how you do it.

 

[Cletus]

My question is, if the inner hot wire goes to the switch, how exactly do you ground the braiding?

 

[Cagey]

Any convenient ground will do. You only have to ground one end, or you can ground it anywhere along its length.

 

[Cletus]

Any convenient ground will do. You only have to ground one end, or you can ground it anywhere along its length.

So joining the shields, then grounding to the pot will work yeah?

 

[Cagey]

Right.