Wiring Help on my Paul Reed Smith "Tiger"

[KWRummie]

Hi Folks,

I've been working on modifying a Paul Reed Smith Custom SE into my own Jerry guitar. I'm trying to get a similiar sound, on a budget. I had all the electronics, printed out all the resources (mostly from here) and took it to a few guys on the island and only one would take on the project. Well, my wiring came back in worse shape than it left. The guy admitted he took on more than he could handle. Here's my problem: I live in a remote area and I don't have anyone I can take this to. I'm stuck figuring it out and hope you all can help.

I did my best to diagram out what I think the wiring schematic should be. I can solder, but I'm not an electronics guy. Basically, I have two Super 2's, a three-way switch, 25k volume pot, 500k tone and Waldo's TUGB. I don't have the effects loop. (Which, BTW, sounded excellent with the one pickup that worked!) The vol pot is a push/pull so I can split the coils. I have a push/pull on the tone but am not using it because I couldn't figure out the additional wiring for the series/parallel. I know there are a lot of you out there who know a lot about this and I hope you could take a look and tell me if what I have will work or what changes I need to make. Thanks much!

PRS Jerrycaster wiring.jpg (164.29 KiB) Viewed 4277 times

[waldo041]

what you need to pull this off is either a new 3 way switch that is Double Poled, or a dual ganged 500k pot or a concentric plus another cap. your tone control setup is the problem. the thing is you have no way of sharing both pickups on 1 tone control. that is the reason for a dpdt 3way switch or a dual ganged or concentric potentiometer.

the input for the buffer should come directly from the 3 way's output lug. you could get it up and running by doing this and run the tone control output wire directly to one of the red wires of the humbuckers. that is it though, only one of them. i used the bridge in the picture. here is your pic revised to get it up and running.


i would have to see the 3 way dpdt you would use before i could draw you something out, but if you use a dual ganged or concentric 500k then you obviously would need another cap. the other humbucker would be wired identical to first one except the output of the tone control would go to the other red wire on the 3 way.

fyi, i have only seen concentric pots in audio(log) tapers. you may have some luck with a RV4/type J dual ganged 500k on ebay. mouser sells some but the shaft may be too short, it may be worth a try.

to achieve series/parallel AND single coil tap would require an on/on/on dpdt switch for each humbucker. if you wish to have series/parallel an on/on dpdt switch is needed for each humbucker. series/single is the only configuration of the three that can be shared on one switch. if you are interested in the other two, using either switch mentioned, just wire the switch for each pickup like wolfs schematic at dozin.com. wired that way and the on/on/on dpdt gives you all three settings because of the way the switch works and with an on/on dpdt switch will give you series/parallel. it wont work with the wiring you already have, and to be honest you will probably quite happy with the super 2's in single coil. what will get you a ton closer is putting in a middle humbucker, but i am sure you will get there eventually!

peace,
waldo

[KWRummie]

Waldo,

Would something like this work:

This right-angle toggle switch is a DPDT (double-pole, double-throw) “on-on-on” switch. A bottom view of the switch is shown in comparison to a standard DPDT on-on-on mini toggle switch:

i_1228.gif (5.61 KiB) Viewed 3957 times

However, I'm hearing you loud and clear on the middle pickup. I was thinking about it but decided to try to get close to "the sound", without any major alterations to the body. But, if that will get me a ton closer, that's what I need to do. I'm going to move the neck PU to the mid position and get a 5-way switch and wire it up using the schematics I've seen elsewhere on the site and dozin. The neck will get another humbucker so I should be able to use a single 500k tone pot and cap for the neck and bridge.

Hey man, I really appreciate your lengthy response and taking the time to photoshop my wiring diagram. It's very helpful and I really, really appreciate it. Cheers! -Greg

[waldo041]

switch the neck and bridge wire or rotate the switch to get the switch orientated correctly.

HTH.

peace,
waldo

[KWRummie]

With this switch, is there a way to use one tone control for both pickups?

[waldo041]

With this switch, is there a way to use one tone control for both pickups?

no. if you eliminated the "both" position then it would be possible. i am unsure if a dpdt on/off/on would help either, but will check and see if it can be done.
here is a dual ganged liner 500k. unsure of it's quality. appeares to be the size needed. shaft cut down of course.

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200 ... 0126376762
\
here's an audio(log) it will work til you find one.

http://www.banzaieffects.com/PEC-MIL-ST ... 26717.html

peace,
waldo

[KWRummie]

Thanks brother. I tore it apart over the weekend, rewired the whole thing and added a second tone pot. The only hiccup I had was the ring and tip on the stereo jack were opposite of the diagram I used. Switched them, plugged it in and she sang!

I do hear what you mean about the middle pickup and, like you said, eventually I'll get there. Thanks. Peace.

[waldo041]

i am so stoked you got it working correctly. and with the addition of the new tone pot, you won't need to take care of that when you finally do add that middle humbucker.

pics???

peace,
waldo