Gibson, Schecter, Rickenbacker. Two pickup and the middle.

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Thejohnofladies
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Gibson, Schecter, Rickenbacker. Two pickup and the middle.

Post by Thejohnofladies »

I own both a 660 and a 4003, as well as a midrange Schecter which is essentially a Gibson-a-like (hell, it might be a high range given that Gibsons used to sell them at the same price until no one would buy them so they doubled the price to move them again, in a typical "well its expensive it must be good!" consumer moment).

They all have one thing in common; two pickups with a 3 way switch.

Was the middle ever intended to be used? I read somewhere that the reason for the 5 way on strats was actually to prevent popping, as positions 2 and 4 would be a form of "make before break" contact. The neck or bridge PU would still be in contact, which keeps a load in the system, before going to the mid pickup, and a load prevents the typical popping sound. I imagine, although I haven't tested it, that if you had double PUs wired only to position 1 and position 3 on a 3 way toggle, that you'd hear a pop similar to what you hear when you plug or unplug a guitar cable.

This would accord with the reason I read from somewhere else.

Okay, so that was Fender's reason. Was a similar reason used for three way switches for two PU guitars and basses?

I ask because I have noticed the tendency for one pickup or the other to become totally "lost" in the tone if you tweak the volume too far. Consider the 4003 or 660. Set the toggle in the middle position, with both volume fully "open". Now back off the neck volume by 10%. You'll hear a tonal difference but its still "mixed together". Back off 30%. Completely gone. You can tell when switching to the bridge pickup position on the toggle (lets call it Pos 1), and switching to Pos 2 (middle). There will be no audible difference in tone.

In effect, the neck PU seems completely swamped out by having its volume set -30% or more from full while the bridge PU is at 100% volume.

Im not a wizard at electrical wiring, so I don't know why this would happen, although I'd love to hear an explanation from a sage.

It also brings up a second question. If you choose to use the middle for its tonal qualities, does the tone control for the neck or bridge PU reduce both PU's treble output, or is each tone control capable of reducing treble for only the PU assigned to it? Im wondering if its possible to reduce treble on a neck PU to have the treble output of the bridge and the bass-midrange of the neck blended together. Does either tone control affect both PUs in the middle?

Im really liking that 5th volume knob for dialing in all kinds of tone or equalizing, etc. Seems to work best for me as a form of tone/equalizer when going from Pos 1 to Pos 3.
Mandolindave
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Re: Gibson, Schecter, Rickenbacker. Two pickup and the middl

Post by Mandolindave »

One of the reasons or maybe the only reason for a five position in a Fender Strat was that guitarist were trying to balance the switch on the in between position so you could get the bridge and the middle pickups to work together , or the neck and middle pickups to work together. So they made the 3 position switch into a 5 position switch by making detents in between the positions
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jdogric12
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Re: Gibson, Schecter, Rickenbacker. Two pickup and the middl

Post by jdogric12 »

Interesting points! I like both pickups on usually, with one volume or the other dialed down to about 9, depending on which kind of tone I want.

Welcome John!
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iiipopes
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Re: Gibson, Schecter, Rickenbacker. Two pickup and the middl

Post by iiipopes »

jdogric12 wrote:Interesting points! I like both pickups on usually, with one volume or the other dialed down to about 9, depending on which kind of tone I want.

Welcome John!
You need my 3-pickup wiring mod diagrams. PM and I will send them to you. In the meantime:
http://rickenbacker.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7928
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