custom wiring harness

[Chris Harwood]

IS there a source or someone on these forums I can pay, that can make a custom wiring harness or just pay for a diagram...and I can solder it myself? I've got a rough idea, but it's involved enough, I can see one mis-placed connection and muting the whole thing! Also, a keener advice on best components too?

Alternatively, I could create a diagram for a final inspection (and ideas)?

It would involve two necks, both with double pickups and a "spin a split" wiring on one of the humbuckers....and then the normal stuff, enroute to the output jack.

[Chris Harwood]

More specifically..
looking to wire up a double neck, console steel guitar. Each neck having a single coil and a humbucker with coil split wiring capability.

The humbuckers would be wired with a 'spin a split' and then run to a 3 way switch to combine the single coil pickup. Each pickup would have it's own volume knob, prior to the switch with a master tone for each neck....each neck wired identical.

The necks would be combined with a 3 way switch, just prior to the output jack.

[John Hyland]

I’m no expert but I think you need to choose Your pickup first as some use a four wire for split and others such as Wilde/Lawrence use three.
With the Wilde/Lawrence you can select which coil to split by shortiing the split wire to ground or sending the split to the output in stead of the hot.
I think you might get more help if you drew a stylistic layout

[Chris Harwood]

This is what I'm thinking... I forgot ...I would also put a master volume in for the whole guitar, just after the final 3 way switch.

[John Hyland]

You want both necks to be active at the same time?

[Chris Harwood]

My diagram above shows a 3 way switch selector, last in line. Neck 1 or 2 or both.

[Chris Harwood]

Btw...using 4 wire humbuckers with ground that can split the coils with the wires being start and finish of both coils. Not to be confused with coil "tapping". I already have all the pickups.

The spin a split feature allows for all humbucker or all single coil, with a sweep between the two, versus a mini switch typically used, only offering one or the other choice. Blending in some single coil hopefully gives some clarity to a darker humbucker style pickup.

[John Hyland]

The reason I asked about the pickup is that grounding the coil can be an issue if the ground is going through the volume pot. I see from you diagram you may have avoided that. You probably already know that to avoid the same grounding issue the spin a split should be a no-load type and supposedly a 50 k version.

[Chris Harwood]

thanks John. I "kinda" understand the 50k pot, which shows you how much in the dark I am. This doesn't seem to be an over complicated wiring, but it is something I'd like to experiment with and enjoy doing. I could probably just wire it up like double pickups, but this doesn't seem all that much more.

OT... I wonder why no one has ever considered mounting a pickup further up the neck...more under a harmonic area...say like the 24th fret area. Since the strings never touch the fretboard and there's enough space for something like this (realize routing into the neck area now), seems like it could give some really nice tones...just like you get, picking further up the neck. Even if you lose some fret "markers" it would only be a small area that shouldnt affect a confident player. Maybe it's already been done and has no benefit?? The fact that pickups are so frequently positioned, slammed right up against the bridge, explains for higher output pickups, but such a lousy location for nice, full tones, in my opinion. Yeah...ya get twang and snap, but the nice, liquid sound of a steel is what I think many actually prefer.

[Bobby D. Jones]

Check around here on the forum, Mr. Emmons at 1 time experimented with 3 pickups 2 being suspended over the strings, Called it a Tone Machine, Music Machine.
Changing the position of the pickups will change the sound.