Metropoulos Forum

I am about to receive a Gibson SG standard through the mail. I have an idea I want to try out for the guitar's wiring but I need some help in figuring out how to do this. Here is whats up: The guitar has two pickups...I want to be able to split the coils so I need 2 pots to do this since I want to be able to individually do this. Here is the kicker... I want to have two different pairs of capacitors ....4 caps total. You may ask why? Well the reason is that Im going to use Jensen Paper in Oil and the SOZO vintage .022 caps and I want to be able to switch and mix and match between them, for example I may want to be using a SOZO for the bridge and a Jensen for the neck pickup on that day, maybe the next day I only want to use SOZO for both pickups...etc. I have no Idea how to do this and any bit of info would be great. Thanks alot, Im learning alot from you guys and I appreciate it along with the PMs I have been getting from you guys loving my enthusiasm and free thinking....and if this question annoys you , just ignore it and go about your business.

what you'd need is 4 of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Gibson-500kOhm-Po ... 956&sr=1-2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'd arrange it like this - Bridge Vol to be for coil splitting, Neck Vol to be for switching the phase of the neck pickup, and use Bridge and Neck Tone controls for switching between the SOZO and Jensen caps.
I reckon this is even better than having just 2 coil splitting switches and 2 for cap changing - this way you can split both pickups and put them out of phase for that Peter Green sound.

Though, have to say that i doubt that you'll hear any difference in tone that is worth 40 bucks just in pot with a dpdt switch, but whatever floats your boat.

here's the schematic/layout:

http://i44.tinypic.com/27xjp5j.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Edit: i believe this belong to "Guitar" part of the forum.

Thanks for the advice man, but do you know how I would go about connecting the capacitors to what?

it's shown on the picture as ---I I--- which is a sign for capacitor.

both "south" capacitor ends would go to the middle lug of the pot (wiper), and the "north" part of one would go to the lowest terminal of the switch, and the other cap's "north" would go the the top terminal of the switch. Choose whether you want SOZO in up position or down or vice versa for Jensen.

bulatovic wrote:it's shown on the picture as ---I I--- which is a sign for capacitor.

both "south" capacitor ends would go to the middle lug of the pot (wiper), and the "north" part of one would go to the lowest terminal of the switch, and the other cap's "north" would go the the top terminal of the switch. Choose whether you want SOZO in up position or down or vice versa for Jensen.

Ah I see it now, thanks man. One more question, with these pots...when you pull them do they go to 270k or something like that, to mimic the fender tone network? This should be fun, lol. I feel sorry for my guitar already...with the "new surgeon" that I am hahahaha.

Nah, it's just the switch that you're playing with when you pull the potentiometer shaft up. If they did a dual pot with 500k and 250k and a dpdt switch, they you'd be able to do it But really - you're going to overkill the guitar. IMHO you don't need that many options especially not the one with the cap choosing - honestly, the current and the voltages are SO low in the circuit that it is virtually imposible to hear any difference.
And also - SG with single coils? A big no-no is what Angus Young would say, or Eric Clapton from Cream era
My suggestion - better invest in some really nice pickups than paying 100$ for pots with switches. Take a look at Bareknuckle pickups, maybe Throbak and stuff like that. I believe they're worth every penny/cent. But that's my view... SG for me screams CREAM and AC/DC!!! Proper humbucker sound - straight through a 100w Marshall cranked up loud
No single coil mojo for me there
Though, a reverse polarity switch may be nice to have if you're into Peter Green tone... But on a Les Paul

bulatovic wrote:My suggestion - better invest in some really nice pickups than paying 100$ for pots with switches. Take a look at Bareknuckle pickups, maybe Throbak and stuff like that.

Generally I like the meatier tone of a Les Paul over an SG, but an SG with a set of Bareknuckle Rebel Yells is something pretty special! If you get a chance to hear those pickups in one then take a listen.

I wouldn't bother using switches between two different cap types. I'd just try both and see what works best in your guitar. I've ended up taking all the switched pots out of all of mine that had them and just gone back to plain old humbuckers. That said, a phase switch for the middle position wouldn't be a bad idea.

Rather than plan everything before you've even heard it, make the decisions with your ears.