2 conductor pickup in super sport?

[nickfox]

Hi

I put a pair of 57 classics in my super sport and then decided to put a 57 classic plus into the bridge. My problem is the plus pickup is 2 conductor. I'm most interested in keeping positions 1,3,5. Not really interested in coil tapping.

Can someone please help me wire up the 2 conductor pickup. I have the wiring diagram.

thanks
n

 

[nickfox]

I've been studying the internet. I'm thinking I can just hook the conductor from the classic plus pickup to where the red (hot) would go on the switch and connect the ground to the back of the pot.

That would leave the black/white lug on the switch unconnected.

Am I on the right track?

 

[vexed73]

Seems like you might want a 3 position switch.

 

[nickfox]

Seems like you might want a 3 position switch.

That would probably be best but at this point I would like to try and make it work with the 5 position.

 

[vexed73]

I would probably wire it where neck or bridge was at the center spot. Then you would have a kill switch as well.

Does it have a super switch style?

 

[beej]

The switching scheme uses combinations of the various 4 coils. You could find a way to wire up one pickup that doesn't split, but I think the final result will be different. (You'd get bridge HB in parallel with one coil from the neck pickup, assuming it has 4 conductors.) Also note that the original wiring is humbucking - splitting only one coil is going to introduce hum from that pickup that won't be cancelled out. (Not the end of the world, but just pointing that out.)

My two cents ... there are so many pickups that do the lower-output PAF thing well ... why not just find a set with 4-conductors?

 

[nickfox]

Does it have a super switch style?

It's the stock switch whatever that is.

there are so many pickups that do the lower-output PAF thing well ... why not just find a set with 4-conductors?

That's a very good question. It wasn't until this afternoon that I discovered that I had bought a 2 conductor pickup. Right now, I am just weighing my options.

1. get a 3 way blade switch
2. get a 4 conductor paf
3. figure out if it can be done with 5 way switch
4. turn my (new) 2 conductor paf into a 4 conductor.

I'm going to spend some time this evening with a multimeter and pen and paper and figure out this switch. That will help me determine the best path to take.

 

[nickfox]

Ok, so I wanted to let you know what I ended up doing. I decided to take the "scary" route and turn my 57 classic+ into a 4 conductor pickup (and also move it from a tall frame to a short frame for the super sport). These were all brand new pickups I was working with and this was the first time I had taken apart (expensive) pickups...

I replaced the regular 4 conductor 57 classic (that I had installed a month ago) with my new hybrid 57+ and... nothing. It worked just fine, but it's just that I could not hear any real discernible difference between the classic 57 in the neck and the 57+ in the bridge. I was stunned and was starting to become distraught.

I then decided to put the original Dimarzio back in the bridge. It DID sound different. It sounded ok, but not great, and certainly not better than the classic 57 in the neck. The thing that I was hearing in the neck that I really liked were the beautiful harmonics I was getting when I was playing D and G chords. It was very open and 3D sounding while the dimarzio was more focussed.

After this, I was considering giving up on my super sport, driving 7 hours to a music store in Italy that sells lots of vintage Les Pauls and getting on with my life and guitar playing.

I've had my guitar for 3 years and I LOVE MY SUPER SPORT. After playing it, I cannot go back to playing any other brand. The simple truth is that Music Man guitars are the most comfortable and playable guitars in the industry.

I decided to try one more thing before I gave up. I had a Seymour Duncan Slash pickup (brand new and slated to go into another guitar). I turned it into a 4 conductor pickup, put it on a short frame and stuck it into the bridge and there it was. Beautiful tone, beautiful harmonics, great match for the classic 57 in the neck.

I was happy with it but I wasn't done yet.

I was starting to gain some confidence in taking apart and rebuilding the pickups so there was one more thing I wanted to try. I wanted to match a bobbin from the (unremarkable) 57+ and the slash pickup. So I took them apart again, stuck it in the bridge and... It was pretty unremarkable. So once again, I ripped the pickup out, rebuilt the slash pickup and put it back in the bridge.

And now I am satisfied with the sound of my guitar.

I've attached a picture of my guitar with my new marshall DSL40CR. What a killer amp. If you look closely at my super sport, you will see that the creme bobbin (with the screws) instead of the black is closest to the bridge. I guess that's the way Seymour Duncan rolls...