Question Sterling H Owners: Parallel vs. Single Coil Sound

[bvdrummer]

I've got a Sterling 5 HS that I love, and the stock pickup switching is

1. Coils 1+2 (Bridge HB in Series)
2. Coil 1+Phantom (Bridge Single Coil)
3. Coils 1&3+2 (All 3 Coils)
4. Coils 2+3 (Bridge and Neck Singles in Series)
5. Coil 3+Phantom (Neck Single Coil)

where + means series, and & means parallel. I really love and use positions 1, 3 and 4 a lot. Position 5 is okay (don't use it much), but I never use position 2 b/c it sounds much thinner and quieter than the others. I'm considering rewiring position 2 to have Coils 1&2 (Bridge HB in Parallel). I know the wiring may be tricky, but my questions are primarily for Sterling H owners:

• How do you like the sound of single coil vs parallel mode?
• Is this something I could just achieve with the 3 band EQ instead of rewiring?
• What styles do you use the different switch settings for?

Nevermind - I think this mod can't be done b/c the humbucker in the HS model only has 3 conductors where the H model has 4 to allow for this kind of switching.

 

[stu42]

I'll try to answer some of your questions.

I used to have a Sterling 5H and I found that the single coil sound was more similar to the series sound but thinner, quieter and "lighter weight" whereas the parallel setting is beefier but more "airy" than series. Parallel is a little bit mid-scooped and somewhat resembles the sound of a Stingray. For my ears, the Sterling H in parallel setting with the mids turned down a fair bit and the treble boosted a bit sounds very similar to a Stingray H.

IMO you can't really achieve the same thing using just the EQ. The parallel mode does create a tone that is fundamentally different than series or single coil.

 

[sanderhermans]

I agree with stu42 the sc tone on my sterling is a bit similar too the series mode. The paralel however is the one i prefer, its sr4 like but with more volume and voiced a bit differently. The series tone is a bit too harsh for most playing styles imo. But all 3 positions are great. I'm kinda glad i bought the single H model for the paralel mode.

 

[bvdrummer]

Thanks guys for the input. I think I'm gonna try this 'cuz I never use position 2 anyway. I emailed customer service today and they gave me the wiring diagrams for both the H and the HS models so I'm looking through those now.

 

[stingrayguy]

Hi bvdrummer,
i can only confirm what the others already posted.
But: I'm very curious to see whether you manage the mod. I also once had a Sterling 5HS, which was a great bass, but i was definitely missing the parallel-H tone of the Stingray. So i sold it and got a Sterling 5H, which i really love, since it is extremely comfortable, gives me the Stingray tone in parallel (i have 3 Stingrays which differ in tone at least as much as the Sterling in parallel mode differs from any of these) and it offers the series sound, which i also like a lot. I don't use the single-coil mode at all. But others might like it...
So please keep us updated about the mod!
Greetings from Germany,
Markus

 

[BigDBass]

On my Sterling 4H I use parallel almost exclusively.
On my Sterling 4HS I use position 4 almost exclusively.

 

[five7]

If the room is boomy i use the single coil setting on my 5H otherwise the bridge setting. love that tone. Just using the tone controls is not going to get you the single coil sound.

 

[bvdrummer]

Well, after studying these diagrams, I'm thinking this mod is not possible The humbucker in the HS model only has 3 conductors where the H model has 4 to allow for this kind of switching.

If I could figure out how the 3 inputs (black, white, yellow) to the circuit board work, I might be able to combine the coils in parallel before the board. But I only have experience with "passive" wiring and I don't want to mess with the board and accidentally ruin something.

 

[sanderhermans]

Well for me thats one of the few down sides to active basses. I dont have enough knowledge to work on th while passives are easy!

 

[bvdrummer]

Ok, if anyone is still following this, I did a little more investigating on the three inputs to the board from the switch (black, yellow and white), and here's what I found:

1. I checked with a multimeter and the black input (not used on the HS model) is grounded
2. The yellow pin on the board is grounded (connected to the black pin) in parallel mode on the H model
3. In the Sterling H wiring diagram, the polarity of coil 2 gets reversed when going from series to parallel (the H model has 4 conductors on the pickup)

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that because of point #3 above, the yellow and white pins are electrically 180 degrees out of phase inside the board. So all series connections subtract the yellow input from the white, or vice versa, whereas the parallel connections are added before going into the the board.

Now jump over to the HS model: in series mode, coil 1 goes into the white pin and coil 2 goes into the yellow pin. Therefore, I think coils 1 and 2 are opposite in polarity, so they get subtracted in the board and are in phase in the final output. Since I only have a 3 conductor pickup, I am unable to reverse the polarity of coil 2 and get coils 1&2 in parallel.

However, I did realize that I can have coils 1&3 in parallel, so maybe I'll try that for a "jazz bass" type sound. It would be an easy mod too: I'll keep the phantom coil and just connect coil 3 in parallel to coil 1 that's already there. So I'll only have to solder 2 joints!

 

[sanderhermans]

Yes but if you do 1+3+phantom there will be no hum canceling as you should have an even amount of coils for hum cancelation. Or am i seeing this wrong?

 

[bvdrummer]

Yes but if you do 1+3+phantom there will be no hum canceling as you should have an even amount of coils for hum cancelation. Or am i seeing this wrong?

In theory I agree with your logic. But in switch position 3 I have (1&3)+2, so I think (1&3)+Phantom should give me a similar amount of hum cancellation. I'm assuming the phantom and coil 2 have the same number of wraps, etc.

There is also another section of the switch that selects from one of three resistors on the board (blue, orange, and brown). Positions 1, 3 and 4 all go to the blue resistor. Position 2 goes to the orange resistor, and the Position 5 goes to the brown resistor slot which is open. I haven't traced the paths of these resistors into the board, but I'll look at what their values are and try to see where they go in the board. I have a feeling it won't cause permanent damage to change which resistor is used for a particular switch position, so I might try the 3 different values and observe the effects. I suspect it could do one of the following:

• Adjust the overall volume of the bass in that switch position
• Adjust the volume of one of the white or yellow inputs relative to the other (this would affect hum cancelling properties)
• Affect the behavior of the 3 band EQ in a particular switch position (such as resonant frequency)

The one other part of the switch that's strange is a capacitor (I think) that's physically on the switch and connects the yellow and white inputs for positions 1 and 2 only. I don't know the effect this has on sound, but since it's just on the switch and not the board I'll be more comfortable to disconnect it and see what happens.

EDIT: Don't worry about the bass guys I'm super cautious and I'm not going to do anything unless I'm confident that it won't cause permanent damage. At least if I do fry the preamp, I'll just play my Bongo until I get it replaced!

 

[bvdrummer]

Ok I did it. Coils 1 & 3 in parallel like a jazz bass. It sounds great - a lot more mellow than the rest of the positions, but a very usable tone. I started a new thread about the mod if anyone is interested:

http://forums.ernieball.com/music-m...wiring-mod-coils-1-3-parallel.html#post970572

Thanks for all the input. Maybe someday I'll get a Sterling H too!