Coil-Splitting

[Tru_Slice]

I have this 2-year old OLP Benji Madden guitar that I'm going to upgrade.

Since it only has one humbucker, i figured it would be cheap and worth my money to replace the stock humbucker.

When I got my SD Full Shred, I was ecastic to learn that I could do a coil-split; all I needed to do was to install an extra togle switch (push/pull/pot).

It sounds cool to me, but like the person that I am, I am begining second-guessing doing it.

Should I go for it, or be careful and just install the humbucker by itself?

[Benjy_26]

Do it.

One more sound never hurt anybody.

[jajones480]

The question you have to ask yourself is can you use a soldering iron? Reading electronic schematics is pretty easy because the ones from the SD support archive all have color-coded wires. If you're not color blind you should be alright.

With the push/pull, the red and white wires should be tied togther, the green and bare should go to ground, and the black should go to your tone or volume. The push/pull is setup like this:

|
------
P O T
--------
A1 | A2
B1 | B2
C1 | C2

where A, B, and C are the terminals that dictate where the connections are made. The middle position, B1/2 is your constant connection. When the pot is pushed in, B1 will be connected to C1. When it is pulled, B1 will be connected to A1. Same goes for A2, B2, and C2. Effectively, if you had two humbuckers you could use one push pull to split both of them at the same time! So, in your case, you want the red/white wires to be connected to B1 or B2. Leave C1 open so when it is pushed in, both coils are still active. Connect any ground to A1 so when the knob is pulled, the red/white wires go to ground. This shunts the screw coil on a SD pup (I think).

When you say "install an extra toggle switch" you mean replacing one of your current vol/tone knobs with a push pull, right? You probably don't want to be drilling holes in the body. Someone on the boards here pursuaded me against it and I'm glad I didn't do it.

Good luck! If you have questions, the folks on this board are most helpful and are willing to answer questions without flaming.

[Tru_Slice]

Wait, I would have to replace a volume or tone port to accomplish this?

I checked out the diagram that SD has, and it seemed like all I needed was a toggle switch.

(This guitar only has one humbucker.)

And fortunately, I don't have to drill holes; this guitar has a pickgaurd:

[jajones480]

I see. If you want to use a mini toggle (ON/ON), you would just wire it up the same as you would with the push/pull pot. I'm sure someone here can help you with a wiring diagram that includes your tone and volume.

Good luck and sorry for the confusion.

[Tru_Slice]

Thanks for your guys' help.

Despite it being cheap, I really belive that it is a beautiful axe, and I really want to make it sound as good as it looks.

Hopefully this unique modification will help it.