This doesn't work like I think it should

[RW James]

I modified my strat like in this wiring diagram
What I did, is wire a push/pull switch into the master volume so I can bring in the bridge pickup no matter what the 5way is selecting.

I have a Hot Rail in the bridge and a Vintage Rail in the neck. When the 5way is in the bridge position - the pickup is HOT!

But if I am running the 5way in the neck position and turn on the push/pull switch (giving me the HR and VR together) - I can hear a tone difference, but I'm not getting the volume I would expect from the HR. Is that normal? Or did I wire something wrong?

[MikeS]

That particular diagram doesn't switch the hotrails, it splits the HR with a push pull.

Do you ever want the ability to split the hotrails? The diagram gets a little trickier if you do.

For no split, take that diagram, take the red and white off the switch, solder, and insulate. Move the black wire to the middle lug of the DPDT. Connect the top lugs to volume pot "hot" terminal (same one that the hot is coming from on the switch). Connect the bottom lugs of the DPDT to the 5 way switch (where the HR black wire used to be). When in the down position the guitar will work like any other strat. In the up position the HR bypasses the switch and is on at all times (and in parallel with the other pickups).

[RW James]

Okay... thanks Mike for pointing that out - I'm an idiot... I didn't look at the diagram closely enough. Cosmetically it looks like that, but electronically it looks more like this

It really does work, and I like the mod (no, I wasn't really planning to split the coils in my HR - I did however do that with my Jazz on another guitar using the spin-a-split - elsewhere on that site)

So anyway, if you merge the two diagrams together in some way, you'll get what I actually did.

The question again is, why does the HR seem to be quieter when wired in with the VR than when it is alone?

[Reload in 5]

Is it similar in volume to the bridge and middle on together ?
If so its just because of the pickups being parrallel. You could wire it so that it cuts out the other pickup and just runs the bridge when pulled out if you want the true bridge sound.