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Versatile Humbucker for 1-PU/1-Vol guitar

2K views 16 replies 8 participants last post by  001 
#1 ·
If you all remember, I got my daughter the Atomic (i.e. very sparkly) Pink Daisy Rock Short-scaled guitar and a Mustang Mini Modeling Amp last Christmas (and it's has the DR Neon Pink strings, a pink strap and pink cord). The guitar is actually very solid and really good for the price. I was surprised when it turned out to be way better than the Mirko & Squire short scaled -- plus it's very pink and very sparkly.

I'd like to replace the bridge humbucker with something that sounds very different wired in series vs. parallel. My daughter likes the look of lipstick pick-ups, and to a lesser degree Filterons and Lace Alumatones, so anything looking like this would be a plus, but sound is the most important. Also any "standard" pick-up that's available in a chrome cover would be a plus.

I'd love to install a P-Rail and a 4-way switch, but I'm hesitant to do the drilling/routing required. I'd prefer to just wire-in a push-pull pot -- I'd have to commit seppuku if I ruined the finish. Did I mention that it was very sparkly? And Pink? And a Christmas present?

Late last night, I was toying with the idea of replacing the volume with a rotary switch and going with the P-Rail. I couldn't find any guitar-grade 4-pole, 4-way rotaries (only $100.00+ industrial-grade). Anybody know of a source for guitar-grade 4-pole, 4-way rotary switches?

Then I started thinking about what to wire-up for one or two additional options if I went with the P-Rails and a regular 5 or 6 position switch:
  1. P-90
  2. Rail
  3. Both in parallel
  4. Both in series
  5. ?????
  6. ?????
  7. Profit!
Things that came to mind:
  • Low-Pass Cap on the Rail (hum-bucking + a little extra low-end on the Rail)
  • Low-Pass Cap on the P-90 (hum-bucking + a little extra low-end on the P-90)
  • Out-of-Phase Serial
  • Out-of-Phase Parallel
  • Breadwinner-esque Notch Filter
but I really don't have a good feel for which options would be useful/unique enough. The notch filter seems the least useful, because we can do the EQ in the Amp.

Any suggestions?

Ray

EDIT: I am a bit concerned about "too much too soon", but she loves the settings on the Mini and even has a chart of her favorite sounds. That's the reason I'm even considering the P-Rail with a 4-way switch.
 
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#3 ·
Thanks. Have you tried it serial/parallel? I'd hate to pop it in there with a push-pull and then never have the push-pull used because it really doesn't sound different/good in parallel.

Ray
 
#4 ·
P-Rails + Duncan triple shot ring. No drilling necessary, multiple sounds available.

Edit: you're an awesome dad for getting her a guitar. I look forward to the day my son is old enough to have his own. If I order it now, he could have a 22" scale Jackson custom shop V right around the time he's old enough for it. :idea:
 
#8 ·
You could even send him down to the shop to help them count to 24 frets, since they seem to have problems doing so on their own!
 
#12 ·
:crooks: and I thought I was one of the de-rail masters :facepalm:

Thanks. I didn't know about the triple-shot.

As for the guitar, buying the kids real instruments has been our best purchases to date. I don't know how old your son is, but Strunal makes some good 1/8-sized Classicals and putting the smallest-sized Hanebach KinderStrings on them really improve the sound and playability. There's also the http://www.amazon.com/Loog-Guitars-LG2S-Guitar-Natural/dp/B005AW2VB4 and the http://loogguitars.com/pages/electric-loog should be out this Spring.

Ray
 
#14 ·
:crooks: and I thought I was one of the de-rail masters :facepalm:

Thanks. I didn't know about the triple-shot.

As for the guitar, buying the kids real instruments has been our best purchases to date. I don't know how old your son is, but Strunal makes some good 1/8-sized Classicals and putting the smallest-sized Hanebach KinderStrings on them really improve the sound and playability. There's also the Loog Accoustic and the Loog Electric should be out this Spring.

Ray
Cool! He's three, so I'm not sure if he's ready for a real instrument or not.
 
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