Jerman wiring diagram

[thistle3585]

Several people have asked me for this, and there have been a few wiring threads, so I thought I'd post it. I pulled the diagram off a website many years ago, but the page is no longer there. This is standard for every instrument I build. The Pot values are 500K Audio and the cap varies between a 022 or 047 depending on the customers request. Maybe some owners can chime in on the tonal qualities of this diagram. I haven't had complaints, but that's not to say someone hasn't been happy with it.

I assume Pete won't have a problem posting his pickup but that is the one that I use.

[Chinn]

Andrew, thanks for posting that. I'm tempted to pull my setup and re-wire with this instead.

[Ed Goist]

Andrew, in terms of performance, how does your Single/Humbucker/Out of Phase wiring perform differently from the Series/Split/Parallel wiring shown on the Seymour Duncan website?

[thistle3585]

There really isn't much difference from that wiring diagram except I believe mine "cancels" out some of the upper harmonics. Years ago, I used a Carvin stacked humbucker on a mandolin and wired it in a manner that the bottom pickup was tapped. It had a "distant" tone to it and I could never replicate that until I found this diagram. I don't hear enough difference between series and parallel on an emando as I do on a guitar but there is a distinct tonal difference with the out of phase setting.

In all honesty, I am assuming that Pete is wiring these in phase so that I am switching them out of phase. If he isn't then I'm not quite sure what I've got other than I am very pleased with the result. Three clearly distinct tones with a humbucker. I can't say how it will work on anyone elses pickup, but I feel confident enough that I'll send Chinn a wiring harness if he'll post sound bytes, in each switch setting, between the current setup and the new setup. What say you Chinn?

[Chinn]

Thats a hard offer to pass up Andrew! I've got the Moongazer MG4 in mine, so it has the right output wires to connect up to your diagram.

I'll shoot you a PM.

BTW, I'm super nervous about posting clips... Not many people have heard me play before (excepting my family)

[Soundfarmer Pete]

Thanks for sharing this diagram Andrew......
I`ll definitely have to try this next time I build a single pickup instrument.......or maybe.......
2 humbuckers each with mini toggles going to a 4 position blade switch.....I make that 24 different options

[Chinn]

A big thank you to Andrew!!!!

I got the wiring harness yesterday and first spent a few minutes getting sound files of my existing setup. The existing setup was pretty good. Fun tone in the two outer switch positions with the middle position being pretty weak. Finally, I had minimal volume control (pretty much on-off) and no tone control at all.

I've added Andrew's harness into my BluesBird. Only took a few minutes and it was ready to rock. I soldered in the pickup exactly per the wiring diagram above and buttoned everything back up. After a few minutes of playing, I have an effective volume control, effective tone control, and the three different positions sound pretty different from each other.


Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll get a few mins to record an 'after' sound file to finish a 'before-after' recording. As soon as I have that done, I'll post it up here.

[Chinn]

Well, here is the finished product. Excuse my poor playin.....

I have my own opinions, but I won't corrupt your thoughts. Lets hear what you have to say about Version 1 versus version 2.

FWIW, the two distorted files are with exactly the same settings on the amp. No changes there to promote an accurate comparison.

[djweiss]

Wire harness 1 sounds better to me...

[Ed Goist]

Chinn, that is a GREAT looking and sounding instrument! Well done.
Very cool demo and comparison. To my ears, harness 1 is "meatier" overall. However, I'd say that setting #2 on harness 2 is my overall favorite setting. That's where I'd be living
Great sounding instrument! Congratulations.

[Mandobart]

Chinn and Andrew thanks to both of you for sharing this info. This to me is our cafe at its most helpful and useful form. My opinions after listening thru my computer speakers:
Harness 1 had an overall warmer tone, with some distinct differences between the three switch settings.

Harness 2 had much more distinct sounds (as compared to harness 1) between the three positions. It did sound more "distant" in all 3 positions, which is what I think Andrew said he was after with the design. Thanks again. Harder and harder to resist the pull toward trying my hand at my own electric build....

[thistle3585]

The center setting, the humbucker mode, should be the same between the two harnesses except for the fact that the capacitors may be different. I think the second harness is an .022 while the original setup was an .045 but I could be wrong. Thanks for posting them.

By the way, what scale is your mando?

[Chinn]

I'm pretty sure the caps were/are different. Between that and any mistake I made on my harness would be the difference.

The neck is a modified Moongazer neck, so the scale is a standard 13 7/8". I've been experimenting with different strings lately, but the strings were the same on both takes.

[Chinn]

A quick update on this.

I've now played the new setup for approximately a week and I'm really liking it. There is more difference between the two stronger settings, and so I've been able to play with them and get more sounds out of the instrument than before. I also was able to use my old Crate amp with the instrument (could not do much of that before) and got even more options from the little thing.

I guess what that means for me is a good level of variation which gives me more tonal options. I'm no top notch player, but I enjoy it, and having more settings to explore makes playing more fun.

Thanks again Andrew!