Mod of my Yamaha Pacifica Strat

[Guitar-Chris]

Hello!

After having done a small mod to the 5-way-switch of my Yamaha Pacifica (2 SC, 1 HC) I thought of adding a switch for the different humbucker modes.

So, now I can switch the humbucker in three ways:


Position 1: Both Coils parallel (hum canceling)
Position 2: Single coil (coil splitting)
Position 3: Seriel coils (standard humbucking mode)

Position 1 and two just differ slightly. In position 1 there is almost a single coil sound but adding a little more punch and it is hum cancelling.

What do you have to do for this mod? At first you have to find out, if your humbucker has 4 wires that are required for this mod. The function of the four wires are:

1: Beginning of coil 1
2: Ending of coil 1
3: Beginning of coil 2
4: Ending of coil 2

In normal serial humbucking mode wire 1 is the hot wire, 2 and 3 are connected and 4 is to ground. So the signal rans through both coils. If you put wire 3 and 2 to the ground, coil 2 ist shortcut and Coil 1 is acting as a single coil. If you connect wire 1 and 3, and put 2 and 4 to the ground, both coils work parallel.

The wires are of different colours, but there is no standard. So look at the home page of the manufacturer to get the description. If ther is no, get a multimeter, set it to measure impedance (Ohm). If you find a pair of wire that belongs to one coil, there is typically an impedance of 5 to 10. If they do not belong together, you don't get a value.

The easiest way is to use a small On/On/On switch like this. You can see the wiring diagramm at Rockinger. It's the fourth diagramm. Or you look at GuitarNuts. It's the last diagramm.

[tunghaichuan***]

Chris,

That is a great mod, thanks for posting. :

For my needs, I only need the series and parallel options. I've found that I don't like the coil cut that much, it doesn't sound much like a strat to me. And it is easier to find on/on switches than on/on/on switches.

tung

Hello!

After having done a small mod to the 5-way-switch of my Yamaha Pacifica (2 SC, 1 HC) I thought of adding a switch for the different humbucker modes.

So, now I can swith the humbucker in three ways:


Position 1: Both Coils parallel (hum canceling)
Position 2: Single coil (coil splitting)
Position 3: Seriel coils (standard humbucking mode)

Position 1 and two just differ slightly. In position 1 there is almost a single coil sound but adding a little more punch and it is hum cancelling.

What do you have to do for this mod? At first you have to find out, if your humbucker has 4 wires that are required for this mod. The function of the four wires are:

1: Beginning of coil 1
2: Ending of coil 1
3: Beginning of coil 2
4: Ending of coil 2

In normal serial humbucking mode wire 1 ist the hot wire, 2 and 3 are connected and 4 is to ground. So the signal rans through both coils. If you put wire 3 and 2 to the ground, coil 2 ist shortcut and Coil 1 is acting as a single coil. If you connect wire 1 and 3, and put 2 and 4 to the ground, both coils work parallel.

The wires are of different colours, but there is no standard. So look at the home page of the manufacturer to get the description. If ther is no, get a multimeter, set it to measure impedance (Ohm). If you find a pair of wire that belongs to one coil, there is typically an impedance of 5 to 10. If they do not belong together, you don't get a value.

The easiest way is to use a small On/On/On switch like this. You can see the wiring diagramm at Rockinger. It's the fourth diagramm. Or you look at GuitarNuts. It's the last diagramm.

[markb]

Nice mod. It's possible to coil shunt a bridge humbucker in a fat strat directly on the 5 way. And no, you don't need a 4 pole super switch. Here's how. This is the way the Fender Lonestars are wired.

[Guitar-Chris]

Nice mod. It's possible to coil shunt a bridge humbucker in a fat strat directly on the 5 way. And no, you don't need a 4 pole super switch.

I know, because I had this wiring on my strat before. But you have to decide, what 5 variations you want. With an extra switch, you have many more options.

The standard of a Yamaha Pacifica 412V is:

1: Neck Pickup
2: Neck with middle pickup
3: Middle pickup
4. Middle with bridge humbucker in single coil split mode
5. Bridge pickup.

I changed the position 3 of my Pacifica:

3: Neck with bridge humbucker (!)

No I have 3 position, where the bridge humucker is engaged. And with the extra switch I have:

1: Neck Pickup
2: Neck with middle pickup
3a: Neck with bridge humbucker coil split
3b: Neck with bridge humbucker parallel
3c: Neck with bridge humbucker serial
4a: Middle with bridge humbucker coil split
4b: Middle with bridge humbucker parallel
4c: Middle with bridge humbucker serial
5a: Bridge pickup coil split
5b: Bridge pickup parallel
5c: Bridge pickup serial

That makes 11 different sounds. I like that extra switch because you can see the switching state. You can also switch the humbucker by a push/pull or a push/push potentiometer, but personally I don't like this version.

A nice alternative is to blend a humbucker from single coil to humbucking mode with a potentiometer.

[SuperSwede]

Awesome work on that strat Christian! I wish that I could do stuff like that

[Guitar-Chris]

Awesome work on that strat Christian! I wish that I could do stuff like that

That was not to difficult. I think anyone who knows on which side the soldering iron is getting hot can do that. The main difficulty is, that you have to solder the last wires inside the small electronic compartement of the guitar.

[SuperSwede]

That was not to difficult. I think anyone who knows on which side the soldering iron is getting hot can do that. The mein difficulty is, that you have to solder the last wires inside the small electronic compartement of the guitar.

ME + SOLDERING IRON = NOT A GOOD IDEA

[kiteman]

That's some job there. :

I put a super switch on my Carvin Bolt with an HSH setup so the #3 gives me both the bridge and the neck buckers together. That's the only thing I did there. I'm not too crazy about coil splitting and phasing, it's over my head.