[Lelik]

I'm building a (Jaguar type) guitar with only two DiMarzio noiseless single coils: an Area 58 in the neck and either a Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues 2 or a Virtual Vintage Blues in the bridge (I'm still undecided).

I'd like to use a Super Switch to add an extra "fatter" voice, something closer to a (bridge) humbucker while keeping the normal pickup selections available.

Which approach would you recommend based on your experience?

1) Adding a capacitor in parallel with the bridge pickup to lower its resonant frequency and make it sound fuller.
2) Wiring the bridge pickup in series with only the dummy coil of the neck pickup (not the active coil), so as to add some inductance without combining the actual string signals from two distant pickups.

Has anyone tried either of these solutions? I'd be very interested in hearing real-world experiences, suggested capacitor values, or any alternative ideas for getting a thicker bridge sound from a two-pickup noiseless setup.

I'm deliberately ruling out the usual neck+bridge series wiring because, from my previous experiments (although on different guitars with different pickups), I've never found the sound of two widely spaced pickups in series to be particularly useful. To my ears, it tends to lose definition and clarity.

[gregr]

[1] will give a nasal/cocked wah sound, not a fatter one.

[2] will introduce signal from the other position and only remove a very small amount of top end and move the resonant frequency down only slightly.

Your best solution is to come from the other direction with a Fast Track 1 combined with a bass shelving filter and reduced loading. For an improved humbucker tone you can use a small capacitor (with a series resistor to ground) and then use a 33n or 39n tone cap.

[Lelik]

Your best solution is to come from the other direction with a Fast Track 1 combined with a bass shelving filter and reduced loading.

Thank you for your suggestions!
Just to make sure I understand correctly: are you suggesting the RC network as an additional "fatter / humbucker-like" switching option for the bridge pickup, or as a way to make a hotter pickup (such as a Fast Track 1) sound more like a single coil? Could you possibly sketch the circuit or suggest component values?

[gregr]

I should really document my values but I never do. They vary a little depending on the guitar. I don’t know your specific switching scheme so you may or may not be able to implement everything. I can usually manage just about everything with a 5-way super switch. I’ve never done work on a Jaguar.

In fat humbucker mode you want the pickup to see a 250k volume and a 250k tone with a 33nF or 39nF capacitor. Choose the value that works best with the tone rolled back just above the point where the top end is swallowed up. To smooth out the top end you want to try like 1nF in series with about 220k to ground from the hot lead of the pickup. It’s subtle and subtle is all that you want. You don’t want the pickup to sound lifeless and dull and especially not nasal. It ought to be just enough when juxtaposed against the single coil voicing.

For the single coil voicing I’d really only be guessing at values because I really don’t remember. I’ve done it for the FT1 in both the bridge and neck positions in different guitars and the values are probably also different. Volume and tone at 500k or possibly even 1M volume when I use a treble bleed. The bass shelf is a resistor in parallel with a capacitor that is between the pickup and the switch. Choose values that reduce bass and midrange and give a frequency characteristic that is similar to a single coil.

Keep the pickup wired as a standard humbucker. The Fast Track 1 is not going to provide a worthwhile sound in either split or parallel modes. Also, the wire colors between DiMarzio humbuckers and single coils need to be reversed for them to work together in phase. It’s most straight forward to wire the Fast Track as red to the switch, green and bare to ground, black and white soldered together and taped off. For the Area 58, green to the switch and red to ground.