Anyone here knows what exactly a push/pull pot does?

U can make it do all sorts of things actually... depending on how u wire it. Examples include, tapping a humbucker coil into a single coil; Run a humbucker in parallel (you need a 4 conductor pickup to do this), normally a humbucker is run in series; you can even wire it to switch pickups; or turn on a high pass filter (ibanez JS models come with this stock)...

I'm currently using a LTD MH-50 and am looking to add more versatility by being able to switch my pickups from series to parallel wiring at will. However, I'm not sure if this can be done as the guitar body only has 2 slots for my control knobs and 1 slot for a 3-way switch (Very much like the Ibanez JS Series). Do you think it's possible to be able to achieve that with just one push/pull control knob as I'd like to have 1 pot for tone, another for volume and the 3-way switch to switch pickups?

have it launch rockets, or smoke machine installed in your middle pickup cavity like ace frehley

speaking of series/parallel wiring.
the best man to see is tham.
his ibanez V in his place is wired like that, with a seperate toggle switch to go between the two wirings.
not sure how a push/pull can be wired to do it, cos most use a toggle switch rite?
so i would suggest sacrificing your tone knob, unless you wanna wire it permanently in parallel.

or if it can be done with a push/pull, i also wouldnt bother.
not fun operating a push/pull when you're playing.

This post has been edited by Everdying: Oct 22 2006, 12:03 AM

Nah... I'd rather install a TV or a portable beer dispenser if it were possible!

I first got this idea of getting a push/pull pot after seeing Buckethead use it to play "Whitewash" on YouTube (or at least that's what I think he was using). By repeatedly pushing & pulling the pot rapidly, he got this "stuttered" effect which seemed like a fun idea. Of course, a similar effect can be achieved by switching pickups rapidly, but like any rock star wannabe, I want my guitar to be able to do as many things as possible (discounting the beer dispenser & rockets!).

Oh, btw... who's tham?

This post has been edited by changhao: Oct 22 2006, 12:10 AM

series/parallel mode switching will not get you the stutter effect.
you sure he didnt have a kill switch installed?

tham is a local guy here who does a pretty good job on guitars.
do a search on here, his number etc is all listed somewhere.

I'm not sure about Buckethead, but I just wanna see what happens if I rapidly switched my pickup from series to parallel.

well, go visit tham then
basically when you switch to parallel, the sound cleans up alot.
so every note you play sounds nicely define.
fits his use for shredding etc.

From what I know, it cleans up but is not as powerful as it would be in series.

Yup, will go look the guy up.

yea its not as powerful, but its still more than what a typical single coil can do.
the output is still somewhat there.

@everdying, yes you can wire a push-pull pot to do coil tapping, or parallel wiring.

and another plus point for parallel wiring is that it cancels the 60 cycle hum you get from single coils. so its like a hot rodded single coil without hum.

This post has been edited by MetalZone: Oct 22 2006, 12:58 AM

Right now, my neck guitar is wired in parallel, and being an Air Norton(a mid-output pickup), it's really unbalanced with my X2N (high-output) which is wired in series. I try to make up for that by having my neck pickup closer to the strings than my bridge pickup. Nevertheless, the idea of being able to switch my pickup settings mid-play is a really tempting idea.

Tham's Ibanez V has the X2N in neck running in parallel. Not sure whether his toggle switch is for the X2N or his Invader bridge though...

Just curious, you planning on having the toggle for your Air Norton or for the X2N? Seriously, the X2N in parallel sounds quite nice, since it's so high output that it still has quite a bite to it in parallel...

And here I was thinking that the push/pull pot has got something to do with Buddy Rich's push/pull technique

Oh Hammer of Blacktrix, strike this spammer down!

Eh Rust, you're PUSH/PULL POT still at your work place?

...err, I don't have a push/pull pot, sorry. Vbs is just spamming....

try JS Music. . . they have the DiMarzio Push pull. . .

Any of you guys coil-tap your humbuckers using a push-pull? How is the sound, would it resemble a Strat single-coil tone?

the split coil gets there somewhat, its still different from a pure single coil.
guess due to the amount of magnet etc there.

even humbucker sized P-90 sounds different from normal P-90.