Bulldog wiring ?

[Big Harry]

Assuming two HB's (CH1/CH3 in my case),what is exactly Bulldog wiring ?
Series, parallel , split ?
Where one can find exactly wiring scheme ?

Thanks
Zoran

[tom]

The pushpulls are series/parallel. If you email me I can send the diagram.

[Big Harry]

Hi Tom ,
Thanks so much for the diagram .
Once again , Tom Anderson Guitar Works have THE BEST customer service ever !!!

[Big Harry]

Hi guys ,
Just wondering if anyone tried different wiring than original on HB/HB configuration .

Bulldog is coming originally with series/parallel , so did anyone re-wire it to series/split ?

Reason for asking is that I did it , and result is FANTASTIC ( I am saying : fantastic !) clean tones .
Both hb's and when splitted .

My Bulldog becomes completely different animal , new guitar ! :D
In the music store there was no guitar with such a clean tones, and they have tons of good guitars(including Anderson's)

From other side, humbuckers (especially when distortion is on ) , sounded like a strong single coils when distorted , not as smooth as mid focused hb's from original series/parallel wiring .

I hope we did some mistakes in re-wiring , and that I will manage to have the best of the both worlds -fantastic cleans when split , but retaining that famous Bulldog smooth but thick and mid focused distortion with hb's .

Any thoughts will be very appreciated !

Thanks,
Zoran

[tom]

Hb should be the same either way. Hopefully the diagram will fix it for you.

[Big Harry]

during a weekend we will have two Bulldogs - one with split and another one with original , parallel wiring .
so , I will check hb's side by side (guitars are almost identical apart from frets and color )
I am so excited with the new Bulldog clean tones !!
could you imagine Tele, Strat and LP in one guitar , which is none of that but Anderson ?? :D :cool:
(and I don't care for a little hum (shhh.. like a noise in some split single coil positions ) it makes the sound actually very natural and organic !

Thanks again for diagrams Tom !:)

[Pietro]

Not a bulldog, but my Hollow Atom CT (VERY similar guitar, I expect) has the split option (like Cobra wiring) instead of the series/parallel normal Atom switching...

I've been using the single coil sounds a LOT more than I thought I would. Totally wonderful! I didn't think I'd like the series/parallel, and I suspect I'm right.

Also, for some reason, this guitar, of all the ones I've had in the past few years, seems to have the most usable volume and tone controls on the actual instrument. I've been a "just leave it all the way up" guy for years... not anymore...

[tom]

i think when you have "no shortage" of high end, like with your lower output humbuckers and the ability to split them, the controls become your friend. if things are ever on the verge of dark, the tone control becomes useless.

[Pietro]

i think when you have "no shortage" of high end, like with your lower output humbuckers and the ability to split them, the controls become your friend. if things are ever on the verge of dark, the tone control becomes useless.

Yes, this is what I find, and probably what I like so much about this guitar as opposed to my previous forays into "LP"-like territory, not that the PRS or the Heritage were bad. ON the contrary.

I have a dress rehearsal tonight and a gig tomorrow for a cool local benefit. All Atom, I'm going to get you a full report, including how I think the PowerBridge affects everything... I am pretty sure I know how I feel about it, but want to wait until after this "real" gig.

[JCD]

I wonder if anyone has ever seen or tried this wiring in a Les Paul/Bulldog setup. This is what Bill Nash does with his relic'd Les Pauls. It's bizarre.

http://s8.postimage.org/6rol3miap/photo.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/6rol3miap/)

When Tone knob value is at 0-8, it functions in full humbucker mode. When Tone knob is rolled up to 9-10, you get the coil tap thing going. No push pulls.


Opinions? I think it would be rather bothersome to not know if you are on 8 or 9 until you play. There's no click to feel it. Interesting nonetheless.

[pipedwho]

I wonder if anyone has ever seen or tried this wiring in a Les Paul/Bulldog setup. This is what Bill Nash does with his relic'd Les Pauls. It's bizarre.

http://s8.postimage.org/6rol3miap/photo.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/6rol3miap/)

When Tone knob value is at 0-8, it functions in full humbucker mode. When Tone knob is rolled up to 9-10, you get the coil tap thing going. No push pulls.


Opinions? I think it would be rather bothersome to not know if you are on 8 or 9 until you play. There's no click to feel it. Interesting nonetheless.
Just looking at that circuit, as you roll down the tone, the circuit will gradually short out the bottom coil of the humbucker. So it's a smooth transition (in a logarithmic sense) from humbucker (tone rolled all the way off - ie. tone control set to bright tone) to single coil (tone fully on - ie. tone control set to dull muddy tone). So even though you get a single coil tone, it won't be a nice bright stratty tone; more like a very dull muddy tone, sort of like a strat with the tone controls maxed to roll off all the highs. Might be good for jazz or something. But, I suspect you'd also want to change the tone caps to something a little lower in value if you want single coil tone.

It seems to me that the idea of the above mod is to make the last part of the tone control adjustment a bit more usable. Where a humbucker would get overly dull, the single coil starts to brighten up at the same time. This would make the last half of tone seem less dramatic.

Although, if that's the goal, then I'd suggest to just lower the capacitor value and keep the humbuckers humbucking. That would also avoid the associate gradual rise in hum as the tone is rolled back and the single coil 'rolls in'.

One of the better dual humbucker coil split mods is to use a 5-way megaswitch switch where the middle position splits both humbuckers and combines them in series (instead of parallel). This gives it brighter character without dropping the volume, and is still hum-cancelling - great for rhythm.

[tom]

It does not work as you describe piped. It is split all the way up then adds the second coil as described in the original post.
I used that wiring in the 70's on my les Paul's all the time and liked it a lot. The down side is that you really don't know where full humbucker with no tone rolled off is. When you use a smaller cap like we do, .01mf, its not as critical. The other slight snag is that you get the split without vintage voicing so its on the brighter side of split.

[Pietro]

Regardless, I've found that the 5-way "Cobra" (on both my Cobra and on my Atom CT) switching works way better for me to do this than that tone control trick (which my Peavey T60 used to do quite well, opposite... between about 8 or 9 and 10 the guitar went single coil, and 9 and below it was humbucker... how'd they do that?).

[tom]

The wiper on the tone control shorts to the side terminal when the pot is wide open, splitting the pu. Then as soon as there is enough resistance between the two, the signal goes back to the easiest path , which is the other coil.

[pipedwho]

The wiper on the tone control shorts to the side terminal when the pot is wide open, splitting the pu. Then as soon as there is enough resistance between the two, the signal goes back to the easiest path , which is the other coil.
Oops, I was looking at the image on my tiny iphone screen and didn't see the white wire going all the way across to the other pot terminal.

You are of course correct, it would be the exact opposite of the way I described above. And does look like it'd be quite fiddly finding that point in 'the heat of the moment' where the humbucker is running full without also rolling off too much treble.

For live use, the push/pull pots and Switcheroo are where it's at IMO.

[JCD]

Oops, I was looking at the image on my tiny iphone screen and didn't see the white wire going all the way across to the other pot terminal.

You are of course correct, it would be the exact opposite of the way I described above. And does look like it'd be quite fiddly finding that point in 'the heat of the moment' where the humbucker is running full without also rolling off too much treble.

For live use, the push/pull pots and Switcheroo are where it's at IMO.

Agree with all of this. :D

[Big Harry]

OK ,the test has been done , side by side two Bulldogs , with almost identical specs .
My Bulldog was rewired to series-split , and another was standard serial-parallel wiring.
Conclusion:
1 . series split has AMAZING clean sounds !!!
2. when HB is engaged , tone is NOT the same .
Parallel gives more smooth and more full tone- as one expect from HB and mahogany body , i.e from Bulldog .
HB with split wiring is more on the treble side , sounds like a single coil on steroids .

I kindly suggest to Tom to offer two wiring schemes for Bulldog .
Guys who prefer clean/crunch tone might choose split wiring .

Now, the question ::D

why HB sound is not the same ?

[Pietro]

...2. when HB is engaged , tone is NOT the same .
Parallel gives more smooth and more full tone- as one expect from HB and mahogany body , i.e from Bulldog .
HB with split wiring is more on the treble side , sounds like a single coil on steroids...

I'm intrigued! They should be the same, shouldn't they?

[tom]

Hb should be the same. Did you notice both hb being different or just one? Did you plsy both guitars side by side before the rewire?

[Big Harry]

we did check it out , before and after .
there is no any doubt that humbuckers and all others pick up positions sound different as I explained .

Grant, my guitar technician is confused now as well, since he has been thought hb's must sound the same ,.
But, this test with two identical Bulldogs , proved that I was right -hb's sound is different , very different

I am not happy because of that , since I thought I can get the best of the both Worlds- amazing cleans frim split , but with that famous Bulldog hb tone from humbuckers with standard wiring .

Wiring diagrams has been checked again and again ten times, and everything looks correct ( but I still hope Grant is making mistake somewhere :cool: )
He said - wiring is so obviously simple , thus mistake is not possible ...:D

I will play split a little bit and than comeback to original wiring , since that smooth and musical , but powerful hb sound was a reason I bought Bulldog .

I can only ask Tom , if he find a time and interest to clarify this subject , to do the same rewiring and side by side test ...it will be worth to wait for it :rolleyes:

Grant's rewiring work took only about 10-15 minutes ...

Thanks
Zoran

[tom]

you say that both guitars are same, but yours has a quilt top, so how can they be the same?
you did not say whether you played the two side by side before the change. did you do that?

[Big Harry]

I said almost identical specs , meaning same mahogany body and neck , rosewood fret board .
Difference (my bulldog vs other one) is in heavy vs low rise frets , and neck shape happy medium vs even+oo5 .
I didn't take top in equation , to be honest :D , thanks for that note .

But anyway , difference is obvious with my own Bulldog , comparing split vs standard wiring .
I used another guitar as a reference , just to be sure that we all hear the difference in the real time .

[tom]

but, he asked again, did you listen to both guitars side by side before mod?

[Big Harry]

yes , we listen and compared them side by side , before and after the mode .

[tom]

can't explain, but you know the old test, put it back and listen again.

[markus]

Both my Bulldog are wired series-split and I agree that the split sounds are great! Not that I'd spend a whole lot of time playing in the clean channel though... :D :D :D

[pipedwho]

I've changed the wiring on my guitars in many different ways over the years and the split wiring is one of my favourites (especially with the SAs and SDs). The H2+ and H3 also split extremely well.

Just to clarify, are you saying that you A/B compared the two guitars before the change and the humbuckers (in series mode) sounded close to identical? And that after changing the wiring on your guitar, the humbucker didn't sound quite 'right' in series humbucking mode anymore?

If you changed the wiring to do nothing else but swap the split/parallel mode, then the normal series humbucking sound should remain identical.

Did your tech change the strings, the pickup heights or perform a set up on the guitar when he made the change?

[Big Harry]

Thanks for the answer guys !

Markus , have you done post factory split mode by your self , or you ordered like that (done by Tom ) .

Pipedwho , there is my notes on your comments , in blue :


Just to clarify, are you saying that you A/B compared the two guitars before the change and the humbuckers (in series mode) sounded close to identical?
Correct
And that after changing the wiring on your guitar, the humbucker didn't sound quite 'right' in series humbucking mode anymore?
No , the both humbuckers on my guitar, in re-wired , split mode doesn't sound "quite right " . Original , series - parallel hb sounds just like a Bulldog hb should sound . :rolleyes:

If you changed the wiring to do nothing else but swap the split/parallel mode, then the normal series humbucking sound should remain identical.
Everybody said that, but they do not sound identical , what has been proven by this test with two guitars side by side , as already explained

Did your tech change the strings, the pickup heights or perform a set up on the guitar when he made the change?
no , everything stayed the same

[pipedwho]

Ok, so from what you're saying the regular humbucking modes remain tonally unaffected after the wiring change.

And, the only problem is the with the tone of the 'split' sound on your guitar as compared to the other guitar with the factory split circuitry.

Is it possible that the split wiring in your guitar is engaging a different coil to the guitar with the factory wiring?

[Big Harry]

No , humbuckers are tonally affected after rewiring - this is the point in all of this experiment .

[markus]

How is that possible? If there really is a big sonic difference, something must be wrong with the wiring. That's the only logical explanation.

[Big Harry]

I will check the wiring again with some independent party , this become very interesting :cool:

What I have till now is :
1. doesn't matter of wiring HB's should sound the same
2. side by side test proved HB's sound is not the same with different wiring
3. re-wiring is correct

Only statement number 2 . has been proved by testing - there is sonic difference , period .

So , statement 1. or statement 3. must be wrong .

Just one last question :
why statement 1 should be correct ? why hb's should sound the same , doesn't matter of wiring ?

Also , we did measured pups resistance before and after mode :

Series /Parallel (original factory wiring )
Neck HB.........Neck pull......Bridge HB..........Bridge pull
7.30 ............... 2.0 .............. 14 .00 ............ 3.57

Series /Split (re-wired mode)
Neck HB ....Neck pull ....Bridge HB .....Bridge pull
7.44........ 4.54 ............ 14.00 ............ 7.10

[markus]

Why would statement 1 be correct?
Well, assuming that the wiring is correct, engaging the two coils of the hb in series should always sound the same, no matter what you do on the pulled position (split the hb or run it in parallel). That's at least what I would expect.

[Big Harry]

sounds logically .
anyone else ?

[pipedwho]

As Markus said, statement 1 is correct, because the switch should provide an identical circuit when set to normal series mode - no matter what the switch is doing in the other position, whether it be parallel or split.

Something is clearly not quite right, because statement 2 indicates that something in the circuit is different. Obviously there will be a tonal change when the switch is in 'parallel' vs 'split'. But, the 'series' position should sound identical.

It's odd that the resistance of the neck humbucker changed in series mode after you made the mod. Maybe you had the volume rolled back a little when you made the measurement? Otherwise, something else may be wrong. Maybe the switch/pot was overheated during soldering and is making a less than perfect connection?

As Tom said, rewire the circuit back to original and make sure it still sounds ok. If not, then a component has either been fried, a wire incorrectly routed, or a connection has come loose / shorted out.

[Big Harry]

OK, guys thanks so much on your time .
Obviously I will need an independent checkout .

[Big Harry]

So, I am in tone heaven .
I have fantastic clean tones , but retaining that lovely hb's tone , what was my target anyway .

Where was the problem ???

Guess what , all of you all were right 100% - wiring was a problem :( .
After we did it again , this time using proper diagram Tom sent me (and re-wiring from the scratch ) , guitar simply rings s like a bell !!
Problem was that my tech did not use that full Tom's diagram , but diagram coming with Anderson's pickups package (showing only reduced part of complete wiring scheme) .

Thanks again everyone , case closed .:D