[nizz]

Back again with an issue I can't solve. 
USA Jackson SL1 using a super switch. 
Bridge is a PATB-2 Duncan distortion parallel axis HB.
Middle is a Fast Track 1.  Using the attached diagram.

The first go round was using the attached diagram but switching the wires for Duncan code, of course.  This made the top coil hot when split.

The second go around was wiring Duncan red hot, white ground, black & green split.  This made bottom coil hot when split.

No matter what, I cannot get position #4 (split bridge and split middle) to be hum cancelling.

[darkbluemurder]

The standard Duncan wiring would be black to hot, white+red to split and green to ground. This gave you the expected tone but hum, correct? What do you have now - hum and expected tone or hum and thin tone? If so, it is out of phase and you should swap red and white. If not, we have to look elsewhere.

Good luck
Stephan

[nizz]

In each case, it was not hum cancelling. 

I at first wired Duncan normally using red/white as split, black for hot and green/bare to ground.  Noise in position #4 combined with the split FT1 middle.  This made the top coil of Duncan hot when split.

I then switched the duncan to be black & green split, red for hot and white/bare to ground.  Again not noise cancelling in #4 and this wiring made the bottom coil hot when split.

I think it is more hollow sounding in current wiring vs the first wiring.  Neither sounded good.

If it helps, this is what the meter shows at each position:

5.  20.26k (duncan patb2)
4. 2.55k
3. 5.66k (fast track 1)
2. 2.26k
1. 12.79k (this is a duncan stk-s1n stack)

[darkbluemurder]

The meter readings would be the same in all cases so that does not get us anywhere. I still say try swapping white and red.

Good luck
Stephan

[nizz]

Tried it both ways, the noise is still there in #4.  Is it possible that the split duncan is just so loud it overpowers the ability to hum cancel when split with another pup?  my ibanez 550 with megadrive/evo single/paf pro is dead quiet in positions 2 and 4 and sounds killer.

[darkbluemurder]

That is a strange phenomenon you are experiencing. Never had a PATB-2 but it cannot be much louder than a Super Distortion or a Lawrence L-500XL.

Have you done the magnet/polarity check, and what were the results? I am asking because at the moment I am not sure which coils need to be active to get the hum cancelled.

Cheers Stephan

[nizz]

how do i do the magnet test on the rail pickup like that?  its a fast track 1 which has the two blades very close to each other.

curiously... if i wanted to completely reverse everything about how that middle pickup is wired, using the attached diagram from first post, how do I need to wire it?  If i wanted the entire everything to be BACKWARDS from what it is currently?

the darn thing is not noise cancelling in #4 or in #2.  And to make stuff funkier, i put in an air norton bridge last night, wired exactly as diagram says, and #4 is not noise cancelling.... wondering if the fast track 1 was somehow reversed by factory and i just never knew it?

[darkbluemurder]

how do i do the magnet test on the rail pickup like that?  its a fast track 1 which has the two blades very close to each other.

Pretty much the same way as you would with large humbuckers but bring the other magnet not straight from the top but from a bit of a side angle.

Good luck
Stephan

[DarthPhineas]

Never had a PATB-2 but it cannot be much louder than a Super Distortion or a Lawrence L-500XL.

Correct. It has a fairly congested/compressed quality that makes it sound a little more subdued that one might expect from how it’s named.

[nizz]

Never had a PATB-2 but it cannot be much louder than a Super Distortion or a Lawrence L-500XL.

Correct. It has a fairly congested/compressed quality that makes it sound a little more subdued that one might expect from how it’s named.

I replaced my superswitch and this is all working now.

Darth:

This particular PATB-2 is an older one with 2BJ sticker on bottom and reads 21.6k and to me is quite hot.  It is a very tight pickup and great for tight riffery and chunks, there is no flub there and in a neck thru usa jackson it's great.

I tried a super distortion and just did not get on with it at all.  Having had a super D and the pat2b in same guitar, i felt the patb2 was miles hotter and chunkier.  Do you find it to be similar to the pat2b?

XL500 I have not played since 1993 and that was long before my chops are what they are now so it's been too long to comment!

[darkbluemurder]

Glad you got this sorted now. A bad part can surely throw everything off.

Now have fun with that axe.
Stephan

[DarthPhineas]

This particular PATB-2 is an older one with 2BJ sticker on bottom and reads 21.6k and to me is quite hot.

Cool. Mines from the same timeframe.