Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David L. on July 26, 2012 at 3:27am

Hi Ron,

All the pickup makers use different colour codes.  I think it is a stacked pickup so it contains 2 separate coils - comparing to other pickups I've used I would guess the coils are coil1  red to white and coil2  green to black.  Do you have a multimeter to check the coils?  If not if you use a plugged in amp cable and hold the stripped ends of red to the tip and white to the shaft of the cable and tap the pickup gently with a metalic object it will let you work out if the wires are to the same coil. Repeat for green and black to check both coils are working.  If there is no sound on the tap test try the red against the other wires to match it up.

You then need to work out the polarities of the coils otherwise you can get cancellation of some of the sound ("phase" cancellation which gives a quack/wah type sound - sometimes done intentionally) If you have a multimeter check out this youtube video  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UfxQBhqen8

If there is no multimeter you can use trial and error so first try I would suggest is red +  twist white and green together and black -

This would give you a 2 wire humbucker (red+ black -).  Hold the wires to the amp cable and hold the pickup over  strummed guitar strings to see how it sounds (you'll need a helper of a set of test leads)  If it sounds okay you are good to go.

 

How you wire it up depends on what you want - the 2 coils on a 3 way switch will not give much difference as they are sensing the same string location.  The esquire diagram for series/split/parallel options gives the best difference http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php... but you need a 3 way like the diagram (an Oak Grigsby 3 way I think they are called) as an import switch (the square type ones) have an extra connection that shorts one of the options. Or an electrical ON/ON/ON switch wired like this can be used http://www.warmanguitars.co.uk/wiring_diagram_downloads/3-way-humbu...

The esquire gives a better coil cut with a stacked humbucker (louder meaty growl) than the on/on/on switch

If you are able to let us know what wires go together and how you want to connect them (the 2 coils to a 3 way or series/single/parallel or as a humbucker with coil tap option or just as a humbucker) and with what type of switch you want to use then I'll draw you up a diagram adding the volume and tone.

Permalink Reply by ron carlson on July 26, 2012 at 4:22am

Thanks for the info. David!  I checked out the video you linked to and that explains a lot. I've got a couple of DMM's that I use around here. The only analog VM I have is a GE wood cased bench model, probably from the 50's ;)  It's more of a conversation piece than anything else.

I'm going to go through the process, identify what is what and post the results here.  I'm more of a audio electronics guy so all this guitar stuff is a bit of a mystery to me. All I really want to do is use it as a humbucker pair with tone and volume. As a hobbyist speaker builder, I understand the results of series and/or parallel wiring when it comes to drivers in relation to Ohm for example. Not sure what the advantages/disadvantages would be when doing the same with pickups. Meaning, just getting a pickup other than a piezo wired correctly and actually work would be a great triumph for me ;)

Thanks,

RC