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Post by Eric H. on Feb 21, 2024 11:21:11 GMT -6
So, after many long, bad years of being a raging alcoholic, I've been sobered up for a couple years now, and I started playing guitar again after a good 15 to 20 year hiatus. I am fixing up my old guitars to the best of my ability, and I actually repainted one and it is turning out really well, but I am having a whole lot of trouble with the wiring. So, I asked the BING AI why there are 3 wires on each pickup, and it said something about having two separate ground lines for the purpose of noise reduction. After sleeping on it, I figured one of the ground lines must go to the strings, and the other to the cord. Is this correct? I joined this forum to ask questions about this situation, but since I think I am figuring it out, I don't know. If I have any questions I'll ask. Metallic blue paint job turned out pretty good. Should have clear coated it. Hindsight is 20/20 right?
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Post by GuitarAttack Forum on Feb 21, 2024 14:06:18 GMT -6
Eric -- Thanks for the post.
Most of those pickups have one ground, one hot, and one "tap" that helps the humbucker get a single coil sound.
The pickup should have a red wire, a white wire, and a bare ground wire. Is that what you see?
John
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Post by Eric H. on Feb 21, 2024 14:29:35 GMT -6
Yeah, red, white, and bare are the colors on the middle pickup. That is the one that is not working right now. The humbucker just has a red and a white. The neck pickup is orange, blue, and red. The single coils both have 3 wires, and the humbucker just 2. I'm actually pretty lost again. I don't have any money to pay a professional, so it's do or die. I usually figure this stuff out eventually, but some help is appreciated and often necessary.
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Post by dnic on Feb 21, 2024 21:10:46 GMT -6
Hi Eric, John is our expert round here when it comes to wiring. But most of us have some basic chops as well. If you know the brand of pickup you can usually find the scheme on line. I can't think of any reason why a single coil would have three wires unless it's a stacked humbucker as John suggests, and it's for a coils split. It could be a double ground wire but with plastic covers I don't know what for. Sometimes when we see pictures something will click.
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Post by GuitarAttack Forum on Feb 21, 2024 21:55:10 GMT -6
I went back through some of my notes and I recommend the following:
White: Hot Red: Coil Tap Bare: Ground
I think the red one is to cut part of the coil for a tele-like sound. Tape off the red and try it with the white to connected to hot out and ground to one of the pot cases to see if it works. If you have a multimeter the highest reading will be with the white and ground. The red and ground reading should be half.
I'm with Dane - a photo will help.
John
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Post by Eric H. on Feb 22, 2024 2:40:11 GMT -6
I don't understand what this "coil tap" thing is right now, but I'm learning. I took a few pics, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to post them.
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Post by Eric H. on Feb 22, 2024 2:44:46 GMT -6
Oh, you have to click on "reply" not just type in quick reply. Anyway, here are a few pics. I got this guitar around 1990, maybe 91, so it's probably a mid 80s model. both single coils have a white, red, and bare. The humbucker just has white and red. If I get stuck again, I will be in touch.
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Post by dnic on Feb 22, 2024 10:25:28 GMT -6
Let us know how it goes.
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Post by antares on Feb 22, 2024 15:23:22 GMT -6
There is a slim chance that the three wire middle pup does indeed have a coil tap. That which we routinely refer to as a coil tap is really a coil split allowing one of the two coils in a humbucker to be active on its own. Can you measure the resistances between the three wires? That would not be conclusive, but if the highest measured resistance is into double figures then I'd guess it's a stacked humbucker, on the other hand if the highest measured resistance was much lower then I'd be suspecting a single coil with a true coil tap. Single coils with true coil taps are fairly uncommon in my limited experience. In any event, making up a measured resistance truth chart should help you to identify which lead goes to the coil tap which is half way there because you are only left with two permutations.
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Post by GuitarAttack Forum on Feb 23, 2024 7:32:18 GMT -6
Good call, Steve...looks like a stacked humbucker.
I'm thinking the red wire is used for an out of phase tone with that five-way switch.
On another note, I like the double-cut Les Paul in the first photo.
John
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Post by Eric H. on Feb 23, 2024 12:07:27 GMT -6
Ok, this has me confused again, and I am attaching a picture. So, I have everything apart and labeled to the best of my ability, but one thing is throwing me off. I have the 5 position switch in the picture, and this is the stock wiring as far as I know. The middle pickup position uses the white wire as the hot wire, but the neck pickup uses the red wire? These 2 pickups appear to be identical in every way, although there are no markings to indicate a brand or anything like that. And on the middle pickup, the red wire is just fused with the bare ground wire, and on the neck pickup the white wire is fused with the ground wire. So I guess this is how a will rewire it when the time comes, but why?
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Post by dnic on Feb 23, 2024 12:15:58 GMT -6
Sounds like they are set up in opposite directions as far as start and finish wires are concerned. Which means they are likely giving an in-between hum cancelling option. So 5 is neck, 4 is neck and middle- hum free and 3 is middle.
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Post by antares on Feb 23, 2024 12:42:33 GMT -6
It's time for me to hold back because I'd be heading off into speculation based on what I've seen and read so far. The switch doesn't seem complex enough to perform a phase reversal because that would require a two pole changeover alone.
I spotted the double cut too as you'd expect, but I wasn't sure what it was.
Edit; Dane's post contributes more than I could.
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Post by Eric H. on Feb 23, 2024 14:27:21 GMT -6
Yeah, as far as my education on the matter is concerned, this is over my head right now. I don't know what phase reversal means, and I definitely don't know what two pole changeover is. I guess I am just going to try and replicate what was already done and hope for the best. lol. The guitar is almost completely apart again, so I guess I might as well give it a second coat of paint, with clear coat this time. And if it doesn't work, I'll just hang it on my wall as a decoration. Just kidding. I'm pretty stubborn. I'll keep at it until it works.
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Post by Eric H. on Feb 23, 2024 16:10:09 GMT -6
Sounds like they are set up in opposite directions as far as start and finish wires are concerned. Which means they are likely giving an in-between hum cancelling option. So 5 is neck, 4 is neck and middle- hum free and 3 is middle. If I am interpreting this correctly, not exactly. Close, but 3 is the humbucker by the bridge. Everything else is correct.
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