Humbucker wiring question??

[rydog2223]

I'm going to throw some new buckers in my LP. The question that I have is that there is the main braided wire and then a black and white wire to each pickup. The black and white are just for coil tap, right?? I just want it wired straight no coil tap. What do I do, I am new at this. Any help would be great. Thanks!

[Jim Collins]

Much depends upon who made the pickup. The braided shield will always go to ground. It is the ground for the base and cover (if there is a cover). It is possible that one of the leads is hot, and one is the ground for both coils. It is also possible that one of the leads is hot and the other is used only in the case of a coil cut, with the coil ground being integrated with the braided shield. Who made the pickup?

[rydog2223]

I'm not sure who made the pickup??? I got them ina trade froma fellow TGPer. He said that they were a custom wound PAF. No markings on them. My best bet is Dirty Dog??

[Rhomco]

the braided wire to ground. Twist the black and white together and connect to the hot terminal. If it works you (had) a coil cut but you dont want it so your done. If it does not work you have a hot with seperate ground for phasing purposes. Connect the white only and compare the sound to the black only.
Hope that helps,
Rob

[Jim Collins]

Well, I would try something different, first. Get a multimeter, and check the DC resistance between the black and braid, the white and braid, and the white and black. Whichever one of those is largest gives you the clue you need. If black and braid gives you a value that is roughly twice what either of the other two measurements are, then braid is ground, black is hot, and white is taped off and unused (it would be for a coil cut).

Similarly, if the white/braid measurement was twice either of the others, tape the black off, braid to ground, white to hot.

If the white/black measurement gives you something, and neither of the other measurements give you anything, then braid to ground, and either white-hot and black-ground, or white-ground and black-hot, depending upon phase relationships.

[rydog2223]

Little update on my project. I feel kind of foolish. The only two wires are black and white within the braided wire. I concluded that the white is the hot and the black the ground. I wired the white to the outside of the pot and the black to the top of the pot. I then used the tone pots as a ground for the braided wire. Everything was going just fine but I wired both of them and checked them something was bigtime wrong. The volume pots were all screwy and neither pickup worked. They worked when I tested each one as I put them in but not together. Help!! I don't know what to do!

[blueguitar]

It is just too difficult to give safe advice without a visual of your situation and not being able to run some basic ohm meter tests. So, I would suggest you struggle on but visit a couple of sites that provide re-wiring schematics. Here's one if its okay to post this information: http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/wiringresources/

[rydog2223]

Thanks I'll check it out.

[EADGBE]

I'd guess that the black wire is ground as is the braided shield. And the white is hot.