How to Wire a Humbucker With Two Coils
Humbuckers are guitar pickups that have two rows of electromagnets. The north poles in one row of electromagnets point up, and the south poles in the adjacent row point up .This arrangement cures a problem common with older guitar amplifiers -- a steady hum when the guitar was not being played. The input signals cancel each other out and eliminate the hum. Humbucker guitars usually have two pickups, one near the neck and the other near the bridge. A switch can be flipped to connect the pickups in series or in parallel.
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Instructions
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Look at the connections to the switch. There will be six connection lugs -- two rows of three. Connect a wire from one of the pickups to one of the middle lugs in the rows of three. Connect a wire from the power supply to the other side of the same pickup. Connect a wire from the unused middle lug to the unused pickup. Connect a wire from the other side of this pickup to ground. Two unattached lugs on one side of the switch are going to be associated with the series circuit, and the other two lugs are going to be associated with the parallel circuit.
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Choose which of the two lugs you want to be associated with the series connection once the switch is installed. It will not be a problem if you get it in backwards; it will just mean that you have to take the switch out, turn it around, and put it back in. Run a short wire between the two lugs that you want to be associated with the series circuit. When the switch is in the series position, the current will run from the power supply, to one of the pickups, to the center of the switch, across the short connection, out the other center lug, through the second pickup and to ground.
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Connect two wires to make the parallel paths. The first wire goes from the power side of the pickup that is connected to the power supply to the unused lug that is in row opposite the one where the power side pickup connects. The second wire connects from the ground side of the pickup to the last lug that is unused. When the switch is in parallel mode, the current runs from the power supply to a junction. One branch goes through a pickup, to a middle lug, to another lug in the opposite row, to a junction and then to ground. The other path is from the junction, to one of the parallel lugs, to a middle lug, through a pickup, to a junction and to ground.
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Tips & Warnings
This process is a lot less confusing if you draw the wiring before you start soldering. You can trace the paths and verify that one has the pickups in series and the other has them in parallel.
Use only as much wire as you need and never make a coil of surplus wire, as this will change the sound or the guitar.
References
Resources
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