How to Wire a Coil Tap Switch for a Pickup
A coil tap switch on a guitar shorts out the two coils on a guitar's bridge pickup and cuts the pickup's power in half to make the humbucker act as if it were a single-coil pickup. Single-coil pickups are popular on Stratocaster guitars because they have a unique sound. Wiring a coil tap switch requires a four-conductor pickup, which means the pickup has four wires coming from it. If there are two wires taped together that come out of the lead cable for the bridge pickup, wiring a coil tap switch is possible.
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Instructions
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1
Drill a hole at a desired location on the face of the guitar into the cavity. Drill a big enough hole to mount the on/on mini-toggle switch. Mount the mini-toggle switch to the face of the guitar with the socket set.
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2
Remove the tape from the two wires that are wrapped together. Strip approximately 1/8 inch of insulation off each wire with wire strippers if the wires do not have any bare wire exposed.
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3
There are three lugs on the back of the mini-switch. Solder both wires to the lug that is either on the far left or the far right.
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4
Cut a wire long enough to extend from the center lug of the mini-switch to the back of any potentiometer, or pot, inside the control cavity. Trim 1/8 inch insulation off each end of the wire.
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5
Solder one end of the wire to the middle lug on the mini-switch, and then solder the other end of that wire to the back of the pot. Flipping the switch on shorts the coil to ground.
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