How to Wire a Split Coil Pickup

A humbucker normally uses two pickup coils to increase signal output and remove the 50 Hz hum created by single coil pickups. A split coil pickup is a humbucker wired so only one of the two coils outputs a signal, which some guitarists desire. Split coil humbuckers are almost always wired so that the pickup selector can be set to use the full humbucker tone or the split coil tone. Split coil humbuckers have either four or five wires, including a hot wire, ground wire and two individual lead wires. Each manufacturer has a unique wire identification color scheme.

Things You'll Need

• Humbucker with split coil leads
• Soldering iron
• Electrical solder
• Pickup selector switch or similar control

Instructions

1. Plug in the soldering iron and allow it to warm up.

2. Touch the end of the hot wire to the pickup switch tab it is to be connected to. The pickup wires are color coded. The color of the hot wire varies based on the pickup manufacturer and model. The switch tab corresponds to the pickup switch position you want to use to select the full humbucker tone. The switch tab the hot wire is connected to must be identified by the manufacturer. The arrangement of the tabs varies based on the design of the switch.

3. Touch the tip of the soldering iron to the end of the solder coil. A small amount of solder should melt onto the tip.

4. Touch the tip of the soldering iron to where the hot wire and switch tab are connected. The solder solidifies to hold the wire in place once the soldering iron is removed.

5. Solder both individual leads to a pickup switch tab. This is the tab that corresponds to the pickup switch position that you wish to use to select the split coil tone.

6. Solder the ground wire to the back of the tone or volume potentiometer. The potentiometer being used for grounding the guitar electronics can be identified by the wires soldered to the back of it from the other controls. The wire can be soldered anywhere on the back of potentiometer as long as it is connected to the metal casing.

7. Solder the remaining wire, if you are using a five-wire split coil humbucker, to the ground spot on the back of the potentiometer. This wire is used for a different type of pickup configuration and is not necessary for wiring a split coil.

Tips & Warnings

• Pickup selector switches and similar controls have different control tab configurations. In some cases, you can identify which tab corresponds to each switch position. This is done by seeing which tab is touching the metal piece on the switch. This method of identification can be more difficult to impossible for some pickup switch designs.

• Plumbing solder corrodes electronics due to the different material composition it uses. Do not substitute plumbing solder for electrical solder.

References

• "Ed's Shed: The Ultimate Guide for Guitar Maintenance"; Ed Mitchell; 2007
• Guitar Nucleus: Guitar & Bass Wiring Techniques
• Seymour Duncan: 2 Humbuckers, 1 Volume, 2 Tones, 5-Way Switch W/ Coil Split Wiring Diagram
• Seymour Duncan: Wiring Information for Humbucker Pickups
• Blue Guitar: Coil Cut Switches for Humbuckers