Wiring two pickups and basic controls. It’s not rocket science, and nothing to fear. If you can solder, you can wire your guitar.
Wiring two pickups and basic controls. The schematic below shows a two-pickup setup. It has a 3-way selector switch, one volume, and one tone control.
It doesn’t matter which brand of pickups you use. Wire colours may differ, but the principles stay the same. Here are some quick tips to guide you.
Checking pickup polarity
Pickups follow the rule: opposites attract.
When using two pickups, you want opposite magnetic poles. Hold their faces together. If they stick, you’re good. That’s north and south attracting.
For three single coils:
- Bridge should stick to middle.
- Middle should stick to neck.
With humbuckers, the idea is the same. The screw poles on one should attract to the screw poles on the other.
Wires on single coils
A simple single coil usually has two wires.
Sometimes it’s one cable with inner and outer wires. Sometimes it’s two separate coloured wires.
The inner wire is hot (positive). The outer, wrapped around it, is ground (negative).
It doesn’t matter which you choose as hot. The key is consistency. Use the same wire for hot on all pickups, and the same for ground.
Wires on humbuckers
Humbuckers often have 4 or 5 wires. Here’s the breakdown:
- The bare wire (often soldered to another) = ground.
- Two wires soldered together = coil link. Wrap them in tape or heat-shrink. Ignore them for now.
- The last single wire = hot. This goes to the selector switch or volume input.
That’s all you need for basic wiring. No need to memorise colour codes.
If your humbucker has just one cable, treat it like a single coil. Same rules apply.
Grounding everything
Ground is critical. Miss it, and your guitar will hum like a wasp in a biscuit tin.
Run a wire from the bridge to ground. Make sure all ground points are linked:
- Pot backs
- Switch casings
- Pickup ground wires
Test continuity with a cheap tester. You’ll find them in car parts shops or electronics stores. They have a probe, a light, and a crocodile clip.
Clip to the bridge or a pot back. Touch the probe to each ground point. The light should glow if the connection is good.
A few quid on a tester can save hours of head-scratching.