NPD:Dimarzio Super Distortion (Much Wiring Confusion)

[jpistolas]

Just bought a used Dimarzio Super Distortion. It has the following wires:

White
Red
Black
Green
Bare

So far the only multi meter readings I can get is green/bare as ground and white as hot which gives 14.24k. Full humbucker reading. Tying the other two (red black) gives no reading. Neither do they individually. As it stands I'm assuming I can wire it up as just a humbucker but I did want to coil tap this pickup also.

I initially tested this with the color codes given here on SD's support page (red hot) that shows Dimarzio color codes and Dimarzio's support. (They could learn some on drawing diagrams from SD.com's wiring area)

Anyone have any ideas?

[idsnowdog]

Re: NPDimarzio Super Distortion (Much Wiring Confusion)

Here are the color codes for most manufacturers.

http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/wiring_resources_guitar_wiring_diagrams.humbucker_wiring_color_codes/

[jpistolas]

Re: NPDimarzio Super Distortion (Much Wiring Confusion)

The Duncan page and Dimarzio for different pickups show the same colors as this site. Been by that diagram before. Thanks for linking it for me. Forgot about it.

Here's my results. Still working on the idea the green and bare wire are ground.
Ground and red = no reading (according to diagrams this should be standard 2 wire full humbucker hookup)
Ground and black = no reading
Ground and red/black tied = no reading (again, according to all diagrams this should be the single coil readin appx half full hb)
Ground and white = 14.2k reading

Am I missing something? Did Dimarzio make some pu's with different wiring codes? Could the wires that tap the humbucker be faulty? I'm lost on this one.

[idsnowdog]

Re: NPDimarzio Super Distortion (Much Wiring Confusion)

Red & Black would be the North coil and White & Green the South coil. White and Black should be wired together to create standard series. Green and Bare can be wired together for your ground leaving Red as your hot lead.

[jpistolas]

Re: NPDimarzio Super Distortion (Much Wiring Confusion)

Red & Black would be the North coil and White & Green the South coil. White and Black should be wired together to create standard series. Green and Bare can be wired together for your ground leaving Red as your hot lead.

With the wires tied together like your example (which is the way I understood Dimarzios anyway):
Ground is green & bare tied together for reference.

Ground and red = no reading
ground and black/white tied together = 14.2k
ground and white by itself also = 14.2k

To say I'm confused is an understatement...

[idsnowdog]

Re: NPDimarzio Super Distortion (Much Wiring Confusion)

Did you buy this pickup new or used? Do you have a picture of the pickup?

[jpistolas]

Re: NPDimarzio Super Distortion (Much Wiring Confusion)

Bought used on ebay. Here's some pix. The wires are currently tied together as you've suggested just in case they're different in the pix. They're from the original auction.

[CTN]

Re: NPDimarzio Super Distortion (Much Wiring Confusion)

maybe someone rewired the insides of the pickup

[idsnowdog]

Re: NPDimarzio Super Distortion (Much Wiring Confusion)

What kind of pickup is it supposed to be and what are you trying to do with it? If it reads 14.2k it more than likely is in series and you can hook it up as long as you aren't asking for it to do anything special like parallel or split coil. You can also take off the baseplate and reconnect the wires to function as normal if it was modified.

[LonePhantom]

Re: NPDimarzio Super Distortion (Much Wiring Confusion)

Have you installed it yet, see if it actually works? idsnowdog is correct with the wiring, go for it and see if it works first.

[jpistolas]

Re: NPDimarzio Super Distortion (Much Wiring Confusion)

CTN I'm inclined to agree. It seems like a 4 wire was used to fix a 2 wire pickup and just the green and white were connected. Black and white read full 14k white by itself reads 14k. Red always reads nothing. Shouldn't the red read 14k and the black and white tied together read appx half, 7k? As a reference I checked the super distortion in another guitar. Red reads 14k and white/black tied together reads 7.1k.

[King IzzO)))]

Re: NPDimarzio Super Distortion (Much Wiring Confusion)

Something is def wrong, you should only get 14.2 between red to green with black and white together. White to green and red to black should both measure out to ~7K.

[jpistolas]

Re: NPDimarzio Super Distortion (Much Wiring Confusion)

Something is def wrong, you should only get 14.2 between red to green with black and white together. White to green and red to black should both measure out to ~7K.

Exactly! I double checked one of my old guitars I have a pair of super distortions in and black/white together is appx 7k. Red is appx 14k. White reads nothing without the black and only 7k with black tied. This pickup only reads full 14k on white. I honestly believe it has been taken apart and the wire replaced only connecting it as a two wire pickup.

I suppose it's still usable but since the seller has agreed to do a full return I think I'll go with the return. This has made my head hurt.