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Fender HH S1 with Hot Rod Humbucker Wiring

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  • Fender HH S1 with Hot Rod Humbucker Wiring

    Hi everyone, great forum and thanks for having me!
    I’m new to guitar, but work in fabrication and love modding things. Lately, modifying and building guitars has become my new passion.
    I’ve started making a secondary loaded pick guard for my ‘04 American HH Strat which will eventually go into a scratch build. I really want to replicate as many of the wiring configurations as possible from the original Fender setup, but in this model the pickups didn’t have consistent wiring and so I am finding it hard to learn much from their service manual.
    What I’ve deduced so far is that fender oriented the humbuckers from neck down as SNSN whereas the hot rod humbucker sets (jb/jazz) default orientation with logos aligned is NSSN. Is there any relevance to running them in different orientations, or does it not really matter?
    Fender have the wiring colours and screw/slug polarity flipped on the neck pickup compared with the bridge pickup. The bridge pickup following Fender colour code and the neck pickup definitely not following it, possibly opposite.
    I have a full spare set of parts including a 500k S1 switch and five way super switch, but also bought a push pull volume pot in case the S1 switch was beyond what I could work out myself or get help to understand.
    I’ve attached the switching scheme and wiring diagram from Fender below and would really appreciate any suggestions, help with matching the wiring scheme using the Seymour Duncan pickups or helpful suggestions for a newer player to look into to improve my knowledge.
    I love the sound of the guitar with the fender pickups and would really like to replicate the setup with other pickups so I can compare and contrast.
    Thanks in advance!

    Control function diagram from: https://support.fender.com/en-us/kno...ticle/KA-01276
    Wiring diagram from: https://support.fender.com/en-us/kno...ticle/KA-01279

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    Last edited by Stepping3D; 01-17-2025, 07:30 AM.

  • #2
    Here is a picture of the back, showing the way Fender setup their consistently inconsistent pickup wiring in this model.
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    • #3
      Hey everyone,
      I’ve kept working on installing the Seymour Duncan JB/Jazz set with an S-1 switch and a 5-way Super Switch. Since Fender’s stock humbuckers use different wiring and polarity, I figured the next step was to verify the pickups wiring before going any further..

      My Process So Far
      ✔ Used a multimeter and a Gauss meter to check coil polarity, resistance and phase (I think I got it right, first time but I triple checked).
      ✔ Confirmed that Fender’s pickups follow SNSN polarity, while Seymour Duncan follows NSSN.
      ✔ Reworked the wiring plan for Seymour Duncan’s pickups while keeping Fender’s switch layout.

      What I Need Help With:

      ✅ Does my wiring plan maintain correct phasing and operation with Fender’s S-1 switch?
      ✅ Have I correctly adapted the Seymour Duncan wiring without disrupting Fender’s switch functions?
      ✅ Any advice on improving the design or wiring plan?

      I’ve attached a few tables showing measured polarity and resistance values and have also adapted the pinout list from the fender wiring diagram, as I have no way to draw a schematic right now and figured it would be the easiest to understand.

      I appreciate any advice!

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      Last edited by Stepping3D; 01-18-2025, 03:35 AM.

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      • #4
        Here’s what I’ve translated out by basically copying the fender wiring pattern but swapping in SD colours.

        Edit: I finally understand the wiring scheme. Fender is running the neck humbucker in reverse, with the ground hot and the hot ground, when thinking of them as a series pair.

        Is there any issue with me doing exactly the same with the SD pickups, even though magnetically they are not in an identical configuration? Or should I turn the neck pickup upside down to be magnetically the same as Fender (SNSN) and change the wiring around to suit that configuration?

        My pen drawn annotations are the SD wiring colours…
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        Last edited by Stepping3D; 01-18-2025, 07:46 AM.

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        • #5
          So I’m pushing forward with some trial and error testing to see if my plan will work out or not. I would love any advice if anyone sees anything wrong with the way I’m planning on doing things.

          Here’s a diagram showing how the pickups will be laid out and connected:
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          And here’s the list from the Fender diagram with Seymour Duncan wiring substitutions:
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          Attached Files
          Last edited by Stepping3D; 01-19-2025, 02:04 AM.

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          • #6
            Hey Stepping 3D. Welcome to the forum. You aren't being ignored, it's just that that is a complicated project, and Fender's documentation leaves much to be desired. For example, look at the red circle on the diagram segment that I've attached. There appears to be several jumpers connecting all those terminals together, which makes no sense. A true schematic would be helpful.

            But I think I can help with a couple of your issues. First of all, rotating the pup in its mount does nothing. Your original idea of reversing the wires does what you need. But only if you flip the magnet. This allows you to split to both inside stud coils and have it remain humbucking.

            I'll try to help as I can, but I'm battling some health issues, and can only rack my brain, so to speak, in bite-sized nibbles.

            But it sounds like you're figuring it out. Which is the best way. Good luck with this ambitious project.

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            • #7


              Hi ArtieToo , thanks for your help—I really appreciate it!

              That makes a lot of sense, and I think I’m slowly starting to understand. I was hoping that by rotating the pickup and wiring it based on the phase measurements it would match Fender’s SNSN polarity order, but I think I understand what you’re saying…

              I was a bit nervous about flipping the magnet but I’ll watch some videos and see if I can manage it..

              From what I can see, the bridged contacts on the five way switch are what’s keeping the neck in series in position 3,4,5 and the bridge in position 1,2,3, by linking it back to the orange/white wire that goes to the S-1 switch.

              Thanks again for all your patience and help—I really appreciate the insights!

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              • #8
                No prob. And I'll study those diagrams some more as I get the time and gumption, and see if we can figure out a proper schematic and solution.

                P.S. I just realized that if I click on those links, I get a much better resolution image of those diagrams. Let me study those a bit, and see what I can figure out.

                Edit: Is your pickguard still intact? If so, could you take a pic of the front? I'm curious as to how the pups are oriented.

                Ignore the "edit." Now that I have a clear diagram, I can see how the pups are oriented.

                Are you comfortable doing a mag flip on one, (and only one), of the Duncan's?
                Last edited by ArtieToo; 01-20-2025, 12:53 AM.

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                • #9
                  Yeah this is one doozy of a project, but if anyone can figure it out, Artie can. And this thread will help other people trying to solve the same issue.
                  Administrator of the SDUGF

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                  • #10
                    Thanks both!!
                    I had a quick look at unwrapping the pickup but I think I might need to order replacement tape before I start pulling it apart because it’s really stuck together… I’ll have another go soon and see how far I get…

                    Is there any particular reason not to just rotate the humbucker rather than flipping the magnet, aside from visually having the screws closer to the neck? It almost seems like this is what fender did, and then just swapped the pole pieces with the screws, because they’ve got both flipped humbucker and flipped wiring.

                    When I rotate the neck humbucker, this changes to SNSN from neck down—matching Fender’s polarity layout, so if I then select the two middle coils for example, wouldn’t this still be hum canceling with one north and one south, provided my wiring is correct?

                    Edit: or is it something to do with the direction of winding of the SD coils? I feel like I’m right on the cusp but maybe still missing something, so apologies if this is a silly question.

                    It would definitely look better the other way around, I’m just trying to get my head around what exactly is happening to fully understand what I’m doing.

                    The interesting thing is when I do it like this, suddenly fenders schematic makes total sense and the wire colours all seem to “work”…

                    Thanks again for all your help and advice and I’ll try and get a clearer schematic out tonight so I can explain better where I’ve got to so far…


                    Last edited by Stepping3D; 01-20-2025, 02:02 AM.

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                    • #11
                      Hopefully this will also help understand Fenders confusing layout. I used a mechanical gauss meter for magnetic polarity and used the multimeter method for working out phase of the wiring…

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                      • #12
                        Here’s a sample wiring diagram based on the rotated pickup. It’s really hard doing this on a phone, so you’ll have to forgive my crappy diagram. Hopefully it helps show where I think all the connections should go, minus the caps…


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                        Last edited by Stepping3D; 01-20-2025, 05:24 AM.

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                        • #13
                          Your diagram is fine. (Surprisingly nice for done on a phone.) But there's a couple issues. A Duncan pickup will always be stud coil black + / white - , and the screw coil will be red + / green - , so your "top" (I assume neck) pup is labeled wrong.

                          You don't need to unwrap a pup to do a mag flip. (And you may not need to.) Here's how I do it:

                          Loosen the bottom four screws. A half, or maybe full turn should do it.
                          Have a popsicle stick, or something similar non-metallic handy. I bought a box of tongue depressors from the flea-market cheap. If you have either of those, I cut the round end off, then sand it to a dull wedge. You want to avoid using a screwdriver because some magnets can chip easily.
                          Carefully, stick the wedge end under the tape at the end and gently pry it up so you can see the end of the magnet. Also, gently, (I'll use that word often), pry up on the bottom of the coils to break the wax "sticktion." Do the same on the other end. Carefully push the magnet in one direction just enough that it starts to push on the tape. Gently, use your stick to lift the tape over the magnet.
                          Continue to push on the magnet. You may have to go back and forth a couple times to push against the tape, and lift the tape.
                          Once you get it sticking out of the end, you should be able to pull it out, flip it so the long edges change sides. Like if a fish flipped over.
                          Slide it back in and get it centered end to end.
                          Snug the screws back down and, using your fingers, massage the tape back down into place.
                          Make sense? It sounds more complicated than it is.

                          But, you may not need to. It's a choice. In stock form, (on a Duncan pickup), a screw coil will always be humbucking with a stud coil, regardless of which pickup is used. For example, I love wiring a bridge stud coil, in series with, a neck screw coil, to make a virtual middle humbucker. If you don't mind having the neck pup oriented with the screw coil on the inside, and the logo upside down, then rotating the neck pup around will get you the "inside" coils, and remain humbucking. It's purely cosmetic.

                          If it was me, and I didn't want to do a mag flip, I'd just mount it as normal. It will only slightly change the physical position of the active coil in some switch positions. Tonally, the difference would be so subtle, I doubt you'd notice.

                          So either, rotate the pup, and wire it as normal, or do the mag flip, and do "reverse" wiring of that pup. If you decide to do that, I'll post a diagram of how to adapt that to your diagram.

                          Let me know if that helps, or if I've confused the issue farther.

                          Artie
                          Last edited by ArtieToo; 01-20-2025, 08:43 AM.

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                          • #14
                            Here's a little chart I keep in my "reference" folder so that I don't have rethink this all the time:

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                            • #15
                              Hi ArtieToo,
                              Thanks so much for that extra info on the mag flip! It was much better instructions than any YouTube and I managed to successfully do it this afternoon! very happy that part is out of the way!

                              I did some tests afterwards and confirmed the updated magnetic polarity and phase with a multimeter and gauss meter.

                              I have attached the updated, tested data below and will create a new wiring diagram shortly to see if I got it right this time.

                              Thanks again!

                              Updated neck pickup data:
                              (Screw, 3.8040k ohm Slug, 3.8752k ohm)

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                              Edit: and the updated wiring diagram…

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                              Last edited by Stepping3D; 01-21-2025, 03:13 AM.

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