Another Fender Modern Player Tele Plus wiring question

AKONE

New member
I am going to switch bridge pickups in a Modern Player Tele Plus to a Seymour Duncan (SD). I will be replacing the 2 way coil split switch with a 3 way on/on/on switch for series/split/parallel. I spent hours searching, listening to sound clips, studying switch and wiring diagrams and reading forum posts here and elsewhere. My reference became the mod here:

https://robrobinette.com/TelecasterMod.htm

The magnetic polarity problem between SD and Fender pickups is a setback because I want to keep the original mid and neck pickups or at least try it just to see if it can be done. The factory polarity is SN - N - S with the south screw coil nearest the bridge. Since an SD pickup is also south screw coil nearest the bridge according to the website and the diagram below, I would have to make sure 2 things happen.

1> Reverse the polarity to match the Fender coils. It seems that this can be done like the post below but I’m not sure if it worked. The third and fifth posts are relevant here:
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/sho...1-Humbucker-Wiring&highlight=Humbucker+wiring

From this I assume that switching the green and black wires will reverse the polarity and (importantly) work in the same positions on the 3 way switch and still acheive series/split/parallel switching.

2> In the middle ‘split’ position on the switch, the South coil will have to be activated for pairing the North mid coil in the 2nd 5 way switch position. From what I have read, ‘standard’ wiring usually pairs the bridge North slug coil with a mid South coil. On this guitar, that would pair the bridge North slug coil with the North mid coil, the same polarity when opposite is needed. In the SD switch wiring diagram below, it looks like the South coil is activated in the middle switch position because the bottom left pair on the switch would be coupled with the upper right pair on the switch. I am confused here. Is the South coil activated with this ‘standard’ wiring? Or is the white jumper to the upper right grounding out the South red wire leaving the North coil activated? Keep in mind that I need the bridge South coil active in mid ‘split’ position.

Here is the SD ‘standard’ 3 way switch diagram I am referencing:

TeleWire.jpg



Here is the SD coil wiring diagram:

HumbuckerColorCodes.gif



And here is the switch diagrams for up, middle, down:

IMG_20170430_114725.jpg

I realize that this post is long but I am trying to solve this for myself and pull all the information into one place for others who may want to try this and make it as clear as possible. Also, I won’t get to work on the guitar for a few weeks. My son has it in college and he is far away from here. I’m just getting my ducks in a row.

Thanks for any time and effort :-)
AKONE
 
Re: Another Fender Modern Player Tele Plus wiring question

WELCOME TO THA FORUM

If you want to split to the south coil you can just wire the mini toggle differently:

2.jpg

And if your position 2 is out of phase it would be an easy fix to just swap hot and ground on your middle and neck pickups. Easy peasy.
I think that's it.
 
Last edited:
Re: Another Fender Modern Player Tele Plus wiring question

Thanks for the reply Clint 55. That diagram helps. I am in the process of ordering parts. Sometimes it's the best learning process to get hands on and experiment. I need to get that mini switch in my hands with my meter to sort it out.

Thanks again,
Akone
 
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