Dimarzio wiring

Travis

New member
Got a question on behalf of my brother. He's soldering in a couple of pickups and it's an old Dimarzio PAF type humbucker. Inside the braided sheild wire there are black and white wires. I assumed the black was the hot and the braided wire was the ground, what's the white?
 
Re: Dimarzio wiring

do you have a multi-meter? it might be a coil split wire
 
Re: Dimarzio wiring

It's for a pickup my brother installed. He wired the black as the hot and the shielding as ground. I'm thinking the white is for a coil tap but I didn't know for sure when he asked me.
 
Re: Dimarzio wiring

split not tap

if you have a multi meter im guessing that the black wire and the braid will read twice the impedance of the white and braid
 
Re: Dimarzio wiring

assuming that it is what we think, then yes, insulte it and forget about it
 
Re: Dimarzio wiring

jeremy said:
split not tap

if you have a multi meter im guessing that the black wire and the braid will read twice the impedance of the white and braid

A tap is a split, it's the same idea as a center tap on a transformer ... same thing, different terminology ... tap is actually a more accurate term ... although it tends to cause some confusion at times (view the series connected coils as *one* coil center tapped).
IIRC the white is hot, and black is ground, and the braided shield is just that, a braided shield. The reason for the two conductor cable with separate shield is for phase reversal ... The original three conductors had red, black, and white ... again (disclaimer) *IIRC* it's been a while since I've seen any of those ... grab the meter like Jeremy said to check for sure ... or e-mail DMZ and ask.
But if it is a tap line, well either shield and black or shield and white will read like Jeremt stated. a roughly two fold resistance.
 
Re: Dimarzio wiring

Kent S. said:
A tap is a split, it's the same idea as a center tap on a transformer ... same thing, different terminology ... tap is actually a more accurate term ... although it tends to cause some confusion at times (view the series connected coils as *one* coil center tapped).

Yes... and no. When you do split a pickup you imediatly assume that you are working with two sepparated coils. When you talk about coil tapping you assume that it is a single coil where half of the coil has being kill. Both are different things and both deserve their own name.
 
Re: Dimarzio wiring

mongrollo said:
Yes... and no. When you do split a pickup you imediatly assume that you are working with two sepparated coils. When you talk about coil tapping you assume that it is a single coil where half of the coil has being kill. Both are different things and both deserve their own name.

In SD terminology you are correct, electrically no ...a tap is still the means by which a split is made to happen ... or a reduced output. Electrically it is a tap, what is actually done with it is up to the user, whether it be one coil or two ... I see your point, but it's really more of an SD inflection than anything else ... case in point ... a humbucker can be considered *one pickup*, but it can be tapped to a reduced output via tapping it to a single coil.
Just depends how you want to look at it really.
 
Re: Dimarzio wiring

Kent S. said:
In SD terminology you are correct, electrically no ...a tap is still the means by which a split is made to happen ... or a reduced output. Electrically it is a tap, what is actually done with it is up to the user, whether it be one coil or two ... I see your point, but it's really more of an SD inflection than anything else ... case in point ... a humbucker can be considered *one pickup*, but it can be tapped to a reduced output via tapping it to a single coil.
Just depends how you want to look at it really.

I guess it is a matter of what are you talking about and where are doing so. :rolleyes:
 
Re: Dimarzio wiring

mongrollo said:
I guess it is a matter of what are you talking about and where are doing so. :rolleyes:

That withstanding, I prefer to call it a tap as it can do either duty depending on useage ... man, can you imagine the discussion involving a *tapped* humbucker ... I always want a six lead humbucker ... :)
 
Re: Dimarzio wiring

Bluzboy66 said:
Go here for the DiMarzio..........

http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/I-DIMARZIO.html

The black and white wires are the 'finish wraps' of each coil.

Keep this link handy for future projects...........

http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/

Stewart MacDonald is an excellent resource for guitar parts, repair supplies, and free tech information. It's a lot like this forum..........you'll keep going back.

Mike


Except that some of the info is wrong, case in point, the wind direction for SD's is listed backwards ... it shows DiMarzio and SD opposite, they are infact both the same (excluding Antiquities of course). Single coils are different thing in a couple of ways.
 
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