Humbucker wiring help

X

xsamx1987

New member
Hello all new to the board :)

ok so I have 2 Humbuckers that only have 3 wires each and that includes a ground wire

my problem is finding a wiring diagram

I have looked in the wiring diagrams section to no luck

can any one help with this problem ?

update

Sorry that im not very good at this very green to all this

All this trouble over a pup

What would you do new pups or new multimeter should I unscrew the back of the pup to see whats going where ?
 
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Re: Humbucker wiring help

They will all have the details you're looking for.....you essentially have a 2 conductor with a baseplate ground too. One of the two that aren't the ground wire will be the hot (centre wire) , and the other is ground (shield). If the colours are same for both pickups then there will be no problem. If there is one consistent colour then this is often ground. If there are none, pick randomly. The middle position will be weak and tinny if you've picked incorrectly, and 1 pickup will need to have the position of the wires reversed.
 
Re: Humbucker wiring help

The most obvious question is...do you know what pups they are? At least what brand they are?

The next question is...what color are the wires from each pup?
 
Re: Humbucker wiring help

AlexR said:
They will all have the details you're looking for.....you essentially have a 2 conductor with a baseplate ground too. One of the two that aren't the ground wire will be the hot (centre wire) , and the other is ground (shield). If the colours are same for both pickups then there will be no problem. If there is one consistent colour then this is often ground. If there are none, pick randomly. The middle position will be weak and tinny if you've picked incorrectly, and 1 pickup will need to have the position of the wires reversed.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks for the reaply

I think I understand your saying

for the wire there is a bare wire a white wire and a red wire so 2 of these are ground wires ?
 
Re: Humbucker wiring help

GuitarDoc said:
The most obvious question is...do you know what pups they are? At least what brand they are?

The next question is...what color are the wires from each pup?
Click to expand...

Cheers for the reaply I have no idea what the brand is there unbranded

im sure there standard humbuckers

the colours are bare wire,a white and a red and this is the same for both pups
 
Re: Humbucker wiring help

xsamx1987 said:
Cheers for the reaply I have no idea what the brand is there unbranded

im sure there standard humbuckers

the colours are bare wire,a white and a red and this is the same for both pups
Click to expand...

This is why you need a meter. My Peavey humbuckers have the same colors as yours. The wires are ground, hot, and coil tap. You need to actually measure those.
 
Re: Humbucker wiring help

ArtieToo said:
This is why you need a meter. My Peavey humbuckers have the same colors as yours. The wires are ground, hot, and coil tap. You need to actually measure those.
Click to expand...

Ahhhh thanks :) I have actually recently ordered a meter sorry for sounding stupid but do I read from white and bare wire and then red and bare

and what am I looking for when doing this ?
 
Re: Humbucker wiring help

xsamx1987 said:
Ahhhh thanks :) I have actually recently ordered a meter sorry for sounding stupid but do I read from white and bare wire and then red and bare

and what am I looking for when doing this ?
Click to expand...

Yes. Also take a reading between red and white. Let us know what you get.
 
Re: Humbucker wiring help

Your readings don't make sense. You need to adjust the setting on your tester...you should be getting a reading between red and ground (bare), and between white and ground (bare). I would expect them to be somewhere between 2k and 20k (not infinity). Set your multimeter to the 20k ohms setting and test again.
 
Re: Humbucker wiring help

GuitarDoc said:
Your readings don't make sense. You need to adjust the setting on your tester...you should be getting a reading between red and ground (bare), and between white and ground (bare). I would expect them to be somewhere between 2k and 20k (not infinity). Set your multimeter to the 20k ohms setting and test again.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reaply its a analog multimeter 2 settings for OHM x1k which im using and x10 im guessing your gonna say get a new meter :(

White and red 9k

white and bare no reading

red and bare no reading

bare and backplate of pup tops the meter out

:)
 
Re: Humbucker wiring help

Getting a new one isn't a bad idea. Something is just not right...

The readings you are getting now don't match the last readings you gave us in your updated original posting...

("Red and Bare infi,
White and Bare infi,
Back plate and Bare 0").


These readings mean that there is no connection between red and bare (infinity resistence), and white and bare, and that the bare wire is electrically connected to the base plate (no resistence between them).

If you are now getting no reading between white and bare, that means that those two wires are electrically connected...no resistence between them. And if you are also getting no reading between red and bare, it means that those two wires are continuous also, which means that the red and white wires should be continuous as well (R = B, and W = B, therefore R = W). You should also get "no reading" if you touch the two probe tips together.

But you are getting 9k ohms between red and white instead of continuity (besides, 9k ohms is a much higher reading than would be expected between the full coil and the tapped portion if your pup is a coil-tapped pup).
 
Last edited:
Re: Humbucker wiring help

GuitarDoc said:
Getting a new one isn't a bad idea. Something is just not right...

The readings you are getting now don't match the last readings you gave us in your updated original posting...

("Red and Bare infi,
White and Bare infi,
Back plate and Bare 0").


These readings mean that there is no connection between red and bare (infinity resistence), and white and bare, and that the bare wire is electrically connected to the base plate (no resistence between them).

If you are now getting no reading between white and bare, that means that those two wires are electrically connected...no resistence between them. And if you are also getting no reading between red and bare, it means that those two wires are continuous also, which means that the red and white wires should be continuous as well (R = B, and W = B, therefore R = W). You should also get "no reading" if you touch the two probe tips together.

But you are getting 9k ohms between red and white instead of continuity (besides, 9k ohms is a much higher reading than would be expected between the full coil and the tapped portion if your pup is a coil-tapped pup).
Click to expand...

Sorry that im not very good at this very green to all this

All this trouble over a pup :(

What would you do new pups or new multimeter should I unscrew the back of the pup to see whats going where ?
 
Re: Humbucker wiring help

Well, here are some points to keep in mind.

You MAY have very fine pups, but you DO have a less than adequate multimeter which is either not working or which you don't know how to use correctly.

New pups are expensive, but a new digital sensing multimeter can be very inexpensive.

I would get a new meter first.
 
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