Odd pickup wiring

[210kW]

Hello,

I have an '92 Ibanez Iceman with an DD-MJ pickup in it. This pickup is wired:

• bare + white on ground
• black and green connected together
• red = output

If I understand it correctly that connects the coils kind of backwards.

• Why would anybody do this?
• Should there be a difference in tone?
• Should I wire it "normal"?

Thank you very much and best regards
Christian

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Odd pickup wiring

Hello,

I have an '92 Ibanez Iceman with an DD-MJ pickup in it. This pickup is wired:

• bare + white on ground
• black and green connected together
• red = output

If I understand it correctly that connects the coils kind of backwards.

• Why would anybody do this?
• Should there be a difference in tone?
• Should I wire it "normal"?

Thank you very much and best regards
Christian

View attachment 89790

How is it backwards? Every pickup maker has a different combination of colors.

For example, DiMarzio does green=ground, and red=hot. Black and white are the series connection. That makes sense to me. But Duncan is different, Gibson is different, etc.

It is wired normal the way it came from the factory.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mincer]

Re: Odd pickup wiring

Welcome to the forum!

Are you saying what you have is a Duncan Distortion wound by MJ, or is it another pickup (made by someone else) called a DD-MJ?

 

[210kW]

Re: Odd pickup wiring

Welcome to the forum!

Are you saying what you have is a Duncan Distortion wound by MJ, or is it another pickup (made by someone else) called a DD-MJ?

Hello,

as i'm posting in the Seymour Duncan forums I thought it was obvious. But yes of course it is a Duncan Distortion wound by MJ.

Best regards
Christian

 

[Mincer]

Re: Odd pickup wiring

Actually, you'd be surprised...people come here with all sorts of pickups with names I am not familiar with.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Odd pickup wiring

Sounds like it's wired to be reverse phase, though it could have been done more simply. Maybe that scheme keeps it reverse phase when split or humbucking when combined with other pickup coils? What's the other pickup in the guitar? Does it have switches for splitting coils if the pickups?

If it were a single pickup guitar, it wouldn't make any difference.

 

[210kW]

Re: Odd pickup wiring

Sounds like it's wired to be reverse phase, though it could have been done more simply. Maybe that scheme keeps it reverse phase when split or humbucking when combined with other pickup coils? What's the other pickup in the guitar? Does it have switches for splitting coils if the pickups?

If it were a single pickup guitar, it wouldn't make any difference.

Hello,

the other pickup is a Gotoh humbucker without any obvious markings. There is no coil splitting or other "special" circuitry in the guitar. Only 2 humbucker, 2 volume, 1 tone and a three way switch. I personally don't hear a difference in the middle position to my other guitars but also i don't play this position often and I never played a guitar out of phase.

As you mentioned this wiring makes no sense as reverse phase could have been done simpler. So I thought maybe there is a wiring or other trick I don't understand (like Dimebacks reverse installation of his Bill Lawrence 500 XLs). I think I will wire it "normal" and see if there is a difference and also to be save for future neck pickup swapping (I have an unused Jazz lying around...).

Thank you all for the replies.

Best regards
Christian