Re: Single conductor to four wire
The Stew Mac site has some info that IDs the various colour codes used by various companies ( and another site also ... it's either guitar nuts, ot guitar electronics) ... as far as rewiring, you pick the colour code you want (ie, DMZ,SD, Gibson, etc.), and just wire it. There really isn't anything to it, you just have to identify the start and finish of the coils, and that's pretty easy visually.The outer braid/shield becomes the bare drain wire (shield) of the four conductor shielded cable, that goes to the baseplate of the pup.
Secondly, yes they sound the same as nothing has changed, the same coil wires are connected the same way in series, whether it's single conductor/braided shield, or four conductor shielded cable.