single pickup wiring diagram

[withoutbliss]

I gutted my 6string gretsch electromatic to swap the seymour duncan blackouts with a single bridge p90. only 1 pot and 1 input jack and a p90.

was hoping to find a diagram to optimize the tone from this super bare bones setup. I've done soldering. made cables and worked with capacitors and pots. I've nvr swapped pickups and its a little over my head. couldn't find many seymour duncan single pickup diagrams. anything would help thanks

edit: for whoever sees this post in the future. im actually working with a single p-rail pickup

 

[Mincer]

Welcome to the forum!

The closest I can find is a 1 humbucker one, so ignore the red & white, solder the hot to the lug on the pot, and the shield to the back of the pot (where the green & grey is).

 

[withoutbliss]

Welcome to the forum!

The closest I can find is a 1 humbucker one, so ignore the red & white, solder the hot to the lug on the pot, and the shield to the back of the pot (where the green & grey is).

thanks that helps a ton. does wire gauge and shielding make a big difference?

 

[Artie]

Wire gauge doesn't. At least, not in the real sense. I'll leave shielding to others.

 

[withoutbliss]

Wire gauge doesn't. At least, not in the real sense. I'll leave shielding to others.

thats good to know. this is how its wired right now. havent compared it to the diagram link [posted above yet. the top right wire is some really sad stuff. idk if it effects the tone compared to a standard guitar wire with metal shielding is why i was asking





same pot in each pic. different light and zoom

 

[withoutbliss]

input jack wires feeding to the left. p90 wires feeding to the top right

 

[Artie]

Those pics aren't "blowing up" for me. Is the red/white wires just hanging? They need to be stripped, soldered, and taped, together.

 

[GuitarDoc]

For such short runs, the metal "shielding" isn't necessary, plastic "insulation" is important to make sure wires don't touch what they're not supposed to.

That bare wire is a ground wire. It's a good idea to also insulate it.

 

[beaubrummels]

input jack wires feeding to the left. p90 wires feeding to the top right

That's not what it looks like to me. I'm seeing a 4-conductor pickup wire to the left and just the bridge ground and volume output at the top. What kind of P-90 has 4-conductors? You have a P-90 Stack?

Also, how is your guitar routed? How are you getting a Duncan Blackout and a P-90 to fit in the same route on a Gretsch??

 

[withoutbliss]

That's not what it looks like to me. I'm seeing a 4-conductor pickup wire to the left and just the bridge ground and volume output at the top. What kind of P-90 has 4-conductors? You have a P-90 Stack?

Also, how is your guitar routed? How are you getting a Duncan Blackout and a P-90 to fit in the same route on a Gretsch??

ill post some pics. the pickups in this pic (6years ago) sat exactly the same as my blackouts. ill take a photo of the p90 in the bridge in just a sec

 

[withoutbliss]

That's not what it looks like to me. I'm seeing a 4-conductor pickup wire to the left and just the bridge ground and volume output at the top. What kind of P-90 has 4-conductors? You have a P-90 Stack?

Also, how is your guitar routed? How are you getting a Duncan Blackout and a P-90 to fit in the same route on a Gretsch??

ill post some pics. the pickups in this pic (6years ago) sat exactly the same as my blackouts. ill take a photo of the p90 in the bridge in just a sec​

 

[withoutbliss]

That's not what it looks like to me. I'm seeing a 4-conductor pickup wire to the left and just the bridge ground and volume output at the top. What kind of P-90 has 4-conductors? You have a P-90 Stack?

Also, how is your guitar routed? How are you getting a Duncan Blackout and a P-90 to fit in the same route on a Gretsch??

heres how its setup and routed

 

[withoutbliss]

do i need to switch to a mono output jack and a mono guitar cable for a single pickup setup?

 

[jeremy]

active pups use different value pots and caps than passive, and yes a mono jack is what you want. is that a prails?

 

[withoutbliss]

active pups use different value pots and caps than passive, and yes a mono jack is what you want. is that a prails?

okay thank you so much that makes total sense. ya testin the waters on a single p rail for a garage rock tone. might need to consider a different amp. 5150 lil too crunchy id imagine. we'll see once i get this pickup swap completed

 

[GuitarDoc]

Yeah, that's not a P-90 in the bridge...it's a P-Rails which is the same size as a humbucker. A P-90 is NOT the same size and it won't fit in a bucker rout.

 

[withoutbliss]

Yeah, that's not a P-90 in the bridge...it's a P-Rails which is the same size as a humbucker. A P-90 is NOT the same size and it won't fit in a bucker rout.

thats good to know thanks for the clarification