Tele bridge pup swap - middle position out of phase

R

rze99

New member
Hi There I could really use some technical help please.

I’ve just added a used Bare Knuckle Yardbirds bridge pickup to a used Classic Series ‘60s Telecaster which has the original neck pickup still present.

The neck and bridge positions are fine but the middle position is out of phase. I hadn’t realised they were different polarities!

What is the most straight-forward way to correct this?

First time polarity mismatch for me. I’m no electrician but I can use a soldering iron OK.

Here’s a pic of the control plate.

The Blue and white plastic cables are form the neck pup the cream and black cloth from the BK bridge pup.

Thanks

2.jpg
 
Re: Tele bridge pup swap - middle position out of phase

Thanks beaubrummels - really that simple?

OK I'll give it a crack
 
Re: Tele bridge pup swap - middle position out of phase

Would be a simple, just swap the black and wires, fix if it was a Strat.

But you'll need to remove the bridge pickup and move the ground wire soldered to the metal base of the pickup to the white wire instead of the black wire otherwise the guitar will buzz.
 
Re: Tele bridge pup swap - middle position out of phase

Thanks Lewguitar - yes I just swapped over the leads per beaubrummels and there was an earth buzz that stopped when touched as you said.
So, I have reversed the black and cream connections for the BK Bridge pup.
There is no other cable attached to the base plate.
What do I do with the underside of the bridge pickup plate? It looks like this currently:
BKback.jpg
 
Re: Tele bridge pup swap - middle position out of phase

You see that big blob of solder to the left? It's probably connecting the copper baseplate to the black wire. Might even be a continuation of the black wire.

You need to disconnect that connection so that the wite wire is connected to the baseplate instead.

I'm assuming you reversed the black and white wires at the switch and/or on the back of the volume and/or tone controls...right?

Basically, you need to make the white wire ground and the black wire hot. So the black wire would go to the switch instead of the white wire.
 
Last edited:
Re: Tele bridge pup swap - middle position out of phase

Lewguitar said:
You see that big blob of solder to the left? It's probably connecting the copper baseplate to the black wire. Might even be a continuation of the black wire.

You need to disconnect that connection so that the wite wire is connected to the baseplate instead.

I'm assuming you reversed the black and white wires at the switch and/or on the back of the volume and/or tone controls...right?

Basically, you need to make the white wire ground and the black wire hot. So the black wire would go to the switch instead of the white wire.
Click to expand...


Yes. Thank you for your helpful response.

All done and sounds great with zero noise.

I came across this diagram below that was also a helpful graphic.

changing_tele_lead_phase.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top