Wiring Madness!! No Hum Canceling

[danielz]

so i was trying to put this set of 3 pickups in a friend's squier (almost as ugly as mine but in a another color).

First when i opened up. some how, when i measure the pots with the multimeter and it had 500k pots, i told my friend and he got me some new ones 250k a bit biggger than the originals ones so i had to drill a bit bigger the hole in the pickguard.

i tryied to rewire everything with what i had, and I pretty much did it, the pickups work fine individually the only thing is that in the second and in the fourth position there is no hum cancelling. I did everything folowing a wiring diagram taken from the fender´s website (and it is pretty much the same than the SD´s 3 Single Coils, 1 Volume, 2 tones, 5 way Switch). When i was doing the procedure everything was fine until i got into the 5way switch that is different. I thought that leaving it how it was wast he best, but something is wrong and i dont know what it is.

here is a Jpeg of the wiring diagram, pic from a quick diagram that i made of how it was and a picture of the 5 way switch

 

[Artie]

Re: Wiring Madness!! No Hum Canceling

It looks like its wired correctly. If you want to make absolutely certain, gently tap on each pup when its on by itself just to make sure the proper pup is "on" and the others are "off" when you think they are.

The other thing is, positions #2 and #4 will only be humcancelling if the middle pup is rw/rp. Is it?

 

[danielz]

Re: Wiring Madness!! No Hum Canceling

i already did the tap thing with a screw driver and the possitions are fine.

i thing is gonna be the rw/rp thing. I have no idea what it is.. how do i know if it is??

 

[Artie]

Re: Wiring Madness!! No Hum Canceling

You need to remove the middle pickup. Bring the top of it close to the top of the neck and bridge. (One at a time.) If they attract, its rw/rp. If it repels, it isn't.

Edit: If you have another single-coil lying around you can do this without removing anything. (Or a magnet, for that matter.) Just see if the middle pup is opposite magnet polarity from the others. One should repel, one attract.

 

[danielz]

Re: Wiring Madness!! No Hum Canceling

i just made the magnet thing with another pup that i had laying around.

it is not rw/rp

it is posible to flip the magnets??

 

[Artie]

Re: Wiring Madness!! No Hum Canceling

Possible, but not likely. Besides, that won't help because it still won't be reverse-wound. The good news is, there's usually a good deal on a single coil in the Trading Post from time to time. You may need to wait a little while, but usually not too long.

 

[danielz]

Re: Wiring Madness!! No Hum Canceling

well thanks for your help and time Mr. ArtieToo

i dont think the trading post its a good alternative for me since im in mexico and the shipping its always a mess cos of the stupid mexican custom... I think im gonna try to make one of those DYS lap slideguitar..

just one more question that just came into my head..

i have this single coil (a fender one) that i took away from my mustang and when i put the top of if with the top of the others it looks like it is rw/rp
if i put it am i gonna have hum canceling???
it seems pretty decent when i got the guitar they told me it has alnicoV on it and in the multimeter gives a 6.6k lecture

this is for my best friend´s first electric guitar... he has been playing acustic for about 10 years and he just decided to get and electric one. he bought an squier for like 50 bucks in a pawn shop. its all beatup and its has date from year 2000

 

[Artie]

Re: Wiring Madness!! No Hum Canceling

It will probably be ok. I say "probably", because not all manufacturers wind their pups the same direction. It could be reverse-polarity without being reverse-wound. You'll just have to install it to know.

However, I believe you can do this shortcut. Put your selector on the "other" pickup by itself. Connect the Fender pup to the output jack, or your guitar cable with a set of aligator clips, or maybe just hold the wires there. See if it cancels hum when connected. Just a thought.