By far the best explanation with visuals on this subject of the many videos and hours I have watched and spent trying to understand this subject. Thank you!
Minus to plus-minus to plus wiring will give you out-of-phase tone, and no noise (hum) cancelation - While the signal is dependent on both coil & magnet polarities, noise is independent of magnet polarity. RWRP means magnets have reverse polarity as well as the coils (windings). Instead of plus/minus use start/finish. For series wiring, you need to hook either both start or both finish of the coils, for parallel wiring, you need to hook the coils "in reverse" (start of 1st coil to finish of 2nd and vice versa) and then hook each "new" end to out and to ground, and so you'll get noise cancelation & w/o phase cancelation for both types of wiring. To get phase cancelation w/o noise you either need magnets with same polarity and reversed winding polarity, or 2 humbuckers and reversed wiring between them. The identification part is great, Thanks!
+1 - using "- + - +" to wire in series threw me for a loop when I wired up a simple single humbucker + volume guitar after watching this vid (couldn't figure out why I was getting so much noise and kept re playing this vid to reconfirm that I'd ID'd the wires correctly). He does mention splitting in there a bit, but I found the whole "go - + - + when you tie them in series" point misleading wrt the standard simple humbucker setup which typically includes noise cancellation. The rest of the content is fantastic but I think it's worth a little edit at around 10m to mention that for a standard noise cancelling humbucker the two + (or finish wire ends) are often tied, with the two - (start wire ends) are used as hot and ground as mentioned in your post, but I'm still not sure I understand what facilitates the noise cancellation (is it two reverse wound coils AND with the two coils being opposite magnetic polarity? (EITHER opposite wound series wired same magnetic polarity coils, OR same wound series wired opposite magnetic polarity coils will not noise cancel alone? has to be both? (opposite wound series wired opposite polarity coils? (I guess that's what RWRP is)). I think a clarification would save on potential confusion as this vid still seems popular for instruction.
Even though it’s 9 years since this video was first posted, I just found it as looking for pickup north south installation advice. Best video I found!!!! Thanks 👍
This is the best explanation video i have seen till date. I was fiddling around with pups for hours with no luck. Saw your video and saved hours of pointless efforts. Thank you so much.
I have that exact Micronta meter. Bought it at Sears back in the early 1980's - burned up and replaced several resisters - modified it to adapt to pickup winder setup - put it away for years - got it up and running again with fresh batteries and a calibration. I love it. Thanks for the easy to digest video. I have that Craftsman 1/4" socket driver too!
This is the most useful and most comprehensive explanation of the whole topic around pickups and wiring. I couldn't ask for more and I'm glad you have taken the time to create and share this video. I was confronted with an OEM humbucker pickup just now and I knew from other people's experience that the color scheme was anything but typical. Without your video I would have had to try out a couple of different scenarios until it would sound and work right and as expected. Now I had a clear path for investigating and figuring out about the electrical and magnetic characteristics. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us. It's very much appreciated.
Thank you! So well done. Clear and steady pace. I built a lap steel and bought a Chinese double rail humbucker. Through this testing, I find the wiring is not at all as expected. But now I know how to proceed with testing sound options.
I have searched the net on this subject and finally someone has cleared up the muck. I have been an electronics tech, live audio, for many years and I know the difference between phase and polarity, most do not and use the two phrases like they are the same.
watching this in 2022. this is such a fantastic dive into pickup theory , so well explained and demonstrated. I save it so will watch several times. Thanks
Thanks for this awesome video. Simply and clearly explained. I ran into the same "problem" that you encountered here when investigating my Gibson USA guitars' pickups. Modern Gibson pickups, even the Burstbucker family, have the magnetic polarity reversed between neck and bridge pickups. This is especially important to know with the new Gibson quick connect for neck and bridge pickups. My 490R (neck) and '61 Zebra Reissue neck pickups (part of Gibson's Burstbucker family of pickups) have the screw coil as South polarity. The other two pickups in my two sets are a 498T (bridge) and a '61 Zebra Reissue bridge pickup and these bridge pickups have the screw coil as being North polarity. I figured this has to do with making the circuit card controls in many newer Gibsons easier for the factory to set up for the phase switching and coil splitting that some of the Gibsons have with push-pull potentiometers.
After extensive searching and trying to find an answer to my Cabronita issues, your video has been the most helpful in trying to determine what is wrong with this Tele. THANK YOU very much for doing this.
I have changed my Pup's a few times, i usually pay someone to do it but during the Covid restrictions, like many other folk, i found i had time on my hands. I bought a flat Pack TV cabinet from a mail order company called Very. It was a solid Mango wood unit. Anyway i made myself a Super Strat, HSH. I wanted to split the Humbuckers and was flagging in confidence until your video spurred me on. So thank you for uploading this over a decade ago. The Strat i made is a good Guitar, even better than i expected. I would recommend going down the flat pack route for Guitar Timber, it proved sustantily less expensive than buying it from my local Timber yard.
I recently encountered Epiphone QuickConnect, and I had no idea how to figure out which cable is which. Because there was no diagram online about Epiphone probucker, and cables were already connected to the jack which holds all 5wires from the pickup altogether. Then, I just met this video, the guy in te video made everything clear with that positive negative responses and a compass. Things are just SO SIMPLE after watching the video. 142k views and only a 1k likes? I have no idea. great job
Thanks, nice easy to understand video that cleared up what can be a confusing subject (for this hobbyist anyways). It was also nice to show the scenarios with an older analog meter. Thanks again
Thanks phostenix, I'm building some hybrid pickups from Shaw and McClure coils and all sorts of alnico mags. You set me on the magnetic path, and the results are stellar.
You have no idea how I've been looking for this video. Why? Because I bought a Predator and had to change the tone knob. The thing worked, but had some issues. Long story short I sent the guitar to a "luthier" and it was rocket science to connect a tone split coil. This happened a month ago, I've been looking for the answer since then (and I have a compass lol) Thx!!!
Interesting and well presented . I have a lot of old pups im trying to identify as i didn't label them at the time. I wasn't aware of the N.S cause and effect.Fascinating. Makes sense once you get your head around the opposing poles. Thanks for posting.
From Leo: I knew there was a reason that I saved my old meter. . I was always able to ring out the coil continuity, but sometimes the magnetic phase was flipped and I had to take the guitar back apart. This tip will save me time.
holy cow good stuff. i was just about to build HH git and split both coils. now, a lot more to figuring into it. to have it correct and make me look like a pro. :) thank you.
I know you put this here years ago, but if you still are there... Can you tell me why Seymour Duncan in their US made pickups, for example, use the red/white pair as the series link for wiring a regular humbucker? In your tutorial here, they would be connecting + to + or finish to finish of the two coils. You state here to always wire them - to +, and - to +, indicating that the series link for a "normal" humbucker wiring will connect the +, or finish of one coil to the -, or start of the next coil. US Seymour Duncan pickups seem to be using - to +, + to -
fleor sells cheap picks ups and if you snoop around you will find conflicting info on the pin out . some say black wire is hot , some say green wire is hot . the pair i was shipped has the ground lead connected to the black wire . my pal is telling me " you can hook them up that way but its wrong ... so i will have to do some testing . its never easy for me . i cant complain , i love spending time this way !! so much more fun resoldering everything then having to put extentions on the pick up wires as everything is melted , the drilling the hole in the guitar larger as the shrink tubing wont fit . drill thru the back of the guitar drill thru the pick gaurd . fun !
I'm currently trying to correct the wiring on a Peavey with dual humbuckers (HH) -- Peavey Generation Custom EX. It came with a 2502N 5-way selector (branded Alpha), also known as the "Ibanez switch", which indeed has a humless "inner coils" mode in position #2 (and humless "neck coils parallel" on #4). So I guess the N-S N-S makes sense. Thanks for the demo!
Well I have to give you a thumbs up. You clarified something for me that I had erroneously assumed wrong. That's the funny thing about assuming you know something without checking to make certain. I had it backwards for many years because I assumed that it was the magnet in our compasses that the tip that points North was actually the South pole of that magnet so it would point North. When you made your statement that the north pole of Earth is actually magnetically South I was going to get on here and challenge you. Before doing so I decided I had better check to make sure. Now I'm getting on here to confirm your statement as I eat my huge helping of humble pie. I have a polarity tester. With that in hand and a 1/4 X 1/4 X 1/2 super magnet I was able to test my very reliable Silva compass (not a $5.00 compass) I was able to satisfactorily verify your statement. You are 100% correct sir. Our Earth's "North" pole has a magnetically south pull or energy. In essence whomever began making magnets or whomever started labeling our Earth's polarity and the polarity of magnets either mislabeled magnets or the polarity of magnets or they mislabeled the Earth's poles. Whatever will we do now? Our world has been turned upside down. :-o
i split the coils on mine that was wired wrong by a hand wound maker to how gibson wires them, way better the other way was way to bright, great info here and truth
just bought some cheap chinese knockoff humbuckers from eBay (FLEOR brand, and actually sound pretty darn good!) that came with no wiring diagram. This video got me up and running. Thanks!
Yay team, hooray, and all that. Got a little (cigarette pack size little) GB(?) made in Korea analog multimeter recently from Goodwill for half a buck. Glad I got it. Glad I caught your video. Thanks for your effort. I reckon you know it means a lot to beginners like me. Say, you figure there's any chance there is some alternate universe where they say, "...in the world of See LESS Duncan"? ~ David, a.k.a. the ConnMan.
interesting ,this might help me with a 1998 super stat with a 5 way switch. just put a Duncan 59 neck and a jb bridge, but for some reason the coil taps sound terrible and running the switch in middle with both pickups thin sound ,like out of phase.both sound good when using by them selfs.guess I'm going to have to check them, bought the 59 used. great video ,thanks
Thanks for showing an easy way to determine the coil polarity. Compass north points to the magnets south because opposite magnetic poles attract. The compass arrow is just another magnet suspended on a bearing.
@proaudioguy I'm not sure which string motion will produce which voltage, but for these purposes all that matters is that all of the pickups in question respond the same way so that they are in phase with each other.
Thank you sooooooo much. This video saved my wall from my fist. My Custom 5's diagram on the seymour site has the black(+) and green(-) wire together but they are wrong. It's actually the red(+) and green(-) that go together. Again, thank you
I just learned more about humbuckers in 22 minutes than I have in the past 40 years. Great video, and thanks for the education!
By far the best explanation with visuals on this subject of the many videos and hours I have watched and spent trying to understand this subject. Thank you!
thank you jeff goldblum for teaching me about guitar pickups
It sure sounds like him!
Minus to plus-minus to plus wiring will give you out-of-phase tone, and no noise (hum) cancelation - While the signal is dependent on both coil & magnet polarities, noise is independent of magnet polarity. RWRP means magnets have reverse polarity as well as the coils (windings). Instead of plus/minus use start/finish. For series wiring, you need to hook either both start or both finish of the coils, for parallel wiring, you need to hook the coils "in reverse" (start of 1st coil to finish of 2nd and vice versa) and then hook each "new" end to out and to ground, and so you'll get noise cancelation & w/o phase cancelation for both types of wiring. To get phase cancelation w/o noise you either need magnets with same polarity and reversed winding polarity, or 2 humbuckers and reversed wiring between them.
The identification part is great, Thanks!
+1 - using "- + - +" to wire in series threw me for a loop when I wired up a simple single humbucker + volume guitar after watching this vid (couldn't figure out why I was getting so much noise and kept re playing this vid to reconfirm that I'd ID'd the wires correctly). He does mention splitting in there a bit, but I found the whole "go - + - + when you tie them in series" point misleading wrt the standard simple humbucker setup which typically includes noise cancellation. The rest of the content is fantastic but I think it's worth a little edit at around 10m to mention that for a standard noise cancelling humbucker the two + (or finish wire ends) are often tied, with the two - (start wire ends) are used as hot and ground as mentioned in your post, but I'm still not sure I understand what facilitates the noise cancellation (is it two reverse wound coils AND with the two coils being opposite magnetic polarity? (EITHER opposite wound series wired same magnetic polarity coils, OR same wound series wired opposite magnetic polarity coils will not noise cancel alone? has to be both? (opposite wound series wired opposite polarity coils? (I guess that's what RWRP is)). I think a clarification would save on potential confusion as this vid still seems popular for instruction.
@@PR-fo5mj Thank you for backing up my argument :)
Even though it’s 9 years since this video was first posted, I just found it as looking for pickup north south installation advice.
Best video I found!!!! Thanks 👍
This is the best explanation video i have seen till date. I was fiddling around with pups for hours with no luck. Saw your video and saved hours of pointless efforts. Thank you so much.
I have that exact Micronta meter. Bought it at Sears back in the early 1980's - burned up and replaced several resisters - modified it to adapt to pickup winder setup - put it away for years - got it up and running again with fresh batteries and a calibration. I love it. Thanks for the easy to digest video. I have that Craftsman 1/4" socket driver too!
It's people like you that make America great. The tinkering kind.
+psysword How about those Americans who tinker with the affairs of foreign countries? No need to answer, I already know about those Americans.
Thank you very much for taking the time to do this. Now I know how to move forward with my new pickups!
Fantastic, all it takes is one person to make an explanatory video that isn't condescending and simple to follow. Thank you very much indeed.
This is the most useful and most comprehensive explanation of the whole topic around pickups and wiring. I couldn't ask for more and I'm glad you have taken the time to create and share this video. I was confronted with an OEM humbucker pickup just now and I knew from other people's experience that the color scheme was anything but typical. Without your video I would have had to try out a couple of different scenarios until it would sound and work right and as expected. Now I had a clear path for investigating and figuring out about the electrical and magnetic characteristics.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us. It's very much appreciated.
Thank you! So well done. Clear and steady pace. I built a lap steel and bought a Chinese double rail humbucker. Through this testing, I find the wiring is not at all as expected. But now I know how to proceed with testing sound options.
I have searched the net on this subject and finally someone has cleared up the muck. I have been an electronics tech, live audio, for many years and I know the difference between phase and polarity, most do not and use the two phrases like they are the same.
watching this in 2022. this is such a fantastic dive into pickup theory , so well explained and demonstrated. I save it so will watch several times. Thanks
I can't say thanks enough for the video. I've been struggling with a couple guitars recently and this was very helpful. Thank you
Beautifully done video! I learned a LOT by stopping by here! Thanks for this!
Thanks for this awesome video. Simply and clearly explained.
I ran into the same "problem" that you encountered here when investigating my Gibson USA guitars' pickups. Modern Gibson pickups, even the Burstbucker family, have the magnetic polarity reversed between neck and bridge pickups. This is especially important to know with the new Gibson quick connect for neck and bridge pickups. My 490R (neck) and '61 Zebra Reissue neck pickups (part of Gibson's Burstbucker family of pickups) have the screw coil as South polarity. The other two pickups in my two sets are a 498T (bridge) and a '61 Zebra Reissue bridge pickup and these bridge pickups have the screw coil as being North polarity.
I figured this has to do with making the circuit card controls in many newer Gibsons easier for the factory to set up for the phase switching and coil splitting that some of the Gibsons have with push-pull potentiometers.
What a fantastic teacher. Slow and explained clearly. I wanna go to your school!!
After extensive searching and trying to find an answer to my Cabronita issues, your video has been the most helpful in trying to determine what is wrong with this Tele.
THANK YOU very much for doing this.
I have changed my Pup's a few times, i usually pay someone to do it but during the Covid restrictions, like many other folk, i found i had time on my hands. I bought a flat Pack TV cabinet from a mail order company called Very. It was a solid Mango wood unit. Anyway i made myself a Super Strat, HSH. I wanted to split the Humbuckers and was flagging in confidence until your video spurred me on. So thank you for uploading this over a decade ago. The Strat i made is a good Guitar, even better than i expected. I would recommend going down the flat pack route for Guitar Timber, it proved sustantily less expensive than buying it from my local Timber yard.
I recently encountered Epiphone QuickConnect, and I had no idea how to figure out which cable is which. Because there was no diagram online about Epiphone probucker, and cables were already connected to the jack which holds all 5wires from the pickup altogether.
Then, I just met this video, the guy in te video made everything clear with that positive negative responses and a compass. Things are just SO SIMPLE after watching the video.
142k views and only a 1k likes? I have no idea. great job
I've been looking for this video for months! Thank you!
Thanks, nice easy to understand video that cleared up what can be a confusing subject (for this hobbyist anyways). It was also nice to show the scenarios with an older analog meter. Thanks again
Cheers, finally worked out my humbuckers 17 years after changing my picups!
Thanks phostenix, I'm building some hybrid pickups from Shaw and McClure coils and all sorts of alnico mags. You set me on the magnetic path, and the results are stellar.
Thanks for such a useful and comprehensive explanation of how to test pickups. Terrific.
4 dislikes!!!! obviously from another planet. the most thorough tutorial. many thanks
36 peoples from other planet
😂😂😂
You have no idea how I've been looking for this video. Why? Because I bought a Predator and had to change the tone knob. The thing worked, but had some issues.
Long story short I sent the guitar to a "luthier" and it was rocket science to connect a tone split coil.
This happened a month ago, I've been looking for the answer since then (and I have a compass lol)
Thx!!!
Thank you so much !!! I had a mini humbucker and thanks to your video I could mount it.
Fascinating ! Thank you for this very useful explanation. Just what I was looking for!
Very insightful! I just learned a few new tricks for my shop! Thanks man!
thank you. i was having a tough time determining the wires on a PRS pickup but this video really helped.
Thank you for your video. It answered my question simply and quickly!!
Good stuff to know. Thanks for the vid. You learn something new everyday thanx to CZcams!
Awesome. Exactly what I needed to troubleshoot my botched conversion attempt. Thanks!
So happy I saw this video, now I understand how it all falls into place!
Awesome tutorial. . Many thanks for creating it 🎸
Interesting and well presented . I have a lot of old pups im trying to identify as i didn't label them at the time. I wasn't aware of the N.S cause and effect.Fascinating. Makes sense once you get your head around the opposing poles.
Thanks for posting.
Incredibly helpful! Thanks so much for this
I have been searching this info forever. Thanks Dude! really helpful.
Awesome video, appreciate it, I have some off brand HB with no clue on the colored wiring…doing homework before I start…this is what I needed to see….
From Leo: I knew there was a reason that I saved my old meter. . I was always able to ring out the coil continuity, but sometimes the magnetic phase was flipped and I had to take the guitar back apart. This tip will save me time.
Great video...Like I just went to class! Been looking for this information explained so well! Thanks.
Best video on CZcams about this! Thank you
Excellent video. Thank you!!!! TOP WORK! One of the best videos I have seen.
Great explanation - thanks for sharing. I've got an old Washburn humbucker from a KC70V that I've wanted to use for years - now I can try it out :)
Nice. Like the simple manner in which this thing is explained.
Thank you, this was extremely helpful!
Thanks,this vid save my life.
Just got my tone back
holy cow good stuff. i was just about to build HH git and split both coils. now, a lot more to figuring into it. to have it correct and make me look like a pro. :) thank you.
great video. this really helpede understand what the hell I was doing when completely rewiring an old guitar.
I know you put this here years ago, but if you still are there... Can you tell me why Seymour Duncan in their US made pickups, for example, use the red/white pair as the series link for wiring a regular humbucker? In your tutorial here, they would be connecting + to + or finish to finish of the two coils. You state here to always wire them - to +, and - to +, indicating that the series link for a "normal" humbucker wiring will connect the +, or finish of one coil to the -, or start of the next coil. US Seymour Duncan pickups seem to be using - to +, + to -
Absolutely perfectly explained.Thank you kindly
2 screw ups with reversed polarities!
This video is a revelation, owe this guy a 6 pack now!
fleor sells cheap picks ups and if you snoop around you will find conflicting info on the pin out . some say black wire is hot , some say green wire is hot . the pair i was shipped has the ground lead connected to the black wire . my pal is telling me " you can hook them up that way but its wrong ... so i will have to do some testing . its never easy for me . i cant complain , i love spending time this way !! so much more fun resoldering everything then having to put extentions on the pick up wires as everything is melted , the drilling the hole in the guitar larger as the shrink tubing wont fit . drill thru the back of the guitar drill thru the pick gaurd . fun !
Great video full of information. Many thanks. 🙂
I'm currently trying to correct the wiring on a Peavey with dual humbuckers (HH) -- Peavey Generation Custom EX. It came with a 2502N 5-way selector (branded Alpha), also known as the "Ibanez switch", which indeed has a humless "inner coils" mode in position #2 (and humless "neck coils parallel" on #4). So I guess the N-S N-S makes sense. Thanks for the demo!
Massive help! Thank you very much!!!!
This helped me so much, thank you!!!
This was very helpful, man!
dude you are a life saver!
Well I have to give you a thumbs up. You clarified something for me that I had erroneously assumed wrong. That's the funny thing about assuming you know something without checking to make certain. I had it backwards for many years because I assumed that it was the magnet in our compasses that the tip that points North was actually the South pole of that magnet so it would point North. When you made your statement that the north pole of Earth is actually magnetically South I was going to get on here and challenge you. Before doing so I decided I had better check to make sure. Now I'm getting on here to confirm your statement as I eat my huge helping of humble pie. I have a polarity tester. With that in hand and a 1/4 X 1/4 X 1/2 super magnet I was able to test my very reliable Silva compass (not a $5.00 compass) I was able to satisfactorily verify your statement. You are 100% correct sir. Our Earth's "North" pole has a magnetically south pull or energy. In essence whomever began making magnets or whomever started labeling our Earth's polarity and the polarity of magnets either mislabeled magnets or the polarity of magnets or they mislabeled the Earth's poles. Whatever will we do now? Our world has been turned upside down. :-o
Awesome tutorial. Thanks.
Thanks for the great video 👍
Best explanation i have ever seen...
Awesome information!!!
Great info and to the point, thanks
Very cool demo! 😎
this is great, now i can put my favorite wiring scheme...
Excellent video!
EXCELLENT vid!!!
i split the coils on mine that was wired wrong by a hand wound maker to how gibson wires them, way better the other way was way to bright, great info here and truth
Great info - thank you!
Thanx so much you took me to school on this one
Great video. Thank you.
Thank you very much for sharing.
great tip on polarity check :)
Very useful lesson !
Thanks a lot! Great job.
Great post! Thank you very much!
thanks for your help!
Very helpful, thank's!
Great tips!
just bought some cheap chinese knockoff humbuckers from eBay (FLEOR brand, and actually sound pretty darn good!) that came with no wiring diagram. This video got me up and running. Thanks!
Awesome video thanks
He is 100% bang on.. he is not guessing at all.
Great video.
Yay team, hooray, and all that. Got a little (cigarette pack size little) GB(?) made in Korea analog multimeter recently from Goodwill for half a buck. Glad I got it. Glad I caught your video. Thanks for your effort. I reckon you know it means a lot to beginners like me. Say, you figure there's any chance there is some alternate universe where they say, "...in the world of See LESS Duncan"? ~ David, a.k.a. the ConnMan.
Most informative. Thanks buddy.
stephen holloway!
interesting ,this might help me with a 1998 super stat with a 5 way switch. just put a Duncan 59 neck and a jb bridge, but for some reason the coil taps sound terrible and running the switch in middle with both pickups thin sound ,like out of phase.both sound good when using by them selfs.guess I'm going to have to check them, bought the 59 used. great video ,thanks
BRAVOOOO ! GOOD JOB !
Thanks for showing an easy way to determine the coil polarity. Compass north points to the magnets south because opposite magnetic poles attract. The compass arrow is just another magnet suspended on a bearing.
this was great- i wish i had watched it a few years ago before i spent days fumble fucking around with a pair of old buckers
Great video thank you. Question for you... How does polarity relate to the Start or Finish? Is positive the Start and Negative the Finish?
@proaudioguy I'm not sure which string motion will produce which voltage, but for these purposes all that matters is that all of the pickups in question respond the same way so that they are in phase with each other.
Thank you sooooooo much. This video saved my wall from my fist. My Custom 5's diagram on the seymour site has the black(+) and green(-) wire together but they are wrong. It's actually the red(+) and green(-) that go together. Again, thank you
Much appreciated!
Epic video tutorial is epic!
More action from a beefy shaft! Well said! Joking aside, good information and thank you.
The Jeff Goldblum of guitar pickups