A .022 microfarad tone capacitor is a part that cost Gibson a few cents in 1959. The striped version out of a Les Paul from that year now trades for more than most people’s first guitar, and about half of what gets said about it is wrong. I buy and sell the guitars these came […]
Let’s take a look at the Soldano SLO Super Lead Overdrive. To understand this pedal we have to go back for a moment and take a super condensed look at the humble roots of its predecessor, and how this pedal came into being. Its creator Mike Soldano began his career in the amplifier industry in […]
The Seymour Duncan Slash APH-2 is an electric guitar pickup designed in direct collaboration with Slash himself. It’s a set of Alnico II humbuckers meant to replicate the exact tone of his legendary ’86 Derrig Les Paul — the one that drove Appetite for Destruction into the rock pantheon. What’s immediately worth noting is the […]
About Ivor Arbiter: The Man Behind the Pedal Ivor Arbiter wasn’t an engineer—he was a shop owner with good instincts and great timing. Running multiple music shops in West London, he was right in the middle of the British Invasion. One of his most famous moments came when he quickly sketched the Beatles logo on […]
Question Hi, Thank you for posting the Esquire wiring diagram/manual. I’m currently modifying a Squire Tele into an Esquire and I try to you use the Korean 3-way switch. Unfortunately, the soldering lugs are all on the same side. Puzzling!! Could you tell me what’s the right order. Hope to hear from you. Theo Answer […]
The P.A.F. that got away—vintage clarity with modern punch. The Wolfetone Marshallhead is Wolfe McLeod’s love letter to the rare “hot P.A.F.s” that rolled out of Gibson’s Kalamazoo factory by happy accident in the late ’50s. Back then, coils were wound by hand, and not every pickup came out exactly the same. Some were just […]
QUESTION: My new Seymour Duncan pickguard for my Stratocaster is a red devil in the neck, coil tapped from volume pot, a red devil middle, not coil tapped and a P-Rail in the bridge coil tapped from the first tone pot. My question is what are the exact color wires to use and where do […]
Here at Humbucker Soup, we love to answer reader questions, and when we get one that might interest our readers, we like to share it. Recently, we received a question that involves a modded Eldred modification that is a perfect example. Keep reading while we make a popular Esquire mod even better for some players […]
Queston: Hi, Do you have a wiring diagram for a telecaster guitar with a neck humbucker and bridge single coil? There is one volume and one tone pot and a 3 way blade switch. I wanted to know what value pots to use and the standard tone pot capacitor value. I have seen in some […]
When I dropped the DiMarzio Super Distortion T into my Tele’s bridge slot, I wasn’t expecting a time machine back to a late‑’70s Les Paul, and I think that is the best expectation to set for yourself. A single‑coil‑sized, twin‑blade humbucker is never going to be a 1:1 clone of a full‑size Super Distortion—but it […]
READER QUESTION: Is there a way to split a humbucker with a DPDT on/on/on 3-way toggle switch to get north coil-split/series (HB)/south coil-split… in any order? Thanks, Terence
The Seymour Duncan ’59 Model humbucker (SH-1) is one of those rare pickups that manages to combine vintage tone with practical versatility—all without the boutique price tag. Designed to emulate the character of late 1950s PAF-style pickups, the ’59 brings old-school flavor to modern rigs with just enough flexibility to suit a wide range of […]
I remember first hearing the name Tube Screamer around 1980. Even before I knew what it did, the name itself jumped out at me—there was just something raw and electrifying about it. Decades later, I’m still amazed at how this little green box has become one of the most iconic and enduring overdrive pedals in […]
What Does a Potentiometer Do in a Guitar? The main function of potentiometers is to control the tone and volume of the guitar. Pots work as variable resistors. For volume control, turning the volume knob increases or decreases loudness. For tone control, a capacitor combined with a pot filters out higher frequencies, resulting in a […]
While the guitar can do a lot, it’s limited in the sounds it can create when compared to a sampler or synthesizer, which can be a limitation—especially if you’re a bedroom producer trying to make complete recordings with limited instruments. One possible solution to this problem is to add MIDI capability to your guitar, which […]