By Ed Malaker
Posted 06/07/2022
If you have a Mojo pickup and are wondering how to install it, we have you covered. This installation guide covers every style of Mojo pickup, and it shows diagrams for installing them in the most popular guitar styles. We’ll install everything from P90s to four-wire humbuckers.
Before You Get Started With Your Mojo Pickup Installation
Before you read any further, we want to make sure you understand that this article assumes you know how to read the diagrams we present and that you have the tools and knowledge to change the pickups. If you need step-by-step instructions for a specific model of pickup, we recommend searching humbuckersoup.com’s vast library of wiring tutorials for the pickup you want to install.
Vintage Stratocaster Wiring
Let’s start with the Fender Stratocaster. Mojo produces several single-coil pickups, including the Jaguar. Single-coil pickups have two wires, and Mojo Pickups use the standard wiring scheme of white equals Hot, and black equals Ground.
In Example 1, we illustrate a common way to install Mojo Pickups into a Fender Stratocaster.
Example 1
Vintage Telecaster Wiring
The next type of pickup we want to look at goes into a Fender Telecaster. These pickups are also single coils, but there are some subtle differences: the neck pickup is slightly smaller than ordinary single-coil pickups, and the bridge pickup is responsible for the legendary twang that Telecasters produce. Therefore, these pickups are usually separate from standard single-coils.
Mojo Pickups have several models of Telecaster pickups, including the Jaguar. Like Strat pickups, these have two wires each, and once again, Mojo Pickups stick to the standard wiring scheme of yellow and black for the bridge pickup and white and black for the neck.
In Example 2, we’ve illustrated a common way to install Mojo Pickups into a Telecaster.
Example 2
Vintage P90 Wiring
The P90 is the Gibson style single-coil pickup. These pickups use braided wire or single conductor wire. That means that a single colored wire, usually white, is surrounded by a braided metal sleeve or shield. The colored wire is the Hot, and the braided metal slave is the Ground. Mojo Pickups create several P90 models, including the Jazzmaster.
In Example 3, we illustrate a common way to install Vintage P90s into a Gibson Les Paul.
Example 3
Humbucker Wiring (Braided Wire)
The original humbucker shares the same wiring scheme as vintage P90s. A single conductor is the Hot, while the braided metal shield is the Ground. Mojo Pickups have several humbuckers, including the Wide Range Humbucker, and you can find most of them in this scheme or the four-wire scheme we’ll talk about next.
In Example 4, we illustrate a common way to install vintage humbuckers in a Gibson Les Paul.
Example 4
Humbucker Wiring (4-Wires)
Modern humbuckers have four colored wires and one bare wire. With this, you can perform modifications like the coil-split or wire the coils out of phase. Each coil needs two wires, and the bare wire is a shield for the chassis. You wire the coils in series, and you will need to do this manually by twisting two of the wires together.
Mojo Pickup Wiring Code
- Black = Hot
- Red + white = soldered together and taped off
- Green + Bare = soldered together and Ground
In Example 5, we illustrate the Mojo Pickup wiring code.
Example 5
Once you have the wiring code established, you can install the Mojo Pickups humbucker using the Hot and Ground wires as we did for the others.
In Example 6, we illustrate how to install four-wire humbuckers into a Gibson Les Paul.
Example 6
Humbucker Coil Splitting (4-Wires)
Since we mentioned pickup modifications, we feel it’s only right to give you an example of one, so we’re going to show you the coil-split. This mod is very simple, but it will require you to convert one of your tone controls into a push-pull pot. The push-pull pot is the same as a standard pot, except it has an extra mechanism built-in, so you can install it the same way.
In Example 7, we illustrate what a Gibson Les Paul might look like with a push-pull pot installed.
Example 7
With the push-pull pot installed, connect the red and white wires from your humbucker to the switch part of the push-pull pot, and you’ll need to install a short wire from the switch to the back of the tone pot.
In Example 8, we demonstrate these connections.
Example 8
With the wires in place, your mod should be active. Pulling out the push-pull pot will engage it, and pushing it back in will disengage it.
Summary
We made the last several diagrams based on the Gibson Les Paul to demonstrate that it all comes down to the Hot and Ground wires. Ground usually goes to the back of the volume pot. Hot goes to either a lug on the pickup selector switch or a lug on the volume control.
We hope that you have enjoyed reading over this Mojo Pickup Installation Guide, and that it has helped you get your pickups installed. If you think it can be helpful to others, please feel free to share this Mojo Pickup installation guide on Facebook and Twitter. And for more articles on guitar electronics, please visit humbuckersoup.com.