Coil-splitting humbuckers Many of our mini toggle switch FAQs begin with an inquiry into whether or not you can coil-split just any humbucker. Theoretically, any humbucker can be split, but in practice, it’s dependent upon the way the manufacturer has built the pickup. To split a humbucking pickup, you need one with four lead output […]
Push-Pull Pot FAQ What is a coil-split pickup? A coil-split pickup is a humbucker that is split in such a way that it only uses one of its two coils. This is useful to guitarists who use humbuckers but occasionally want a single-coil sound.
Let’s take a look at the difference between gold plated and silver plated guitar jacks. Which one’s better?
First things first: what is the Nashville-Style Tele, how is it wired, and can you modify your Telecaster so it produces that tone? A Nashville-Style Tele is just a Standard Telecaster with three pickups instead of two, and a five-way selector switch instead of a three-way selector switch. This Mod was created by Tele players […]
Why a Mini Toggle Switch? A humbucker pickup contains two coils, and with a simple modification, we can use a switch to “shut off” one of the coils, causing the pickup to sound and act like a single coil. The choice to use a mini-toggle switch is purely aesthetic; you can use absolutely any kind […]
HBS READER QUESTION: Hi, Can you help, please? I got this Marshall MG10, and I’ve had this buzzing and crackling problem when I play the Strat. I sent it back to them and they listened to the sound recording I had of the buzzing and they said I had a loose earth connection or the […]
This article will cover how to wire a humbucker pickup so that it can be split into a single coil, using a push-pull pot. For the split you need a four-wire humbucker; you cannot split a two-wire without first modifying the pickup itself. Each coil has a Hot and a Ground, and a determination must […]
In this article, we’ll start with the basics of guitar pickup wiring by examining what it means when guitar pickups are wired in-phase, out-of-phase, series, or parallel. The first thing we’ll need to do is understand a little about how pickups are made and how they work.
The treble bleed circuit wiring is one of the easiest mods that you can perform on your guitar. It’s one that might require extensive experimenting, however, before you’re able to get it perfect. The treble bleed is meant to preserve treble loss as you turn down the volume control on your guitar. It does this […]
A reader asked about turning off one coil of the bridge humbucker in his Telecaster via the three-way switch. What he proposed is: 1. Neck pickup 2. Neck + one humbucker coil 3. Both humbucker coils READER QUESTION: If I have a humbucker in the bridge position of my Telecaster, can one of the coils […]
Let’s talk about setting up 5-way switch wiring in a Fender Stratocaster. Even though this guide is specific to the Fender Stratocaster, the switch and wiring will work the same way in any guitar with one Volume and two Tone controls. If you’re changing your Strat switch, it might also be a great time to […]
Wiring Up a Telecaster Three-Way Switch This article will apply to any similar three-way “Lever” switches that are used in many different Strat-style guitars. This is distinct from Les Paul-style guitars that use a three-way “Toggle” switch — that discussion will be in a different article. For this guide, we’ll use all of the standard […]