TinkercasterParts and values
| In the drawing | Value | Part |
|---|---|---|
| Neck SCHSource: Neck single coil sized humbucker | — | Humbucker (four-conductor, Seymour Duncan colours)Generic |
| Middle single coil | — | Single-coil pickup (two-conductor)Generic |
| Bridge SCHSource: Bridge single coil sized humbucker | — | Humbucker (four-conductor, Seymour Duncan colours)Generic |
| 5-Way BladeSource: 5 way blade | — | Oak Grigsby 5-WayExample part |
| Volume 250k | 250k | CTS 250k Audio PotExample part |
| Output Jack | — | Switchcraft #11Example part |
| Bridge Ground | — | Bridge ground wireGeneric |
“Example part” means any part with the same value and lugs will do; the source does not name a brand. “Generic” stands in for an unspecified pickup: check your own pickup's lead colours before you solder.
Specific to this wiring
- Title: 1 SINGLE COIL SIZED HUMBUCKER | 1 SINGLE COIL | 1 SINGLE COIL SIZED HUMBUCKER | 1 VOLUME | 5 WAY BLADE Auto-Split.
- The neck and bridge pickups are drawn as Seymour Duncan Research boards (pads Finish, R, W, Gnd, B, G, Start); their leads leave in a cable of black, red, white, green and bare.
- The neck cable runs down over the bridge pickup's Finish end before its leads fan out; the bridge cable leaves from under the bridge board.
- Neck, middle and bridge hot leads (neck black, middle white, bridge black) go to three lugs in one row of the blade; that row's bottom lug is the common and its white loops round the outside of the blade to the volume's first lug.
- On the blade's other row the top lug is empty. The bridge red & white go together to the lug next to it, a black runs from the third lug to the volume's Solder spot, and the neck red & white go together to the bottom lug. Where the two pairs cross beside the volume, the neck pair is drawn as the hop.
- Neck and bridge green and bare, and the middle black, go to the Solder spot on the volume casing, which also takes the Bridge Ground wire and the wire to the jack sleeve.
- The volume's third lug is bent onto the casing under the Solder spot.
- The source does not number the blade's lugs or positions; the lugs are mapped by what they do (bridge, bridge + middle, middle, middle + neck, neck). The second row is read from its common, the lug diagonally opposite the first row's common (see the terminal mapping).
- Legend: Solder = location for ground (earth) connections. Jack: Tip (hot output); Sleeve (ground). The inner, circular portion of the jack.
- The only value printed is 'Volume 250k'; no tone control is drawn.
Understand this wiring
- Seymour Duncan humbucker wire colors
See the pickup, recognise its two halves, and learn where each coloured wire goes.
- Seymour Duncan coil splitting explained
A humbucker has two coils. See how a switch lets you use just one of them.
Connections
In soldering order: grounds first, then the switch, the pickups and the signal path.
| # | From | To | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neck green | Volume casing (Solder spot)Neck green to the Solder spot on the volume casing. | To a pot casinggreen |
| 2 | Neck bare | Volume casing (Solder spot)Neck bare (drawn grey beside the green) to the Solder spot on the volume casing. | Shield or groundbare |
| 3 | Middle black | Volume casing (Solder spot)Middle black runs down beside the bridge pickup and back to the Solder spot on the volume casing. | To a pot casingblack |
| 4 | Bridge green | Volume casing (Solder spot)Bridge green to the Solder spot on the volume casing. | To a pot casinggreen |
| 5 | Bridge bare | Volume casing (Solder spot)Bridge bare (drawn grey) to the Solder spot on the volume casing. | Shield or groundbare |
| 6 | Blade opposite row, third lug | Volume casing (Solder spot)Black from the opposite row, third lug (between the two red/white lugs), down and round to the Solder spot on the volume casing; the white to the jack carries a hop over it. | To a pot casingblack |
| 7 | Volume third lug | Volume casing (Solder spot)Volume third lug bent onto the casing under the Solder spot. | To a pot casing |
| 8 | Volume casing (Solder spot) | Jack SleeveBlack from the volume Solder spot to the jack Sleeve (ground). | To a pot casingblack |
| 9 | Bridge Ground wire | Volume casing (Solder spot)Bridge Ground wire to the volume Solder spot. | To a pot casingblack |
| 10 | Neck black | Blade wired row, second lugNeck black (from the neck cable) arcs over the top of the blade to the wired row, second lug from the common. | Wireblack |
| 11 | Neck red | Blade opposite row, bottom lugNeck red runs with its white from the neck cable, is drawn as the hop over the bridge pair beside the volume, and lands on the opposite row's bottom lug. | Wirered |
| 12 | Neck white | Blade opposite row, bottom lugNeck white runs with its red to the same opposite-row bottom lug. | Wirewhite |
| 13 | Middle white | Blade wired row, third lugMiddle white loops over the blade to the wired row, third lug from the common. | Wirewhite |
| 14 | Bridge black | Blade wired row, top lugBridge black (from the bridge cable) to the wired row, lug furthest from the common. | Wireblack |
| 15 | Bridge red | Blade opposite row, second lugBridge red runs with its white from the bridge cable, passes under the neck pair at the hop, and lands on the opposite row, lug next to that row's empty top lug. | Wirered |
| 16 | Bridge white | Blade opposite row, second lugBridge white runs with its red to the same opposite-row lug. | Wirewhite |
| 17 | Blade wired row, bottom lug (common) | Volume first lug (input)White from the wired row common (bottom lug) loops round the outside of the blade to the volume input lug. | Wirewhite |
| 18 | Volume middle lug | Jack TipWhite from the volume middle lug to the jack Tip (hot output). | Wirewhite |
What each position does
| Setting | The source | Engine result |
|---|---|---|
| Position 1: bridge humbucker | Bridge black on the wired row's top lug; the floating second common touches only the bridge red & white lug, so nothing is grounded. | Bridge SCH (both coils). |
| Position 2: bridge split + middle | The floating second-pole common joins the bridge red & white lug to the grounded lug: the auto-split. | Middle single coil and Bridge SCH (split to one coil) in parallel. |
| Position 3: middle | Middle white only; the grounded lug touches neither red & white lug. | Middle single coil. |
| Position 4: middle + neck split | The floating second-pole common joins the neck red & white lug to the grounded lug: the auto-split. | Neck SCH (split to one coil) and Middle single coil in parallel. |
| Position 5: neck humbucker | Neck black only; the neck red & white lug is not grounded. | Neck SCH (both coils). |
Checked with the Tinkercaster wiring engine against the switching the source describes.
- The blade's lugs are unlabelled and mapped by function. The second row is read from its common, the empty lug diagonally opposite the first row's common: T8, then T7 (positions 1-2), T5 (2-4), T6 (4-5).
- The second pole's common is drawn empty: it floats and only bridges its own throws, so in positions 2 and 4 it joins one humbucker's red & white to the grounded lug.
- The single-coil-sized humbuckers are modelled by a generic four-conductor humbucker; hum cancelling and phase describe the generic models.
- Pickup resistance is not specified, so no numeric meter readings are given.
Before you solder
Ticks are kept in this browser only, as a reminder. They are not a check of your joints. New to soldering? Read the soldering cheat sheet.
Check before plugging in
- Position 1: tip to sleeve reads the full bridge humbucker.
- Position 2: the bridge red & white read ground, and the reading drops to one bridge coil in parallel with the middle.
- Position 4: the neck red & white read ground, and the reading drops to one neck coil in parallel with the middle.
- Position 5: tip to sleeve reads the full neck humbucker.
Measure across the output jack with a multimeter on its resistance range. No exact readings are given where the source does not specify the pickups.