Tinkercaster
Seymour Duncan wiring

Tele with a neck humbucker and a bridge Tele stack

One humbucker · One Tele stack · Three-way blade · One volume · One tone

A Tele harness with a Seymour Duncan neck humbucker and a bridge Tele stack on a three-way blade, one 250k volume and one 250k tone with a .047 cap. The red and white leads of both pickups are joined and taped off, so each runs full; the middle position runs both in parallel.

Open interactive diagram ↗
Tele with a neck humbucker and a bridge Tele stackTele with a neck humbucker and a bridge Tele stack: One humbucker · One Tele stack · Three-way blade · One volume · One tone. Original Tinkercaster drawing with labelled terminals.Neck humbuckerNeck humbuckerBridge Tele stackBridge Tele stack3-Way SwitchVolume 250k · 250k250kTone 250k · 250k250k.047 cap · 47nF47nFOutput JackBridge ground wireblackgreenwhiteredbareblackgreenwhiteredbareT1T2T3T4T5T6T7T8lug1lug2lug3lug1lug2lug3abtipsleeveground

Viewed from the back of the controls, as you solder them. Open the interactive diagram to zoom, move components and try the switches.

Parts and values

In the drawingValuePart
Neck humbuckerSource: Seymour Duncan humbucker (neck)—Humbucker (four-conductor, Seymour Duncan colours)Generic
Bridge Tele stackSource: Seymour Duncan Tele stack (bridge)—Humbucker (four-conductor, Seymour Duncan colours)Generic
3-Way Switch—CRL 3-Way BladeExample part
Volume 250k250kCTS 250k Audio PotExample part
Tone 250k250kCTS 250k Audio PotExample part
.047 capSource: .047 cap (drawn green)47nFOrange Drop .047µFExample part
Output Jack—Switchcraft #11Example part
Bridge ground wireSource: bridge ground wire—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

  • Red & White wires get soldered together and taped off: on both the humbucker and the Tele stack.
  • The neck humbucker's black goes to the top lug on the right side of the switch; the Tele stack's black goes to the bottom lug on the left side.
  • The green and bare leads of both pickups and the bridge ground wire all go to the volume's Solder spot.
  • Jumpers join the top-left, second-left, third-right and bottom-right lugs; the bottom-right lug runs to the volume input. Two lugs stay empty.
  • The source does not number the switch positions; the lugs are mapped by what they do (neck, both, bridge).
  • The volume and tone Solder spots are joined by a wire drawn dashed in the source.
  • Jack: Tip (hot output); Sleeve (ground). The inner, circular portion of the jack.

Understand this wiring

All Seymour Duncan wiring guides →

Connections

In soldering order: grounds first, then the switch, the pickups and the signal path.

#FromToHow
1Neck humbucker greenVolume casingTo a pot casinggreen
2Neck humbucker bareVolume casingDrawn grey beside the green.Shield or groundbare
3Tele stack greenVolume casingTo a pot casinggreen
4Tele stack bareVolume casingDrawn grey beside the green.Shield or groundbare
5Bridge ground wireVolume casingShield or groundblack
6Volume right lugVolume casingLug bent onto the casing.To a pot casing
7.047 capTone casingTo a pot casing
8Volume casingTone casingDrawn dashed in the source.To a pot casing
9Tone casingJack sleeveWireblack
10Neck humbucker blackSwitch top-right lug (common)Arcs over the top of the switch.Wireblack
11Tele stack blackSwitch bottom-left lug (common)Hops over the humbucker's green and bare.Wireblack
12Switch top-left lugSwitch second left lugJumperblack
13Switch second left lugSwitch third right lugJumperblack
14Switch third right lugSwitch bottom-right lugJumperblack
15Switch bottom-right lugVolume left lug (input)Hops over the ground leads.Wireblack
16Neck humbucker redNeck humbucker whiteSoldered together and taped off.Joined and insulatedred
17Tele stack redTele stack whiteSoldered together and taped off.Joined and insulatedred
18Volume middle lugJack tipWireblack
19Volume left lugTone left lugWireblack
20Tone middle lug.047 capWire

What each position does

SettingThe sourceEngine result
NeckNeck humbucker (positions are not printed on the sheet).Neck humbucker (both coils).
Neck + bridgeBoth pickups together.Neck humbucker (both coils) and Bridge Tele stack (both coils) in parallel.
BridgeBridge Tele stack.Bridge Tele stack (both coils).

Checked with the Tinkercaster wiring engine against the switching the source describes.

  • The Tele stack is modelled by a generic four-conductor humbucker; hum cancelling and phase describe the generic models, not a measurement of the Tele stack.
  • 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

  • In each switch position, the meter across the jack should read the neck, both in parallel, or the bridge stack.
  • Each taped red–white joint should read open to ground.

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.