TinkercasterParts and values
| In the drawing | Value | Part |
|---|---|---|
| Neck PickupSource: Seymour Duncan Neck Pickup | — | Humbucker (four-conductor, Seymour Duncan colours)Generic |
| Bridge PickupSource: Seymour Duncan Bridge Pickup | — | Humbucker (four-conductor, Seymour Duncan colours)Generic |
| 5 Way Blade | — | Oak Grigsby 5-WayExample part |
| Volume 500k | 500k | CTS 500k Audio PotExample part |
| Tone 500K | 500k | CTS 500k Audio PotExample part |
| .047 capSource: .047 cap (drawn green) | 47nF | Orange Drop .047µFExample 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
- Printed legend: 'Position 1: Bridge Humbucker. Position 2: Neck Humbucker plus Bridge Humbucker. Position 3: Neck Humbucker. Position 4: Bridge Humbucker plus Neck Split. Position 5: Bridge Split.'
- LEGEND DISAGREES WITH THE DRAWING IN POSITION 4. This diagram follows the drawing, which is a working circuit: position 4 gives the bridge humbucker SPLIT plus the neck humbucker split, in parallel, not the full bridge humbucker the legend prints. For the legend's position 4 the bridge black would have to be live in positions 1, 2 and 4, but it is drawn on the blade lug that is live only in positions 1-2. Seymour Duncan's 2015-2021 versions of this sheet show the same wiring with no legend; a Seymour Duncan forum post (GuitarDoc, 2019) describes the drawn wiring as '4. Bridge (screw coil) + Neck (slug coil)', which agrees with this reading. Positions 1, 2, 3 and 5 match the legend.
- Sheet text: 'This mod uses a standard 5-way lever switch, intended to show a versatile alternative with 2 humbucker pickups. For more complex switching, a megaswitch or 4 position switch is needed.'
- The blade lugs are not numbered on the sheet. They are read as a standard two-pole 5-way: the upper (left) row's common is its bottom lug (T4), then T2, T1 and T3 going up; the lower (right) row's common is its top lug (T8), diagonally opposite, then T7, T5 and T6 going down. Pole A: T3 live in positions 1-2, T1 in 2-4, T2 in 4-5; pole B: T7 in 1-2, T5 in 2-4, T6 in 4-5. Position 1 is the bridge end.
- The lower row's top lug (T8) and second lug (T7) are drawn empty. T8 is a floating common: in positions 4-5 it joins T5 (grounded) to T6 (the neck red and white), which grounds the neck series link and leaves the neck black coil.
- The bridge red and white (T2) reach the output in positions 4 and 5 while the bridge black is disconnected, so the bridge's red-to-green coil is what plays: the bridge split takes its output from the series link.
- The tone's left lug is wired to the volume's left lug (the blade output); its middle lug feeds the .047 cap to its Solder spot; its right lug is drawn unused.
- Both pickups' green and bare wires and the blade's grounding lug go to the volume Solder spot. The volume Solder spot is wired to the tone Solder spot, which takes the jack sleeve and the 'Bridge Ground' wire.
- The volume's right lug is drawn bent back onto its casing under a second Solder spot.
- Source legend: the grey 'Solder' spot = location for ground (earth) connections.
- Tip (hot output). Sleeve (ground): the inner, circular portion of the jack.
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 casingTo the volume Solder spot. | Wiregreen |
| 2 | Neck bare | Volume casingTo the volume Solder spot. | Shield or groundbare |
| 3 | Bridge green | Volume casingTo the volume Solder spot. | Wiregreen |
| 4 | Bridge bare | Volume casingTo the volume Solder spot. | Shield or groundbare |
| 5 | Blade lower row, third lug (T5) | Volume casingRuns right (hopping the neck red), down the right side and back left, hopping the blade common's wire, to the volume Solder spot. | Wireblack |
| 6 | Volume right lug | Volume casingDrawn bent back under the second Solder spot. | To a pot casing |
| 7 | Volume casing | Tone casingSolder spot to Solder spot. | To a pot casingblack |
| 8 | Tone .047 cap | Tone casing | To a pot casing |
| 9 | Tone casing | Jack sleeve | Wireblack |
| 10 | Bridge Ground wire | Tone casing | Wireblack |
| 11 | Neck black | Blade upper row, second lug (T1) | Wireblack |
| 12 | Neck white | Blade lower row, bottom lug (T6)Runs up and over the top of the page with the neck red. | Wirewhite |
| 13 | Neck red | Blade lower row, bottom lug (T6)Shares the lug with the neck white. | Wirered |
| 14 | Bridge black | Blade upper row, top lug (T3)Runs up the left of the volume. | Wireblack |
| 15 | Bridge white | Blade upper row, third lug (T2)Drawn with the red and labelled 'red & white'. | Wirewhite |
| 16 | Bridge red | Blade upper row, third lug (T2)Shares the lug with the bridge white. | Wirered |
| 17 | Blade upper row, bottom lug (T4, common) | Volume left lug | Wireblack |
| 18 | Volume left lug | Tone left lugStraight down; the tone is drawn lugs up. | Wireblack |
| 19 | Volume middle lug | Jack tipHops one wire. | Wireblack |
| 20 | Tone middle lug | Tone .047 cap | Wire |
What each position does
| Setting | The source | Engine result |
|---|---|---|
| Bridge humbucker | Position 1: Bridge Humbucker. | Bridge Pickup (both coils). |
| Neck humbucker + bridge humbucker | Position 2: Neck Humbucker plus Bridge Humbucker. | Neck Pickup (both coils) and Bridge Pickup (both coils) in parallel. |
| Neck humbucker | Position 3: Neck Humbucker. | Neck Pickup (both coils). |
| Bridge split + neck split (legend says bridge humbucker + neck split) | The printed legend says 'Position 4: Bridge Humbucker plus Neck Split', but the drawn wiring (followed here) gives the bridge humbucker split plus the neck split. The legend is wrong for this position; the drawing is a working circuit. | Neck Pickup (split to one coil) and Bridge Pickup (split to one coil) in parallel. |
| Bridge split | Position 5: Bridge Split. | Bridge Pickup (split to one coil). |
Checked with the Tinkercaster wiring engine against the switching the source describes.
- The printed legend's position 4 ('Bridge Humbucker plus Neck Split') disagrees with the drawing; the expected states follow the drawing (bridge split + neck split).
- Which coil of each humbucker remains when split follows the Seymour Duncan lead colours of the generic pickup model; hum cancelling in position 4 is not claimed.
- 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
- Positions 1, 2 and 3: bridge humbucker, both humbuckers in parallel, neck humbucker.
- Position 4: expect roughly half the resistance of either split coil (two single coils in parallel), not a full humbucker in parallel with a coil.
- Position 5: expect roughly one coil of the bridge 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.