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 |
| Bridge Tone 500k | 500k | CTS 500k Audio PotExample part |
| Neck Tone 500k | 500k | CTS 500k Audio PotExample part |
| Bridge tone .047 capSource: .047 cap on the bridge tone (drawn green) | 47nF | Orange Drop .047µFExample part |
| Neck tone .047 capSource: .047 cap on the neck tone (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 upload of this sheet (archived 2017-06-22) shows the same wiring with no legend; a Seymour Duncan forum post (GuitarDoc, 2019) about the one-tone sister sheet, 2H_5WSPL_1V_1T, whose switch wiring is the same, describes it 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.
- Each pickup's black goes first to its own tone's left lug, and from there on to the blade: bridge tone to the upper row's top lug, neck tone to the upper row's second lug. Each tone's middle lug feeds its .047 cap to its Solder spot; the right lugs are drawn unused.
- Unmarked crossing: the neck black's run to the neck tone crosses the vertical blade-common-to-volume wire beside the 'Volume 500k' label with no hop and no dot. Every other crossing on this sheet is drawn with a hop, and the sheet marks joints with dots at lugs and Solder spots. It is read as NOT joined: a joint there would put the neck pickup on the output in every position, which contradicts every line of the legend (including positions 1 and 5, where the drawing and the legend agree on bridge-only sounds) and differs from the one-tone version of this sheet, where the neck black runs straight to the blade.
- 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 bridge tone Solder spot, which also takes the neck tone Solder spot, 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.
- The label 'black' printed beside the bridge pickup's cable has no wire next to it on this sheet; the bridge black is the lead that runs along the bottom to the bridge tone.
- 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 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 | Bridge tone casingSolder spot to Solder spot. | To a pot casingblack |
| 8 | Bridge tone .047 cap | Bridge tone casing | To a pot casing |
| 9 | Neck tone .047 cap | Neck tone casing | To a pot casing |
| 10 | Neck tone casing | Bridge tone casingRuns right, down and back left with one hop. | To a pot casingblack |
| 11 | Bridge tone casing | Jack sleeve | Wireblack |
| 12 | Bridge Ground wire | Bridge tone casing | Wireblack |
| 13 | Neck white | Blade lower row, bottom lug (T6)Runs up and over the top of the page with the neck red. | Wirewhite |
| 14 | Neck red | Blade lower row, bottom lug (T6)Shares the lug with the neck white. | Wirered |
| 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, top lug (T3) | Bridge tone left lugHops the red & white and several wires on the way down. | Wireblack |
| 18 | Blade upper row, second lug (T1) | Neck tone left lugHops the red & white and the blade common's wire. | Wireblack |
| 19 | Blade upper row, bottom lug (T4, common) | Volume left lug | Wireblack |
| 20 | Neck black | Neck tone left lugCrosses the vertical blade-common-to-volume wire beside the 'Volume 500k' label with no hop and no dot; read as not joined. | Wireblack |
| 21 | Bridge black | Bridge tone left lugRuns right along the bottom with the cable; the tone is drawn lugs up. | Wireblack |
| 22 | Volume middle lug | Jack tipHops several wires. | Wireblack |
| 23 | Bridge tone middle lug | Bridge tone .047 cap | Wire |
| 24 | Neck tone middle lug | Neck 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.
- Each tone should act only on its own pickup: the bridge tone in positions 1, 2, 4 and 5 through the bridge pickup, the neck tone in positions 2, 3 and 4.
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.