Tinkercaster
Parts 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 |
| 3-Way ToggleSource: 3 way toggle (unlabelled tags) | — | Switchcraft 3-Way ToggleExample part |
| Volume 500k | 500k | CTS 500k Audio PotExample part |
| Neck Tone 500k push/pullSource: Tone 500k push/pull (neck) | 500k | 500k Push-Pull DPDTExample part |
| Output Jack | — | Switchcraft #11Example part |
| Bridge Tone 500k push/pullSource: Tone 500k push/pull (bridge) | 500k | 500k Push-Pull DPDTExample part |
| Bridge groundSource: Bridge Ground Wire | — | Bridge ground wireGeneric |
| Neck .047 capSource: .047 cap on the neck tone (drawn green) | 47nF | Orange Drop .047µFExample part |
| Bridge .047 capSource: .047 cap on the bridge tone (drawn green) | 47nF | Orange Drop .047µFExample part |
“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
- The source title names the two tones as push/pull coil splits.
- Each pickup's red and white leads are soldered together onto the middle bottom-row lug of its own tone's push/pull switch.
- On each push/pull, the bottom-row lug nearest the pot is jumpered to that pot's casing; the other lugs stay empty.
- Each pickup's black lead goes to the top lug of its own tone pot, and that lug continues to the toggle.
- The neck green and bare and the toggle's frame lug end on the neck tone casing; the bridge green and bare, the bridge ground wire and the jack sleeve end on the bridge tone casing.
- The pot casings are linked: neck tone to bridge tone, and bridge tone to volume.
- The Solder spots mark the locations for ground (earth) connections.
- The toggle tags and push/pull lugs are not labelled in the source, so they are mapped by what each does.
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.
- Reading Seymour Duncan push/pull switch diagrams
Turning the knob and pulling it do different jobs. See the actual part, then try its switch connections.
Connections
In soldering order: grounds first, then the switch, the pickups and the signal path. Choose Show to highlight a connection in the drawing.
| # | From | To | How | Drawing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neck push/pull lug nearest the pot | Neck tone casing | To a pot casingblack | |
| 2 | Neck green | Neck tone casing | To a pot casinggreen | |
| 3 | Neck bare shield | Neck tone casingDrawn grey beside the green. | Shield or groundbare | |
| 4 | Neck .047 cap | Neck tone casing | To a pot casing | |
| 5 | Bridge push/pull lug nearest the pot | Bridge tone casing | To a pot casingblack | |
| 6 | Bridge green | Bridge tone casing | To a pot casinggreen | |
| 7 | Bridge bare shield | Bridge tone casingDrawn grey beside the green. | Shield or groundbare | |
| 8 | Bridge .047 cap | Bridge tone casing | To a pot casing | |
| 9 | Volume right lug | Volume casingLug bent onto the casing. | To a pot casing | |
| 10 | Toggle frame lug | Neck tone casing | To a pot casingblack | |
| 11 | Neck tone casing | Bridge tone casing | To a pot casingblack | |
| 12 | Bridge tone casing | Volume casing | To a pot casingblack | |
| 13 | Bridge ground wire | Bridge tone casing | Shield or groundblack | |
| 14 | Bridge tone casing | Jack sleeve | Wireblack | |
| 15 | Neck tone top lug | Toggle neck lug | Wireblack | |
| 16 | Bridge tone top lug | Toggle bridge lug | Wireblack | |
| 17 | Toggle middle lug | Volume left lug (input) | Wireblack | |
| 18 | Neck red | Neck push/pull middle lug | Wirered | |
| 19 | Neck white | Neck push/pull middle lugSoldered together with the red on the same lug. | Wirewhite | |
| 20 | Neck black | Neck tone top lug | Wireblack | |
| 21 | Bridge red | Bridge push/pull middle lug | Wirered | |
| 22 | Bridge white | Bridge push/pull middle lugSoldered together with the red on the same lug. | Wirewhite | |
| 23 | Bridge black | Bridge tone top lug | Wireblack | |
| 24 | Neck tone middle lug | Neck .047 cap | Wire | |
| 25 | Bridge tone middle lug | Bridge .047 cap | Wire | |
| 26 | Volume middle lug | Jack tip | Wireblack |
What each position does
| Setting | The source | Engine result |
|---|---|---|
| Neck, neck tone down, bridge tone down: neck full | — | Neck Pickup (both coils). |
| Neck, neck tone down, bridge tone up: neck full | — | Neck Pickup (both coils). |
| Neck, neck tone up, bridge tone down: neck split | — | Neck Pickup (split to one coil). |
| Neck, neck tone up, bridge tone up: neck split | — | Neck Pickup (split to one coil). |
| Both, neck tone down, bridge tone down: neck full + bridge full | — | Neck Pickup (both coils) and Bridge Pickup (both coils) in parallel. |
| Both, neck tone down, bridge tone up: neck full + bridge split | — | Neck Pickup (both coils) and Bridge Pickup (split to one coil) in parallel. |
| Both, neck tone up, bridge tone down: neck split + bridge full | — | Neck Pickup (split to one coil) and Bridge Pickup (both coils) in parallel. |
| Both, neck tone up, bridge tone up: neck split + bridge split | — | Neck Pickup (split to one coil) and Bridge Pickup (split to one coil) in parallel. |
| Bridge, neck tone down, bridge tone down: bridge full | — | Bridge Pickup (both coils). |
| Bridge, neck tone down, bridge tone up: bridge split | — | Bridge Pickup (split to one coil). |
| Bridge, neck tone up, bridge tone down: bridge full | — | Bridge Pickup (both coils). |
| Bridge, neck tone up, bridge tone up: bridge split | — | Bridge Pickup (split to one coil). |
Checked with the Tinkercaster wiring engine against the switching the source describes.
- Hum cancelling and phase describe the generic pickup models, not a measurement of any specific Seymour Duncan model.
- Pickup resistance is not specified, so no numeric meter readings are given.
- The source does not say which knob position splits; this follows the usual push/pull behaviour (pulled joins the middle lug to the lug nearest the pot).
- The simulator's position summary names one tone control only; each tone sits on its own pickup's lead ahead of the toggle, so in the middle position both tones act on the combined signal.
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
- Both knobs down: in each toggle position the meter across the jack reads the selected humbucker, or both in parallel in the middle.
- Pulling a tone knob drops the reading for its own pickup to roughly one coil's resistance.
- With the volume at zero, tip and sleeve should read as a short in every position.
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.