Tinkercaster
Tonerider wiring

Two humbuckers, three-way toggle and one volume

Two humbuckers · Three-way toggle · One volume · No tone

Neck and bridge four-conductor humbuckers straight onto a three-way toggle, then a single 500kA volume to the jack. No tone control. The middle position runs both pickups in parallel.

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Viewed from the back of the controls, as you solder them. Select a component to move, rotate or flip it. Follow wires and try the switches in simulation mode. Use Full screen for a closer look.

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Parts and values

In the drawingValuePart
Neck Pickup—Humbucker (four-conductor, DiMarzio colours)Generic
Bridge Pickup—Humbucker (four-conductor, DiMarzio colours)Generic
3-Way Toggle—Switchcraft 3-Way ToggleExample part
Volume 500kA500kCTS 500k Audio PotExample part
Output Jack—Switchcraft #11Example 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

  • Solder Black and White wires together, and insulate with heat shrink or electrical tape: on each pickup the joint touches nothing else.
  • Pickup series: all 4-conductor “AC” and “H” series humbuckers.
  • Both pickups' green and bare shield wires end on the volume casing.
  • The toggle frame lug is drawn to a ground symbol; here it is wired to the volume casing. That is a routing choice, not a required solder point.
  • The toggle tags are not labelled in the source, so they are mapped by what each does: the tag carrying the neck red is live in the neck position, the tag carrying the bridge red in the bridge position, and the middle tag is the output.
  • The source draws no bridge (string) ground wire.

Connections

In soldering order: grounds first, then the switch, the pickups and the signal path. Choose Show to highlight a connection in the drawing.

#FromToHow
1Neck greenVolume casingTo a pot casinggreen
2Neck bare shieldVolume casingShield or groundbare
3Bridge greenVolume casingTo a pot casinggreen
4Bridge bare shieldVolume casingShield or groundbare
5Volume right lugVolume casingShort black link.To a pot casing
6Volume casingJack sleeveWireblack
7Toggle frame lugGround (Volume casing)The source shows a ground symbol.To a pot casing
8Neck redToggle neck lugWirered
9Bridge redToggle bridge lugWirered
10Toggle middle lugVolume left lug (input)Drawn grey.Wire
11Neck blackNeck whiteSoldered together and insulated.Joined and insulatedblack
12Bridge blackBridge whiteSoldered together and insulated.Joined and insulatedblack
13Volume middle lugJack tipDrawn grey.Wire

What each position does

SettingThe sourceEngine result
Neck—Neck Pickup (both coils).
Both—Neck Pickup (both coils) and Bridge Pickup (both coils) in parallel.
Bridge—Bridge Pickup (both coils).

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 the Tonerider humbuckers.
  • 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 toggle position, the meter across the jack should read the selected pickup, or both in parallel in the middle.
  • Each taped black–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.