The wiring reference

Seymour Duncan single-coil and Tele phase reversal

Swap the coil connections while keeping metal parts and the guitar strings grounded.

Look underneath first

The coil and the metalwork need separate jobs

Metal baseplate · bottom viewTwo coil leadsJumper
Conceptual underside, not a model-specific cutting template. Identify the actual plate-to-coil jumper on your pickup.

Coil leads may swap

The phase switch exchanges which coil lead carries signal and which goes to ground.

Metalwork stays grounded

A plate tied to the coil return cannot follow that wire onto the signal side.

The Tele sheet’s solution

Separate the plate-to-coil jumper, reverse the coil leads, and confirm an independent bridge ground. Read the precise scope below.

When you are ready to wire it

Applies to

The single-coil phase switch and Tele lead-pickup baseplate arrangement shown in these Seymour Duncan references.

Listen with two pickups selected

This reverses one pickup’s electrical polarity relative to another. The source describes a thinner, nasal combined sound. Reversing a pickup playing alone is not the same tonal effect.

The single-coil reversing switch

The source puts white on the left middle terminal and black on the right middle terminal of a DPDT on/on switch. Cross-connect upper left to lower right and upper right to lower left. Lower left goes to the onward signal connection; lower right to ground. Crossed wires remain separate.

One setting makes white hot and black ground; the other swaps them. Choose the onward selector, volume or jack connection from the complete guitar circuit.

Why the Tele bridge pickup needs extra care

The Tele sheet shows a small jumper between a coil terminal and the metal baseplate underneath. Reversing coil leads without separating that connection can put the metalwork on the signal side.

For that particular arrangement, the source removes the plate-to-coil jumper, connects black to the selector and white to ground, and requires an independent bridge ground. Identify the actual jumper; do not cut a winding wire or assume all Tele pickups are built alike.

The source routes a wire from the volume-pot casing into the cavity, with about an inch stripped and trapped under the bridge. An existing bridge ground can serve this purpose. Confirm bridge, strings and metalwork requiring grounding remain grounded independently of coil polarity.

Read the symbols

A ground symbol means a connection to the common electrical ground network, often pot casings and the jack sleeve. It is not an isolated wire end. A solder-point marker identifies a deliberate electrical joint; crossing wires are not automatically joined.

Source and interpretation

Original explanation by Tinkercaster, based on these Seymour Duncan sheets: WD_S_ph_reversal, WD_Tele_Lead_phase. The guide describes the stated configuration; it does not establish compatibility with every pickup or switch.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Seymour Duncan. Refer to your exact component’s instructions when a detail differs.

Put it in a complete circuit

Use a complete wiring diagram to see how the pickup, controls and output connect. Our public diagrams are free to view and explore.

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