Need help changing a single conductor pickup to 4 conductor

[Lespaulman59]

Hello,

So I have been wanting a single coily sound and so I am going to coil spit one of the pickups. Sadly, where ever I look there isn't a good clear wiring diagram to converting my 57 classic to a 4 conductor. Does anyone know where I can find a guide to doing this? Thanks

-Les

 

[DPaulCustom]

Each coil has 2 wires. In a 2 wire humbucker, 2 of the 4 wires available are connected.
Carefully disconnect these 2 wires, & add lead to them, it's pretty simple, JUST TAKE YOUR TIME.
It helps to have some 4 wire cable with shielding for this.
Sometimes the 2 connected wires are tucked between the 2 coils.
Have fun

 

[C_C_C]

It's a very easy mod, but you need a light touch and good soldering skills because it's very easy to damage the coils.

I converted my 57 Classic and 57 Classic + last month using a length of USB cable. It turns out that USB cable is ideal for pickups. It has 5 28ga wires, shielding, and the proper color coding.

The USB cable's bare wire is used to ground the pickup plate and cover. Use Seymour Duncan's pickup color coding chart to find out which wire to solder to which coil lead.

 

[Tonemeister]

I did this recently in order to do my own Jimmy Page Wiring mod to an Elitist LP. Just follow this step by step tutorial. 2 Wire To 5 Wire Humbucker Modification | Guitar Wiring How To'sI can't caution you enough to be very careful not to pull on the delicate wires that are inside the humbucker. I actually pulled one out by accident when trying to strip it back. That was really scary. I still can't believe I was able to repair it. Don't try his suggestion of using quick connectors. I did that and found I couldn't fit them in the pickup cavity.

 

[Tonemeister]

It's also very important to make note of which wires are coming off of the North coil and the South Coil. Usually the North is considered the one with the screws in the pole pieces. You should use this pic as reference for which wires are which.

 

[Tonemeister]

Alot of wiring diagrams use Semour Duncan's wiring so I recommend you do that. Here is a color code chart for alot of the pickup manufacturers.

 

[Tonemeister]

Sorry for the multiple posts. Another thing to watch for is when removing the covers, assuming they have covers, you are better off using a pretty hot iron, 50W, so that you can separate the solder faster. With wax potted pickups if you leave the iron on the covers too long it will start to melt all the wax and it'll get pretty messy. Not to mention you could damage the coils if the heat is allowed to transfer to them.

 

[Tonemeister]

Oh yeah, one more thing. You're welcome

 

[p90fool]

Well, I found your info and links useful, even if the OP didn't!

 

[Tonemeister]

Well, I found your info and links useful, even if the OP didn't!

Maybe his internet subscription expired.