Identifying Pickup Wires & Polarities - Humbucker

How to identify the wires, electrical phase, and magnetic polarities of a humbucker.

[@bripslag]

I just learned more about humbuckers in 22 minutes than I have in the past 40 years. Great video, and thanks for the education!

[@rock612on]

thank you jeff goldblum for teaching me about guitar pickups

[@tjstevens001]

It sure sounds like him!

[@fat-hand]

By far the best explanation with visuals on this subject of the many videos and hours I have watched and spent trying to understand this subject. Thank you!

[@DSTheEngineer86]

Minus to plus-minus to plus wiring will give you out-of-phase tone, and no noise (hum) cancelation - While the signal is dependent on both coil & magnet polarities, noise is independent of magnet polarity. RWRP means magnets have reverse polarity as well as the coils (windings). Instead of plus/minus use start/finish. For series wiring, you need to hook either both start or both finish of the coils, for parallel wiring, you need to hook the coils "in reverse" (start of 1st coil to finish of 2nd and vice versa) and then hook each "new" end to out and to ground, and so you'll get noise cancelation & w/o phase cancelation for both types of wiring. To get phase cancelation w/o noise you either need magnets with same polarity and reversed winding polarity, or 2 humbuckers and reversed wiring between them. The identification part is great, Thanks!

[@PR-fo5mj]

+1 - using "- + - +" to wire in series threw me for a loop when I wired up a simple single humbucker + volume guitar after watching this vid (couldn't figure out why I was getting so much noise and kept re playing this vid to reconfirm that I'd ID'd the wires correctly). He does mention splitting in there a bit, but I found the whole "go - + - + when you tie them in series" point misleading wrt the standard simple humbucker setup which typically includes noise cancellation. The rest of the content is fantastic but I think it's worth a little edit at around 10m to mention that for a standard noise cancelling humbucker the two + (or finish wire ends) are often tied, with the two - (start wire ends) are used as hot and ground as mentioned in your post, but I'm still not sure I understand what facilitates the noise cancellation (is it two reverse wound coils AND with the two coils being opposite magnetic polarity? (EITHER opposite wound series wired same magnetic polarity coils, OR same wound series wired opposite magnetic polarity coils will not noise cancel alone? has to be both? (opposite wound series wired opposite polarity coils? (I guess that's what RWRP is)). I think a clarification would save on potential confusion as this vid still seems popular for instruction.

[@DSTheEngineer86]

@@PR-fo5mj Thank you for backing up my argument :)

[@GrayChaney]

THANKS! i had my lipsticks reversed. i figured it jumps up under correct wiring, jumps down when reversed. so, backwards to how i had it. over a decade later, your vid is still helping out random strangers on the internet.

[@onkarl3021]

This is the best explanation video i have seen till date. I was fiddling around with pups for hours with no luck. Saw your video and saved hours of pointless efforts. Thank you so much.

[@bobt7484]

Great video. I've watched 3 or 4 of these on the same subject. This one is the best I've seen. Good job and thank you!

[@hollywoodactress]

Even though it’s 9 years since this video was first posted, I just found it as looking for pickup north south installation advice. Best video I found!!!! Thanks 👍

[@tedk2814]

watching this in 2022. this is such a fantastic dive into pickup theory , so well explained and demonstrated. I save it so will watch several times. Thanks

[@Mikee535]

I have searched the net on this subject and finally someone has cleared up the muck. I have been an electronics tech, live audio, for many years and I know the difference between phase and polarity, most do not and use the two phrases like they are the same.

[@SpeedisH94]

I recently encountered Epiphone QuickConnect, and I had no idea how to figure out which cable is which. Because there was no diagram online about Epiphone probucker, and cables were already connected to the jack which holds all 5wires from the pickup altogether. Then, I just met this video, the guy in te video made everything clear with that positive negative responses and a compass. Things are just SO SIMPLE after watching the video. 142k views and only a 1k likes? I have no idea. great job

[@scottrodcustoms1]

After extensive searching and trying to find an answer to my Cabronita issues, your video has been the most helpful in trying to determine what is wrong with this Tele. THANK YOU very much for doing this.

[@fongy200]

I have changed my Pup's a few times, i usually pay someone to do it but during the Covid restrictions, like many other folk, i found i had time on my hands. I bought a flat Pack TV cabinet from a mail order company called Very. It was a solid Mango wood unit. Anyway i made myself a Super Strat, HSH. I wanted to split the Humbuckers and was flagging in confidence until your video spurred me on. So thank you for uploading this over a decade ago. The Strat i made is a good Guitar, even better than i expected. I would recommend going down the flat pack route for Guitar Timber, it proved sustantily less expensive than buying it from my local Timber yard.

[@danieliving]

You have no idea how I've been looking for this video. Why? Because I bought a Predator and had to change the tone knob. The thing worked, but had some issues. Long story short I sent the guitar to a "luthier" and it was rocket science to connect a tone split coil. This happened a month ago, I've been looking for the answer since then (and I have a compass lol) Thx!!!

[@DislocatedCardiganV1]

Fantastic, all it takes is one person to make an explanatory video that isn't condescending and simple to follow. Thank you very much indeed.

[@davidhigginbotham5451]

I have that exact Micronta meter. Bought it at Sears back in the early 1980's - burned up and replaced several resisters - modified it to adapt to pickup winder setup - put it away for years - got it up and running again with fresh batteries and a calibration. I love it. Thanks for the easy to digest video. I have that Craftsman 1/4" socket driver too!

[@awjfagan]

Thanks for such a useful and comprehensive explanation of how to test pickups. Terrific.

[@FrankNitsch]

This is the most useful and most comprehensive explanation of the whole topic around pickups and wiring. I couldn't ask for more and I'm glad you have taken the time to create and share this video. I was confronted with an OEM humbucker pickup just now and I knew from other people's experience that the color scheme was anything but typical. Without your video I would have had to try out a couple of different scenarios until it would sound and work right and as expected. Now I had a clear path for investigating and figuring out about the electrical and magnetic characteristics. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us. It's very much appreciated.

[@larryjohnson9406]

What a fantastic teacher. Slow and explained clearly. I wanna go to your school!!

[@guitagious9464]

Beautifully done video! I learned a LOT by stopping by here! Thanks for this!

[@psysword]

It's people like you that make America great. The tinkering kind.

[@K3KCT]

+psysword How about those Americans who tinker with the affairs of foreign countries? No need to answer, I already know about those Americans.

[@VinJapanGuitarShop]

thank you. i was having a tough time determining the wires on a PRS pickup but this video really helped.

[@jamasters62]

Thanks for this awesome video. Simply and clearly explained. I ran into the same "problem" that you encountered here when investigating my Gibson USA guitars' pickups. Modern Gibson pickups, even the Burstbucker family, have the magnetic polarity reversed between neck and bridge pickups. This is especially important to know with the new Gibson quick connect for neck and bridge pickups. My 490R (neck) and '61 Zebra Reissue neck pickups (part of Gibson's Burstbucker family of pickups) have the screw coil as South polarity. The other two pickups in my two sets are a 498T (bridge) and a '61 Zebra Reissue bridge pickup and these bridge pickups have the screw coil as being North polarity. I figured this has to do with making the circuit card controls in many newer Gibsons easier for the factory to set up for the phase switching and coil splitting that some of the Gibsons have with push-pull potentiometers.

[@BenPortmanlewes]

Cheers, finally worked out my humbuckers 17 years after changing my picups!

[@John375PD]

So happy I saw this video, now I understand how it all falls into place!

[@agateenchantmentrockwizard5969]

Very cool demo! 😎

[@roberte03915]

Awesome. Exactly what I needed to troubleshoot my botched conversion attempt. Thanks!

[@mmore]

4 dislikes!!!! obviously from another planet. the most thorough tutorial. many thanks

[@MAPIOH]

36 peoples from other planet 😂😂😂

[@karlboman]

Thank you very much for taking the time to do this. Now I know how to move forward with my new pickups!

[@DUKEofWAIL]

Thank you! So well done. Clear and steady pace. I built a lap steel and bought a Chinese double rail humbucker. Through this testing, I find the wiring is not at all as expected. But now I know how to proceed with testing sound options.

[@Dean-mq7wp]

Awesome video, appreciate it, I have some off brand HB with no clue on the colored wiring…doing homework before I start…this is what I needed to see….

[@musemancouk]

Interesting and well presented . I have a lot of old pups im trying to identify as i didn't label them at the time. I wasn't aware of the N.S cause and effect.Fascinating. Makes sense once you get your head around the opposing poles. Thanks for posting.

[@gainerasc]

Thanks phostenix, I'm building some hybrid pickups from Shaw and McClure coils and all sorts of alnico mags. You set me on the magnetic path, and the results are stellar.

[@marcelziul]

Thank you, this was extremely helpful!

[@wfairchild]

I've been looking for this video for months! Thank you!

[@barbmelle3136]

From Leo: I knew there was a reason that I saved my old meter. . I was always able to ring out the coil continuity, but sometimes the magnetic phase was flipped and I had to take the guitar back apart. This tip will save me time.

[@olymoon2008]

Thank you so much !!! I had a mini humbucker and thanks to your video I could mount it.

[@LakesideAutobody]

Great explanation - thanks for sharing. I've got an old Washburn humbucker from a KC70V that I've wanted to use for years - now I can try it out :)

[@royprice3182]

I can't say thanks enough for the video. I've been struggling with a couple guitars recently and this was very helpful. Thank you

[@Markleford]

I'm currently trying to correct the wiring on a Peavey with dual humbuckers (HH) -- Peavey Generation Custom EX. It came with a 2502N 5-way selector (branded Alpha), also known as the "Ibanez switch", which indeed has a humless "inner coils" mode in position #2 (and humless "neck coils parallel" on #4). So I guess the N-S N-S makes sense. Thanks for the demo!

[@peteytwofinger]

fleor sells cheap picks ups and if you snoop around you will find conflicting info on the pin out . some say black wire is hot , some say green wire is hot . the pair i was shipped has the ground lead connected to the black wire . my pal is telling me " you can hook them up that way but its wrong ... so i will have to do some testing . its never easy for me . i cant complain , i love spending time this way !! so much more fun resoldering everything then having to put extentions on the pick up wires as everything is melted , the drilling the hole in the guitar larger as the shrink tubing wont fit . drill thru the back of the guitar drill thru the pick gaurd . fun !

[@joshuawisniewski738]

great video. this really helpede understand what the hell I was doing when completely rewiring an old guitar.

[@scottbulmer7160]

Thanks, nice easy to understand video that cleared up what can be a confusing subject (for this hobbyist anyways). It was also nice to show the scenarios with an older analog meter. Thanks again

[@flyme-z7b]

Fascinating ! Thank you for this very useful explanation. Just what I was looking for!

[@marksr12]

Great video...Like I just went to class! Been looking for this information explained so well! Thanks.

[@MakoSaand]

2 screw ups with reversed polarities! This video is a revelation, owe this guy a 6 pack now!

[@DavidBruceAllen1]

Well I have to give you a thumbs up. You clarified something for me that I had erroneously assumed wrong. That's the funny thing about assuming you know something without checking to make certain. I had it backwards for many years because I assumed that it was the magnet in our compasses that the tip that points North was actually the South pole of that magnet so it would point North. When you made your statement that the north pole of Earth is actually magnetically South I was going to get on here and challenge you. Before doing so I decided I had better check to make sure. Now I'm getting on here to confirm your statement as I eat my huge helping of humble pie. I have a polarity tester. With that in hand and a 1/4 X 1/4 X 1/2 super magnet I was able to test my very reliable Silva compass (not a $5.00 compass) I was able to satisfactorily verify your statement. You are 100% correct sir. Our Earth's "North" pole has a magnetically south pull or energy. In essence whomever began making magnets or whomever started labeling our Earth's polarity and the polarity of magnets either mislabeled magnets or the polarity of magnets or they mislabeled the Earth's poles. Whatever will we do now? Our world has been turned upside down. :-o

[@ElectrikYang]

I have been searching this info forever. Thanks Dude! really helpful.

[@dennisphillips3960]

Best explanation i have ever seen...

[@musobill]

Excellent video. Thank you!!!! TOP WORK! One of the best videos I have seen.

[@wertherellerbrock2188]

Very insightful! I just learned a few new tricks for my shop! Thanks man!

[@TheJosephPhillips]

Awesome tutorial. . Many thanks for creating it 🎸

[@ChristopherFreedom]

Best video on KZbin about this! Thank you

[@vaishakhmonti]

Nice. Like the simple manner in which this thing is explained.

[@gregb2073]

just bought some cheap chinese knockoff humbuckers from eBay (FLEOR brand, and actually sound pretty darn good!) that came with no wiring diagram. This video got me up and running. Thanks!

[@brucejohnson8137]

Thank you for your video. It answered my question simply and quickly!!

[@chrisball8080]

Great video full of information. Many thanks. 🙂

[@718heavyduty]

Good stuff to know. Thanks for the vid. You learn something new everyday thanx to KZbin!

[@fatmanbubbles81]

Thank you sooooooo much. This video saved my wall from my fist. My Custom 5's diagram on the seymour site has the black(+) and green(-) wire together but they are wrong. It's actually the red(+) and green(-) that go together. Again, thank you

[@cartelguitar]

Absolutely perfectly explained.Thank you kindly

[@rusholmemike]

just a small suggestion - I would use sketches / simple diagrams showing what you found out as you tested that way it would be a lot lot easier for people to see what you're doing (picture paints a 1000 words so they say) other than that it's really good & very helpful

[@ChristopherFreedom]

He is 100% bang on.. he is not guessing at all.

[@MrRandali]

Incredibly helpful! Thanks so much for this

[@markeharris3893]

holy cow good stuff. i was just about to build HH git and split both coils. now, a lot more to figuring into it. to have it correct and make me look like a pro. :) thank you.

[@jamasters62]

I know you put this here years ago, but if you still are there... Can you tell me why Seymour Duncan in their US made pickups, for example, use the red/white pair as the series link for wiring a regular humbucker? In your tutorial here, they would be connecting + to + or finish to finish of the two coils. You state here to always wire them - to +, and - to +, indicating that the series link for a "normal" humbucker wiring will connect the +, or finish of one coil to the -, or start of the next coil. US Seymour Duncan pickups seem to be using - to +, + to -

[@mfrie]

Great video thank you. Question for you... How does polarity relate to the Start or Finish? Is positive the Start and Negative the Finish?

[@halidharis]

Thanks,this vid save my life. Just got my tone back

[@davidpfeiffer7053]

Yay team, hooray, and all that. Got a little (cigarette pack size little) GB(?) made in Korea analog multimeter recently from Goodwill for half a buck. Glad I got it. Glad I caught your video. Thanks for your effort. I reckon you know it means a lot to beginners like me. Say, you figure there's any chance there is some alternate universe where they say, "...in the world of See LESS Duncan"? ~ David, a.k.a. the ConnMan.

[@frodehau]

Thanks for showing an easy way to determine the coil polarity. Compass north points to the magnets south because opposite magnetic poles attract. The compass arrow is just another magnet suspended on a bearing.

[@beatleme2]

i split the coils on mine that was wired wrong by a hand wound maker to how gibson wires them, way better the other way was way to bright, great info here and truth

[@fulesmackofule]

OK, now I know these, but not sure how to continue with placing the pickups in the guitar and the circut: 1. Each pair of coil wires known. 2. Polarities of them are known. (+/-) 3. The magnetic polarities are known for each coil. Questions: 1. How to place the neck and bridge pickup in the cavity? (Neck PU: South to fretboard, North to bridge, Bridge PU: North to neck pickup, South to bridge)? 2. How to connect the wires? South minus is ground, south plus is connected to north minus and north plus is hot? 3. What happens if I flip the pickup orientation of either neck or bridge? 4. What happens if I connect south plus to north plus? 5. What happens if I swap hot with ground in the circuit (reverse polarity of a pickup)? Thanks.

[@radfury23g32]

This helped me so much, thank you!!!

[@klepetar]

thank you..i picked up this pickup at a shop for 20 bucks and i had no idea which was the right color conductor.. turns out that Screw coil.. green +, red -; slug coil .. white + black -..

[@phostenix]

@proaudioguy I'm not sure which string motion will produce which voltage, but for these purposes all that matters is that all of the pickups in question respond the same way so that they are in phase with each other.

[@thearabianmage]

The Jeff Goldblum of guitar pickups

[@LReite2080]

Thank you very much for sharing.

[@pwnEdge1]

interesting ,this might help me with a 1998 super stat with a 5 way switch. just put a Duncan 59 neck and a jb bridge, but for some reason the coil taps sound terrible and running the switch in middle with both pickups thin sound ,like out of phase.both sound good when using by them selfs.guess I'm going to have to check them, bought the 59 used. great video ,thanks

[@KCsabi]

Nice video! Is there any rule in humbucker pole positioning? For examle booth pickups north pole towards the neck, or similar?! If not, the active pole can be moved inside or outside just by turning the pickup upside down?!

[@richardbreault250]

Quick question, after testing the coils wich end will be the start of the coil the positive wire or the negative wire?

[@beatlesman369]

This was very helpful, man!

[@higgnbe]

Thanx so much you took me to school on this one

[@WesleyArnold-m2n]

So black and white red and green are the pairs. So is that why you can bridge the humbucker with tying the red and white and useing black as the hot and green as the neutral?

[@gprice1978]

Massive help! Thank you very much!!!!

[@timec818]

Thanks for the great video 👍

[@tednash239]

Awesome tutorial. Thanks.

[@jovanradojkovic5167]

Thank you for a great video bro. Is the reversed polarity same thing as a out of phase pickup.? I have some wierd readings and sound and readings on EMG Hz hooket to Ibanez 5 way switch.

[@borisfogelson5225]

Great video, Unfortunately big guys like Seymour Duncan don't have such things on their web sites. I am fighting hum on SD hum backer. I was following your procedure and everything seams to be OK except hum. Do you have some procedure developed to catch hum causes? Thanks again for the best video about hum backers.

[@Ultra-Collector]

If just the poles are out of faze but not the wiring,will that pickup not work,or just sound terrible? Quara question: A numbnut takes a set of neo dim magnets and runs it over his single and H pickups a few times,thinking it would charge them,using the attractive side of the magnet,possibly. Will that make the guitar sound like doo doo,or what would happen? Thank you for your time and vid! Any help is greatly appreciated!

[@smansaga0752]

this is great, now i can put my favorite wiring scheme...

[@PhillipBlanton]

Awesome information!!!

[@lexxfirecore123]

great tip on polarity check :)

[@Razwithz]

this was VERY useful thanks a lot man! Just one question, when you are checking with the voltmeter which wires go to which coil, when you have a positive jump of voltage, does that mean that the + wire is the one that starts at the inside of the coil? how do I know which wire connects to the center of the coil and which to the outer end?

[@wilfredesteban875]

HI SIR .CANT YOU PLS HELP ME? SIR , MY BIGGEST PROBLEM MY LIFE. HEHE.. BECAUSE , I WANT TO CONNECT MY PIEZEO PICKUP AND MY HUMBAGGER PICKUP IN THE WAY SERIES PARAREL ? AND THEN CONNECT TOGETHER IN THE ONE OUTPUT JACK GUITAR,??? IF IT THIS POSSIBLE??? THANK YOU SO MUCH SIR,,, HAVE A NICE DAY,,,

[@NowPleaseNot]

Great info and to the point, thanks

[@sempercompellis]

this was great- i wish i had watched it a few years ago before i spent days fumble fucking around with a pair of old buckers

[@erwinroman4217]

Great information. But I have covered mini-humbuckers as found in a Firebird or some Ibanez. I know the wiring must be wrong as the pickups sound very thin and the red/green are tied together. If the color codes are standard (I'll check individual coils tonight) one coil is not in circuit.

[@Kerosenetrewthe]

More action from a beefy shaft! Well said! Joking aside, good information and thank you.

[@yurasuka8624]

dude you are a life saver!

[@RichH1994]

Great Vid! But I'm pretty certain that Humbuckers should be out of phase with each other, which is why the wires were reversed between the neck and bridge pickups in this video.

[@Gaz426]

So in terms of actually wiring them in, do you wire the lead which shows positive voltage to the switch? Or would you use the lead which showed negative voltage? I'm changing some pickups now but I'm having issues, I created a diagram of how the old wiring was and tried to wire like for like in terms of polarity, which is hot and ground etc... but for some reason the original pickups were wired so that the negative leads were wired to the switch, whereas the leads which showed positive voltage when doing the coil check were wired to ground. Could anyone share any wisdom on this? It's really confusing me.

[@Jack_Plisken]

Thank you Jeff Goldblum. You did it... you crazy son of a...