• Guys, we've spent considerable money converting the Les Paul Forum to this new XenForo platform, and we have ongoing monthly operating expenses. THE "DONATIONS" TAB IS NOW WORKING, AND WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY DONATIONS YOU CAN MAKE TO KEEP THE LES PAUL FORUM GOING! Thank you!

swap wires for Peter Green mod?

pelskens

New member
Joined
Jul 23, 2016
Messages
4
I wanted to try the Peter Green mod (out of phase neck pickup) on my 335. I soldered the white wire from the neck pickup to the ground on the Volume control (it's wired 50's, so volume comes before tone..); and the black wire to the outer lug of the volume control. So just swapped the two wires from the neck pickup. However, I only get noise from the neck pickup (that's louder when I touch the strings), no sound at all...
What did I do wrong??
 
Last edited:

Wilko

All Access/Backstage Pass
Joined
Mar 11, 2002
Messages
20,853
As you have found, you can't swap the wires like you did. It is now shorting to ground and you get nothing.

To get the Green mod you have to flip the magnet and flip the pickup. There is no shortcut using a vintage two-conductor pickup.
 

Kris Ford

New member
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
Messages
4,003
Maybe something got cooked or is shorting, because with Dimarzios, switching the black and white wire WILL put them out of phase in the middle, with rolling back on the volume to level it out..is that not the OOP sound?:hmm
 

DoubleBoogie

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 6, 2004
Messages
4,800
I wanted to try the Peter Green mod (out of phase neck pickup) on my 335. I soldered the white wire from the neck pickup to the ground on the Volume control (it's wired 50's, so volume comes before tone..); and the black wire to the outer lug of the volume control. So just swapped the two wires from the neck pickup. However, I only get noise from the neck pickup (that's louder when I touch the strings), no sound at all...
What did I do wrong??

I was able to accomplish this on my Tele build with a TV Jones in the neck and a Seymour Duncan in the bridge. For conventional two conductor humbuckers, that won't work. You have to flip the magnet on one of the pickups. To do this, you unsolder the cover, and then back out the screws on the pickup until the magnet can slide out. You then flip the magnet and slide it back in. You don't flip it end for end. Just roll it over so that what was once the surface under the coils is now the surface facing the plate and then slide it back in. Put the screws back to where they were and re-solder the cover and you're done. The wiring can be left as-is. There are a couple of you-tube videos that show how to do this that you can easily find.
 

Don

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 1, 2001
Messages
5,732
What kind of pickup is it? How many conductors does it have?
 

pelskens

New member
Joined
Jul 23, 2016
Messages
4
I have a D'Angelico EX-DC with stock pickups (Kent Armstrong). From what I've read, swapping white and black should work. Not sure what the difference is between 2 and 4 conductor humbuckers, but since I'm only seeing 2 wires I'm assuming it's 2 conductor. I'm hesitant to change the magnet, is there anything I can do wrong which would destroy the pickup?
 
Top