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Push / Pull Phase Switch with 2-Wire Pickups?

Y

yeltneb

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2016
Messages
40
Hey!

My guitar has 2-wire pickups with 50's wiring. Is it possible to install a push / pull pot for phase switching with this setup?

All the info I can find seems to be based on 4 wire so I wanted to be totally sure before I go further down the rabbit hole.

Cheers!

Andrew
 
Don

Don

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 1, 2001
Messages
5,732
You can connect the lead and shield to a switch as long as the shield is covered so it doesn't contact any other items in the guitar, but when the pickup's phase is reversed it'll make a lot of noise if you touch the pickup's poles, mounting screws or cover. This is not recommended but can be used to see if you like having an OOP switch.

If you don't want to replace the pickup you can take it apart and replace the lead with three leads- one for the start of the winding, one for the end of the winding and one for the ground. It's not as difficult to do as it seems.

Another option is to flip the magnet in one of the pickups so the pickups are always out of phase with each other. There will be a spot on the volume controls where the out of phase sound will come and go and it'll sound almost like the pickups are wired normally. That's about the neck pickup on 8 and bridge pickup on 10 on my Hamer Sunburst (which was wired out of phase at the factory). Every set of pickups and pots requires different settings.
 
Last edited:
Y

yeltneb

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2016
Messages
40
Don said:
You can connect the lead and shield to a switch as long as the shield is covered so it doesn't contact any other items in the guitar, but when the pickup's phase is reversed it'll make a lot of noise if you touch the pickup's poles, mounting screws or cover. This is not recommended but can be used to see if you like having an OOP switch.

If you don't want to replace the pickup you can take it apart and replace the lead with three leads- on for the start of the winding, one for the end of the winding and one for the ground. It's not a difficult to do as it seems.

Another option is to flip the magnet in one of the pickups so the pickups are always out of phase with each other. There will be a spot on the volume controls where the out of phase sound will come and go and it'll sound almost like the pickups are wired normally. That's about the neck pickup on 8 and bridge pickup on 10 on my Hamer Sunburst (which was wired out of phase at the factory). Every set of pickups and pots requires different settings.
Click to expand...

This is a super helpful reply, thank you Don
 
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