Wiring a single conductor humbucker

[PsychoSploosh69]

Not sure if this is the right section to post in, but anyway, I have the Washburn N2 Nuno Bettencourt model and recently added the Bill Lawrence L-500 and Duncan 59 trembucker. i ordered the wrong 59 because this only has 1 wire and the braided shield on the outside which I heard is the ground. Everything is hooked up to the 3 way toggle. The L-500 bridge pickup works great but I tried grounding the shield to the side of the toggle, and with the grounds of the other pickup and still get no sound from the 59 in the neck.Where would I ground this braided cable to? And how? I'd appreciate any help. I've looked at all the duncan diagrams and none of them show single conductor pickups.

Thanks,
Chris

[PsychoSploosh69]

Forgot to say, it's a dual humbucker setup with a 3 way toggle and one volume.

[Jazz P Bass]

Take your ohmeter & go across the single conductor & the braided shield wire.
You should be reading the pickup coil.
If there is no reading, then the pickup is open circuit (bad).
There are only two wires.
Hard to hook it up 'wrong'.
Black to the switch, braid to circuit ground.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/images/...501005-110.pdf

[PsychoSploosh69]

Take your ohmeter & go across the single conductor & the braided shield wire.
You should be reading the pickup coil.
If there is no reading, then the pickup is open circuit (bad).
There are only two wires.
Hard to hook it up 'wrong'.
Black to the switch, braid to circuit ground.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/images/...501005-110.pdf

I don't know what you mean by reading the coil. I don't have an ohmeter yet. this is only the second pickup I've installed. The 4 wire one waseasy as pie, but this one seems complicated. so there's 3 spots that I can see on the switch. 1 on the right is the hot for neck pickup, one in the middle goes to jack i think and one on the left is bridge. do i solder the braid to the middle wire?

[big_teee]

Take your ohmeter & go across the single conductor & the braided shield wire.
You should be reading the pickup coil.
If there is no reading, then the pickup is open circuit (bad).
There are only two wires.
Hard to hook it up 'wrong'.
Black to the switch, braid to circuit ground.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/images/...501005-110.pdf

If your ohm meter is not an auto ranging meter, put it on at a scale that will read up to 20k ohms.

[The Dude]

I don't know what you mean by reading the coil. I don't have an ohmeter yet. this is only the second pickup I've installed. The 4 wire one waseasy as pie, but this one seems complicated. so there's 3 spots that I can see on the switch. 1 on the right is the hot for neck pickup, one in the middle goes to jack i think and one on the left is bridge. do i solder the braid to the middle wire?

No, the center pin of the switch is the output. That's why it goes to the jack. You don't want to hook up your braid/ground there. You will solder the braid to ground. All of the potentiometer bodies should be grounded. That's a good spot. If the switch is in it's own cavity away from the pots and other electronics, you should be able to pick up a ground off of the other pickup near the switch somewhere.

In short, look and see where the other pickup is grounded and attach the braid from the new pickup to the same spot.

[PsychoSploosh69]

yeah it is in it's own cavity by itself near the bottom horn and the volume pot is in another cavity. So I should take the end of the braid and twist it to make a wire near the end and splice it in with the other ground? Just verifying. The pickup I had in before was wired really weird. He hooked a wire from the hot on the pickup to the right slot on the switch and then I think ran a wire from the braid to somewhere for ground, but I forgot where it went. I'll give it a try. Thanks a million. I'll let ya know in a few days if it works.

[The Dude]

It's possible the switch body is grounded also. Other than the 3 pins on the switch (bridge, neck, and output) is there maybe a lug on the switch that is grounded to the rest of the electronics? The best way to tell would be with a meter, or possibly you can post a pic?

[PsychoSploosh69]

The bridge pickup is soldered to the side of the switch for ground. i tried soldering the side of the braid to the side of the switch by itself and got no sound. So I'll try grounding it in with the other grounds for the bridge pickup. I have pics of it but can't figure out how to post them

[PsychoSploosh69]

There is something on the switch itself. It's got the 3 I mentioned then right above the middle one it's got a little hole sticking out like the ones on a potentiometer.

[The Dude]

That likely goes to the switch body (not sure without seeing it). However, if there's nothing connected to it- no ground, it doesn't help you. You'll have to find a ground elsewhere.

[PsychoSploosh69]

I think the output wire goes from the middle input and then into there. not positive though. i'd have to check

[Jazz P Bass]

For your own sanity, go out & buy a meter.
Radio Shack, Harbor Freight.
A cheap ass one can be had for 10 bucks.
If you look at page 2 of the SD pdf it shows a single wire humbucker.
It clearly states that the 'outer braided wire gets soldered to ground'.

[PsychoSploosh69]

Thanks, I'll check that out, and I'll look int an ohmeter

[PsychoSploosh69]

Finally got it to work. Thanks for all the help guys. I appreciate it. I pulled back the end of the braided shield and twisted it a bit to make it into a sort of wire, then just twisted it together with the grounds for the other pickup then soldered it to the side of the switch. Works great now. One question though. The humbuckers have the square plastic frame things around them. When you look at the guitar from the side, one side is high, and one is low. Which side goes which way? I have the high end on both on the neck side, not sure if I installed them the right way or not so just wanted to confirm.