I want to swap the stock pickups in my Pacifica for some Duncan Designed ones that came out of my Jackson, can somebody please help me out with the wiring? Currently each pickup has one white wire (is this the ground?) going to the switch, and the silver ones (is this hot?) twisted together and soldered to the back of the volume pot:
These are the single coil replacements that I want to put in. Do the white ones go to the switch and the black/silver go to the back of the volume pot?
And finally the humbucker has 4 wires, the red and white are soldered together. Are these ignored and the green one is the one that goes to the switch and the black/silver to the back of the volume pot?
Thanks :-)
Comments
On the DuncDes single coils, white to selector switch. Combined red and bare to ground.
On the humbucker, green to selector switch. Red and white are the series link between the two coils. This doubles up for coil split duties. Black and bare combined to ground.
If the DuncDes humbucker is any model other than an HB-101B, it will overpower the centre pickup.
To do this, it will be necessary to strip approximately ½" of the outer insulation on the humbucker output cable. This will free up enough of the four conductor wires to reach their respective switch terminals without being strained.
Apart from that, what Funkfingers said…
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
This seems to be common practice on lower-priced Jackson/Charvel HSS guitars. e.g. J-100 and J-135 true single coils.
Am I supposed to solder the combined white/red wires from the humbucker to one of the selector switch lugs, like the second from the end where none of the last 4 are being used?
If we number the selector switch terminals, as illustrated in your opening post photograph, from left to right, the revised wiring would be;
1 - not used
2 - red/white from humbucker
3 - not used
4 - to ground on volume pot chassis*
5 - output to volume pot input
6 - neck PU white
7 - middle PU white
8 - bridge PU green
* You could ground the humbucker to switch terminal 4. This would avoid having to strip any of the black outer insulation.
Genius, thanks!
A tiny layer of Superglue around the perimeter of the baseplate screw holes is another alternative.
Anything into which the adjustment screw threads can bite.
The baseplate of the OP's humbucker is metal but, as per Jackson HSS convention, the pickup will have been suspended through a mounting surround.
Nunmore black suits the modified Pacifica. If/when you are happy with the pickup upgrades, there are things you could do about the selector switch and pots. Before those, the most important upgrade would be the skinny zinc vibrato sustain block.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
There was an argument for removing the entire assembly and storing it, ready to reinstate if it ever became necessary to sell the guitar.
The woodwork in the PAC012 is as good as in the 600 series - albeit without the exotic veneers.