Pickup Cable Type

[anonymous_vkfan]

I originally posted this in the Newbies forum. A member suggested that this subject might be more appropriate for this board. Any assistance with this issue would be appreciated.

Original Post:

I bought a standard fat strat years ago, and I'm planning to replace the stock pickups with seymour duncans.

Neck - STK-S2
Mid - SSL-1
Bridge - SH4 JB

I've never replaced a pickup before. I've also never soldered before. However, I was a lego-child, and I am frequently inside of my computer, so there is some hope. One thing that gives me pause is that with those selections, I have different cable types.

Neck - STK-S2 - "Four Con"
Mid - SSL-1 - "Single Con Cloth"
Bridge - SH4 JB - "Four Con"

I haven't been able to locate a definition of the cable types. The SH4 is a pure humbucker, where the STK-S2 is a single coil sized humbucker. That may explain why they are the same cable type, but that is just a guess on my part.

If anyone could assist me with the following questions, I would appreciate it.

1) Do specific stratocaster models only accept specific cable types?
2) A normal fat strat is S-S-H setup. If I introduce the STK-S2 into the neck, I will have a H-S-H setup. Is that OK?

Thanks.

 

[dgatwood]

I've never replaced a pickup before. I've also never soldered before. However, I was a lego-child, and I am frequently inside of my computer, so there is some hope. One thing that gives me pause is that with those selections, I have different cable types.

Neck - STK-S2 - "Four Con"
Mid - SSL-1 - "Single Con Cloth"
Bridge - SH4 JB - "Four Con"

You do know that the STK-S2 is not generally considered a humbucker, right? If I were going to suggest a humbucker pickup for the neck, I'd probably point you to the vintage rails. I really like the sound of that in the neck position on my axe. My stock single coil neck pickup sounded pretty thin in the neck position on my axe, and the Vintage Rails really added a lot more meat to the sound. Of course, YMMV, as it all depends on what sound you're looking for....

1) Do specific stratocaster models only accept specific cable types?
2) A normal fat strat is S-S-H setup. If I introduce the STK-S2 into the neck, I will have a H-S-H setup. Is that OK?

1. No, the cable type is determined by the pickup, not the guitar. The abbreviations mean "four conductor, single conductor cloth (probably cloth jacket), and four conductor.

The single conductor is really two conductors, one of which provides the signal, the other of which should be grounded. Pretty easy to understand. The "cloth" probably indicates that the cable isn't shielded. (Why, why, why? )

The four conductor cable is usually (though not always) for a humbucker pickup, and consists of four conductors (possibly plus a shield). The reason for this is you have two separate sets of pickup coils, and each one needs a pair of wires. You can't use a shield for either of them because they want to leave the decision of in-phase vs. out-of-phase wiring in the hands of the person wiring it. Thus, you treat one conductor out of each pair as signal and one as ground, then ground the shield (if available) to minimize hum/noise. (Note: I have NO idea why their stacked single coil pickups have a four conductor cable. Maybe you can sort of wire it as a humbucker....)

2. For maximum control of a humbucker, you might feel the need to add additional switches (if you want to be able to do a center tap switch to turn the humbucker into a single coil, for example). If you don't mind not having the single coil option, it really doesn't make any difference whether you use a humbucker versus a single coil.

In the case of the humbucker, you just take one wire from each pair and connect them to ground, then take the other wire from each pair and connect them to the output. Don't ask me which one; you'd need to read whatever color coding info comes with the pickup and see how the manufacturer recommends wiring it.

About the only disadvantage of a H-S-H setup is that you don't have the ability to use the bridge and middle together as a pseudo-humbucker, though I'm not sure that's really much of a disadvantage....

 

[anonymous_vkfan]

Thanks for the info, dgatwood.

You do know that the STK-S2 is not generally considered a humbucker, right?

Yes and no. It's described as a "Single Coil-sized humbucker" on the website. I was primarily concerned with whether introducing such a thing would be possible. I'm introducing a pickup with two sets of wires where there used to be only one, and I wasn't sure if that was possible. From your description, it sounds like it's as simple as connecting both ground wires to where one ground wire used to be, and connecting two signal wires to where one used to be.

I appreciate the input. Thanks again.

 

[Anfontan]

Thanks for the info, dgatwood.

Yes and no. It's described as a "Single Coil-sized humbucker" on the website. I was primarily concerned with whether introducing such a thing would be possible. I'm introducing a pickup with two sets of wires where there used to be only one, and I wasn't sure if that was possible. From your description, it sounds like it's as simple as connecting both ground wires to where one ground wire used to be, and connecting two signal wires to where one used to be.

I appreciate the input. Thanks again.

If you want to see some of the pickup configurations possible, click on the link below and browse through Seymour Duncans wiring site. There are great diagrams there!
Seymour Dubcan-wiring

 

[Light]

The STK-4 is a stacked humbucker; so yes, it is a humbucker, but it is not a "full" humbucker. It is not as wide, so it doesn't pickup as much of the string as a full sized humbucker. To me, they sound closer to a single coil than a humbucker, but they are not all the way in either direction.

If I were you, I'd do it like the attachment on this post. It will give you a simple 5 way switching system, but will give you some cool options. First of all, it will automatically coil tap the two humbuckers in the "in-between" settings, which will give you something much closer to a Strat sound in those positions while still being hum canceling, but will give you the full humbucker in the neck only and bridge only positions. As far as mixing cable types, don't worry about it; it's is not a problem, as long as you know what you are after from your guitar.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[anonymous_vkfan]

Thanks for all the input. I feel much better now about making the purchase.

 

[ggunn]

The STK-4 is a stacked humbucker; so yes, it is a humbucker, but it is not a "full" humbucker. It is not as wide, so it doesn't pickup as much of the string as a full sized humbucker. To me, they sound closer to a single coil than a humbucker, but they are not all the way in either direction.

How do they do a stacked humbucker, anyway? In a standard humbucker, one coil is reverse wound and reverse (magnetic) polarity so that the signal from both coils is in phase but any noise is cancelled out. In a stacked configuration, it seems to me that reverse polarity would be a problem. Does each stack have its own magnet structure stuck together somehow north to north? It seems to me that such an arrangement would greatly reduce the magnetic flux in both coils.