scott_v Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 I bought a loaded but unwired guitar and i've been told by the seller that the pickups are Epiphone P-90s. I have no idea of their age, but appear to be either aged or older...they are 2 soapbars (not dog ears) and i'm assuming that one is bridge and one is neck. They have 3 wires, one white, one red and one bare. Its safe to assume that the bare is ground, and i'm struggling with the other 2 wires. I need to determine how to wire these... which wire is hot, right now i'm guessing the white wire is but the red wire may also be for the opposite pole? and if these are indeed one each neck, bridge the hot wire may be white on one and red on another? also does the non-hot wire be combined with the bare for the ground or should i just isolate it and tape it off? and i'm not sure if coil tap is even available since its only 3-wires, not sure if i can assume this. I did buy a multi-meter which is what i think i'm going to need at this point to determine polarity and dc output and wiring configuration. I'm finding very little info on these Epiphone type P90s which makes me think they may not, but I'm trying here to see if anyone can help me because i think the seller is also unsure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epidotstudio Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 Like stereo speaker wiring, it doesn't really matter which way you wire them, as long as you do them both the same way. Treat both reds as positive, or the other way around. If you mix them, the pickups will be out of phase. If there's a specific bridge pickup, there would be two possible indications: - The pole piece spacing would be slightly wider than the neck pickup - The DC resistance would be higher than the neck pickup Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_v Posted May 20, 2010 Author Share Posted May 20, 2010 ok, thats what i thought and i can probably verify that with a multi-meter i presume... now the unused wire (non hot)... i have read both to leave it isolated and tape it off OR tie it off with the ground. which would i do? i could do trial and error i suppose based upon the amount of hum i get... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m-theory Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 You're going to have to use the MM to figure this out...you'll need that to figure out which pup goes to the bridge and which one goes to neck anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_v Posted May 20, 2010 Author Share Posted May 20, 2010 OK, I now know which pickup is neck and bridge. i'm struggling more with this wiring configuration, i've read that these pickups might be stock manufacturer type epiphones which are only 3-wires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epidotstudio Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 The bare wires should be grounded. P90s only have three wires because they only have one coil, whereas humbuckers have two coils, giving the possibility of two additional wires.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_v Posted May 20, 2010 Author Share Posted May 20, 2010 Yep got that, but there are 3-wires... The bare is ground, then there is the white and red... one of them is the hot connection... then that leaves what do i do with the other third wire? leave it alone or tie to ground? from what i've read coil tap (4 wire) pickups only have one ground, other types (3 wire) the third wire is also joined with the bare ground, i'm not sure if this is correct, alot of conflicting info out there. Thanks everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epidotstudio Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 Either of the colored wires can be considered "hot". The other two will go to ground. In some guitars, the case ground (bare) is better off ungrounded - you'll have to see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_v Posted May 20, 2010 Author Share Posted May 20, 2010 thats what i assumed first off... i will give that a shot first. it also may help me save time w/ trial and error. are you saying that it may be possible that the bare wire could be ungrounded? thus just isolated? never seen that before with a pickup, then again this is the first time i've dealt w/ P90's.. thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epidotstudio Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 yes but... there is a bare wire' date=' red wire, and a white wire. bare wire is ground, lets assume the white wire is hot. what to do with the red? tie to ground or isolate?[/quote'] Regardless of what you do with the bare wire, the colored wires MUST be connected in order for the pickup to work. Each of those wires is one end of the pickup's coil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Flick Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 Yep got that' date=' but there are 3-wires... The bare is ground, then there is the white and red... one of them is the hot connection... then that leaves what do i do with the other third wire? leave it alone or tie to ground? from what i've read coil tap (4 wire) pickups only have one ground, other types (3 wire) the third wire is also joined with the bare ground, i'm not sure if this is correct, alot of conflicting info out there. Thanks everyone.[/quote'] Red to hot, white + bare to ground. Or vice versa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_v Posted May 20, 2010 Author Share Posted May 20, 2010 alright got it! thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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