Duncan 2 Humbucker Instruction sheet
© 2020 Seymour Duncan
1
How to Swap Passive
for Active Pickups:
seymourduncan.com
PICKUP INSTALL COURSE
2 Humbucker Style Guitar
© 2020 Seymour Duncan
2
Table of Contents
WHAT YOU NEED
WORKSPACE / STARTING TIPS
WIRING
USING A REAMER
3
4
5-9
10
HOW TO USE THIS MODULE
Download and save the workbook before starting
your installation. We recommend keeping it handy
throughout your pickup install.
Welcome! This is the companion workbook to your
Seymour Duncan Tech Pickup Install Course.
This course teaches you how to swap passive
humbucking pickups for active humbuckers in a
2-humbucker guitar. This workbook is a supple-
ment to the video course and provides additional
information to help you along the way. Swapping
pickups is an easy process. But take your time
going through the course. And always use safety
when working with hot irons.
Need Help?
1. Join the Community! Go to the introduction
section at the beginning of the course and click
“How to join the Private Community”.
2. For additional resources on pickups, wiring
diagrams, pickup recommendations, and more
visit: https://www.seymourduncan.com/re-
sources
TROUBLESHOOTING
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
ROCK OUT!
11
11
© 2020 Seymour Duncan
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What you need
• Philips head screwdriver
• Flathead “slotted” screwdriver
• Shop Ruler
• Small, electronics-style wire cutters
• Guitar string cutters (havy duty dikes)
• Small needle-nose pliers or tweezers
• Wire strippers (20-30 gauge)
• Solder
• Solder Station (40-85watts)
• Sponge or brass pad for cleaning soldering iron
• Cloth for protecting guitar’s nish
• Safety glasses
• Blue painter’s tape
• Shrink tubing
• Pen/Pencil pad of paper
• Camera phone for documenting the process
• Trays or cups to hold parts
• Allen wrench to remove volume and tone
knobs
• Reamer 3/8” (4.3mm) diameter (if needed)
• 9 Volt Battery
• Socket set 3/8” (4.3mm) to remove and install
new pots
Oponal
• Helping hands
• Solder Sucker or Solder Braid
• Neck rest and mat
• Fan/ventilation
• Guitar Winder
• Contract cleaner
• Electric screwdriver
• Guitar polish
• New Strings
© 2020 Seymour Duncan
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Workspace/Starting Tips
When working on guitars, it’s essential to start
with a clean workspace. Have only the guitar, your
small bins or boxes for parts, and the necessary
tools. Here are some tips for organizing your
space for the best workow.
Keep mounting ring screws, cavity screws, and
pickguard screws in different trays (pickup box-
es are great for this, a Dixie cup also works). You
don’t want to mix the screws up because they can
be different lengths and thickness. It’s best to
label your containers.
Ensure there is nothing between your guitar, your
hand, the soldering station, and the soldering sta-
tion’s electrical outlet. You don’t want the iron’s
cord getting hung up on anything. And remember,
the iron is VERY hot. Be careful when using it.
• Taking pictures of each step of the process.
It is an excellent way to document the “be-
fore and after.” The better the documen-
tation, the less chance of something going
wrong.
• You’ll want to make sure you have plenty
of light so you can see clearly.
• Be sure to have some eye protection.
Getting some solder in the eye is not a fun
experience.
• Measure your pickup height before and
after. If you need to reinstall the original
pickups, you can get back to your base.
• Spend time getting familiar with the
pickup wiring diagram. Engineers often
draw diagrams from different angles and
perspectives. Some may even have 5-way
switches rotated 180°. Make sure to dou-
ble and triple check the orientation of your
Diagram
• A multimeter is an excellent tool for diag-
nosing pickup issues, as well as measuring
the DC Resistance (DCR) of the pickups
themselves.
© 2020 Seymour Duncan
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Active Pickups
Installing active pickups does require a few extra
steps. You’ll need to install new potentiometers
(four 25k included in your set), stereo output jack
(included), and a battery clip (included).
Since you have to replace the potentiometers
make sure the diameter of the hole matches the
the included 25k pots (3/8th” or 4.3mm). Some
guitars come with smaller potentiometer holes. If
you need to enlarge the hole we recommend using
a reamer or step-up drill (more on this later).
If you are replacing a Seymour Duncan Active
pickup set with a new Seymour Duncan Active
pickup set all you need to do is connect the new
pickups to the quick connect in your guitar. Our
active sets are also compatible with EMG quick
connect,
One challenge you may encounter is trying to t
a 9 volt battery into a compartment that wasn’t
meant for one. This will be the single largest item
in the cavity and will be pushing against the wires
and components and may cause a short. The
battery could also make it difcult to t the back
cover on. You may have to move things around for
everything to t. We recommend wrapping the
battery in foam to keep it from touching anything
live and to keep it from bouncing around. You can
also use one of the plastic bags to cover the bat-
tery. Lets dive right in!
1. Document current specs
• Measure the current height of the pickups.
• Press the low and high E strings down on
the highest fret.
• Using a shop ruler, measure the height be-
tween the bottom of the string and the top
of the pickup’s corresponding pole piece.
PRO TIP
• To protect them from damage, leave the pro-
tective plastic on your pickup covers until
you’ve nished the installation.
• If necessary, you can cut the length of the
mounting springs with “Dikes” or diagonal
cutters.v
• Perform the soldering outside of the cavity
when possible. This makes it easier to solder
and connect wires.
• Create an electronics template with a piece of
cardboard or wood. This will hold your elec-
tronics in place while soldering. It will also cre-
ate a convenient drop-in electronics harness.
© 2020 Seymour Duncan
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4. Document the orientation of the original pick-
ups.
• Note the shape, placement, and curvature
of the mounting rings.
7. Remove the bridge and neck pickups.
• Remove the mounting screws from each
pickup.
• Remove the pickups (and mounting rings if
utilized) out of the pickup cavities.
• Gently pull lead wires until completely
removed from the guitar.
• If the original pickups utilize mounting
rings, remove them from the rings and set
the pickups aside.
2. Remove the guitar’s strings.
• Loosen the strings at the headstock and
remove them from the tuning machines.
• Pull the strings from the ball end until the
strings are free from the guitar.
• It may be necessary to cut the loose strings
with your heavy-duty cutters to remove
them.
3. Remove or secure any loose parts.
• Note which side of the bridge the intona-
tion adjustment screws are on. (Great time
for a photo!)
• Carefully remove (or tape) the loose tail-
piece and bridge from the guitar
• Put painters tape over the screws and
thumbwheel to keep them from moving
out of adjustment.
5. Remove pickguard and/or backplate.
• Take photos to document the guitar’s cur-
rent wiring.
6. Remove electronics
• De-solder all pickup leads and ground con-
nections on the pots.
• Save the connecting wires. You can use
them to connect the new pots.
© 2020 Seymour Duncan
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CONNECTING VOLUME AND TONE POTS (25K)
9. Ground the volume pots.
• Ground lug 1 of each volume pot to the
back of the pot casing.
• Use a small piece of wire to connect the lug
to the casing. You can trim a small length of
wire from the capacitor
10. Installing the tone pot capacitor.
• Use the included .47 Capacitor on Lug 2
(middle lug) and ground to the back of the
pot (Duplicate this if you have two tone
pots).
• You can put a small strip of shrink tubing
around the capacitor leads to protect it
from shorting out other wires.
11. Connect the volume and tone pots.
• Solder a wire from lug 1 of the tone pot to
lug 3 of the volumev pot.
• Duplicate this if you have two volume pots
and two tone pots.
12. Connect all pots to the ground.
• Some guitars have a copper lined control
cavity or formed metal liners. These liners
are used to ground the pots. The pots will
be grounded to each other as soon as they
are securely fastened. All that remains is
to ground one pot to the ground terminal
of the output jack
• If you don’t have a metal liner you will need
to make sure the pots are grounded. This
can be done using an extra wire to solder
all pot casing. You can use some of the or-
gaina wiring to make these connections.
INSTALLING THE NEW PICKUPS
13. Attach the quick contnect (included with your
set) to the pickup terminals located on the
back side of the pickup. Align the arrow on the
quick connect
8. Remove volume and tone pots from the guitar.
• Loosen the volume- and tone-pot nuts.
• Remove the pots from the pickguard or
through the electronics cavity.
• Put the pots, nuts, and washers in their
own tray.
Lug 1
Lug 1
Lug 3
Ground wire
Lug 2
Tone Pot
Tone Pot
© 2020 Seymour Duncan
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14. Install the new pickups in the correct mount-
ing rings (if applicable).
15. Thread the pickups’ lead wires into your guitar.
• Always start with the neck pickup.
• Twist the pickup’s wires together. This will
help the wires from getting stuck as you
thread them through.
• Pull the lead wires all the way through
until the pickups are sitting ush on the
guitar’s surface.
16. Once threaded through the cavity, you can
label the pickup hookup wires neck and bridge
with painters tape.
17. Screw pickups to the body.
• For direct mount you may have to use the
screws that came with your guitar. Keep
in mind the screws may be larger than the
baseplate mounting hole.
18. Trim lead wire (optional).
• Leave one or two inches of slack and trim
the lead wire to length.
• Trimming excess wire is not required. But
loose lead wire (especially 1c) can lead to
shorting.
19. Make your pickup solder connections in one of
two ways.
Opon 1: Hot leads to switch (v1 Volume, 1 Tone,
3-way switch)
• Solder neck hot lead (white) to neck termi-
nal of the switch.
• Solder bridge hot lead (white) to bridge
terminal of the switch.
• Connect the hot lead from the 3-way
switch terminal to lug 3 of the volume pot
(you can use the previous wire).
• Connect both pickup ground wires to the
outer casing of either volume potentiom-
eter.
• Solder ground wires to switch casing (Only
If the switch casing is grounded).
Opon 2: Hot leads to the pots (2 Volume Pots, 2
Tone Pots, 3-way switch).
• Connect the neck hot lead (white) to lug 3
of the neck volume pot.
• Connect bridge hot lead (white) to lug 3 of
the bridge volume pot.
• Connect lug 2 (middle lug) of the neck vol-
ume pot to the 3-way switch.
• Connect lug 2 (middle lug) of the bridge
volume pot to the 3-way switch
20. Connect Battery Wires
• Solder all of the pickup and battery clip red
wires together.
• Protect the soldered ends of the red wires
with shrink tubing.
• Thread the battery clip’s black ground wire
to the output jack.
21. Connect electronics to the stereo output jack
• Solder the black battery ground wire to
the ring of the output jack.
• Solder the pots or switch ground wire to
the output jack sleeve.
© 2020 Seymour Duncan
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• Solder the hot lead from...
• If using Option 1 above:
...lug 2 (middle lug) of volume to the tip of the
output jack.
• If using Option 2 above:
...the 3-way switch to the tip of the output jack.
• Install the output jack in the guitar.
FIT THE ELECTRONICS TO THE GUITAR
22. Remove the prepared electronics from the
template (if prepared outside of the guitar).
23. Install electronics into the guitar’s cavity.
24. Press the prepared pots’ shaft through the
correct holes in the pickguard or top of the
guitar.
25. Install and tighten the 25k pot’s washer and
threaded nut over the top of the shaft.
26. Solder the guitar bridge ground wire to pot or
switch.
27. Connect 9-volt battery
PRO TIP
• Guitars with passive electronics aren’t de-
signed to t a 9-volt battery. You may have to
get creative for everything to t. We recom-
mend wrapping the battery in foam or one
of the plastic bags to keep it stable and from
shorting any circuitry.
ELECTRONICS TEST
28. Plug your guitar into an amplier.
29. Using a screwdriver, tap the pickup.
• If you hear a “pop” through your amplier,
the pickups are working.
30. Repeat for each pickup position.
SETUP & PICKUP HEIGHT
31. Replace the guitar’s pickguard/backplate.
32. Take this opportunity to clean your guitar’s
nish before installing new guitar strings.
33. Install new guitar strings.
34. Measure the current height of the pickups.
• Press the low and high E strings down on
the highest fret.
• Using a shop ruler, measure the height be-
tween the bottom of the string and the top
of the pickup’s corresponding pole piece.
35. Make height adjustments
• By turning the pickup mounting screw in
the pickup rings, raise or lower the pickups
until both the treble and bass side read
approximately 3/32” (2.38mm).
© 2020 Seymour Duncan
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Using a Reamer
If the 3/8” (4.3mm)shaft of your new 25k pots are
too large for your guitar’s holes, you will need to
widen the holes. We recommend using a set of
calipers and a reamer to reduce the risk of over
widening the hole or ruining your guitar’s nish.
VWITH CALIPERS
• Measure the width of the included 25k pot.
• Use this meaurement to mark the reamer with
a Sharpy.
• Insert the reamer in the pot hole and slowly
turn clockwise.
• Stop once you’ve reached the marking on the
reamer.
WITHOUT CALIPERS
• Press the reamer into the pot route
• With moderate downward pressure, slowly
turn the reamer clockwise.
• After every few turns, check to see if the 25k
pot ts into the widened route.
• Repeat until the pot ts easily in the route
without extra play in any direction.
Table of contents
