How To Choose The Right Humbucker Lead

There’s a lot you can do with a humbucker pickup, wiring wise. Choosing the right Humbucker Lead will help you get the job done right.

Humbuckers are a powerful tool in the guitar pickup toolbox. They have their own sound, and their own function: they don’t hum! (duh) They are also very versatile. You can wire them a plethora of ways, depending on what you’re trying to achieve. That said, how do you know which humbucker lead to choose so you get the options you want?

From the easiest installation to the most options, we are going to break down humbucker leads, so you can make informed decisions. Here we go:

Gibson® Braided Humbucker Lead:

The Gibson Braided Shielded Lead is an extremely popular type of humbucker lead. It features a metal braid around a cloth insulator.
Inside the cloth insulator, is a stranded lead, which is the “hot” signal of the pickup. The braided shield offers two features: durability and easy installation. The Braided Shield is actually the method of grounding the pickup. It’s usually soldered on the back of the volume pot that controls the pickup.

To Install:

1. Solder the inside lead to the Volume Pot input.
2. Solder the Braided Shield to the casing of the Volume Pot, and make sure it’s connected to ground.

With the ease of installation comes certain drawbacks: you can’t reverse the phase. If you were to buy a pickup with this lead and realize that it’s out of phase with your other pickup, you’re out of luck. You also can’t Split the humbucker – it’s all or nothing. That’s where multiple leads come in:

2-Conductor Lead, With Shield

This is a beautiful lead, and we recommend it all the time. This lead has a White, Black, and Shield, all surrounded by a thick rubber insulator. This lead allows you to reverse the phase: the coil is completely separated from the chassis ground.

We recommend this lead if buying a single Hum Cancelling pickup, like our Hum Cancelling P90s, Hum Cancelling Jazzmaster, Alnico Noiseless P90s and more.

To Install:

1. Solder the Shield to Ground
2. White connects to Switch Input or Volume Pot Input
3. Solder Black to Ground, with Shield

If you ever experienced phasing issues, you could simply swap Black and White, and you’ll be set.

3-Conductor, With Shield

When 2-Conductor isn’t available for a Humbucker, this will do the trick. It’s like the 2-Conductor Lead, except it has a Red lead, which allows you to Split the humbucker.

To Install:

1. Solder the Shield to Ground
2. White solders to Switch Input, or Volume Pot Input
3. Black connects to Ground, with Shield

With Red, you have options:

1. If you don’t want to Split the Humbucker, take some masking tape and tape off the Red Lead.
2. If you want to Split the humbucker, you’ll need a Push / Pull pot to connect Red to Ground. See our Article Here.

4-Conductor, With Shield

This is the most versatile of all leads and offers the most options. Each Humbucker Coil has a Start and Finish of each coil. This lead lets you re-wire the Humbucker, with 4 Conductors. With this lead, you can:

1. Reverse the Phase
2. Coil Split The Humbucker
3. Re-Wire it from Series to Parallel

In addition to the Red lead, you now get a Green lead. For normal humbucker operation, Red and Green need to be soldered together in order for the humbucker to work.

We hope that this article helps you choose the correct lead for your needs. There are many options out there, but in our experience, it helps to research what your guitar needs, and what options you need out of the lead before you buy.