1965 mustang switch wiring help.

[broomhandle]

Hello,

I need some help with wiring for my 1965 Fender Mustang. The original switch have been destroyed for years. I am now replacing them. However when I went to re-wire. I noticed that my 65 is wired with the HOT on the right, NEG on the left. In all wire diagrams I look at it is opposite. HOT on the left, NEG on the right. These pickups were replaced before I got it. Non original. All the other wiring is the same as wire diagrams.

Any help? Should I keep this wiring? Maybe these seymore Duncans are white NEG? Possible SSL-2 pickups.

Any help? Someday I will replace the pickups.

[broomhandle]

Any help? I am not sure to keep (white) on the right... or switch it to standard wiring with (white on the left) Is there a way to test these PU for black vs white?

[madlovepickups]

General convention for fender style single coils is that black is the start end of the coil and is connected to ground. Reversing the connections is safe if the poles are well insulated in the pickup core and there is no chance of shorting the hot end to ground. There is a measurable increase in noise when using the non start end to ground as the start end of the coil wire can act as a shield from noise from the poles but in practice its not a lot. Reversing the connection also reverses phase, if the pickups are out of phase the sound is thin when both pickups are engaged. As the mustang switches between parallel and phase you can have either side connected as long as they are the same for both pickups.

[MattK]

When you say the switches are "destroyed", have you tried cleaning them with a good quality product like Deoxit? That can work miracles. Also those three position sliders open up quite easily for you to see if there is anything bent or broken.

[broomhandle]

General convention for fender style single coils is that black is the start end of the coil and is connected to ground. Reversing the connections is safe if the poles are well insulated in the pickup core and there is no chance of shorting the hot end to ground. There is a measurable increase in noise when using the non start end to ground as the start end of the coil wire can act as a shield from noise from the poles but in practice its not a lot. Reversing the connection also reverses phase, if the pickups are out of phase the sound is thin when both pickups are engaged. As the mustang switches between parallel and phase you can have either side connected as long as they are the same for both pickups.

Got it, some basically the switch up or down would just be reverse wired this way. This wiring was done by the 1st owner back in the 80's. so who knows. I think I will wire it correct.

[broomhandle]

When you say the switches are "destroyed", have you tried cleaning them with a good quality product like Deoxit? That can work miracles. Also those three position sliders open up quite easily for you to see if there is anything bent or broken.

Yes, they are massively corroded inside. I am so tired of cleaning them. The clean does not last for very long. I just thought, take out the originals, leave it all original, add new switches. And the old ones can stay in the case with the guitar.

[MattK]

Makes sense - or it might even be possible to swap out the sliders and contacts from new switches into the old ones, but that's probably crossing the line into self-harm

[broomhandle]

Makes sense - or it might even be possible to swap out the sliders and contacts from new switches into the old ones, but that's probably crossing the line into self-harm

This is the same guitar that is red with blue under that I was talking to you about. Who knows the previous wild life living in San Fransisco. :0

[timtam]

If you are happy with how the switch positions work now, I would wire it in the same way. If you flip one pickup's wiring, you will probably end up with needing one switch up and the other switch down in order to be in phase. If you flip both pickups' wires, things will not be functionally different to where they are now.

You can test the electrical polarity of each pickup (with a given "hot" and "ground" wire) by doing the "screwdriver pull-off" test with a multimeter. For 'in-phase' you want both pickups positive or both negative polarity.

[broomhandle]

If you are happy with how the switch positions work now, I would wire it in the same way. If you flip one pickup's wiring, you will probably end up with needing one switch up and the other switch down in order to be in phase. If you flip both pickups' wires, things will not be functionally different to where they are now.

You can test the electrical polarity of each pickup (with a given "hot" and "ground" wire) by doing the "screwdriver pull-off" test with a multimeter. For 'in-phase' you want both pickups positive or both negative polarity.

I already wired it stock. Plan is to upgrade PU's anyway.