EX-4 pickup wiring

[BearClaw]

Hello.

I'm new to building and are trying to put together an ex-4 bass. But I can't put my head around the wiring of the pickups. I don't have a multimeter. Can some one please tell me what the different wires are?

Sorry for the dumb question.

[Sonic Mountain]

Hey BearClaw, no such thing as a dumb question, we were all first timers once.

Have you had a look at this? It only shows the wires and solder points you need to worry about.

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/PBG-4%20string%203%20pot%202017.pdf

Generally the 'bare' wires are all earths and the others are signal from the pickups. So you just need to track your signal path to the output jack and make sure every thing that needs to be earthed is. Most wiring can be done a number of different ways, but the PDf should be the most common.

If you get stuck, pics are helpful and our resident electricky guru is Weirdbits if you are completely lost.

[king casey]

electricky guru is Weirdbits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1ho8di4ywQ

cheers, Mark.

[BearClaw]

[QUOTE=Sonic Mountain;177108]Hey BearClaw, no such thing as a dumb question, we were all first timers once.

Have you had a look at this? It only shows the wires and solder points you need to worry about.

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/PBG-4%20string%203%20pot%202017.pdf

Generally the 'bare' wires are all earths and the others are signal from the pickups. So you just need to track your signal path to the output jack and make sure every thing that needs to be earthed is. Most wiring can be done a number of different ways, but the PDf should be the most common.

29631 From what I've read I think this is part of the wiring. I saw somewhere that I can connect the small black wire and the ground wire together. Is that correct?

[WeirdBits]

Single black is your ‘hot’.
Red & White is the series link between the coils, just insulate/tape the tip so it can’t short if you’re not splitting.
Bare & Green (fat, looks like it’s got heat shrink on it) is your ‘ground’.

The wiring diagram was created when the supplied pickups just had 2 wires, but now the kits are shipping with 4-wire humbuckers. Just match the above to the diagram and you should be fine.

[BearClaw]

Single black is your ‘hot’.
Red & White is the series link between the coils, just insulate/tape the tip so it can’t short if you’re not splitting.
Bare & Green (fat, looks like it’s got heat shrink on it) is your ‘ground’.

The wiring diagram was created when the supplied pickups just had 2 wires, but now the kits are shipping with 4-wire humbuckers. Just match the above to the diagram and you should be fine.

Thank you!

[fender3x]

For what it's worth, I think you should consider getting a multimeter. If you are in the US these are cheap and will do pretty much anything you need for a guitar...

https://www.harborfreight.com/7-function-digital-multimeter-63604.html

...well worth the investment. If for no other purpose, you'll find it useful for making sure that you have actually grounded everything you think you have. Good for checking continuity, pot and resister values, polarity....