How to Reverse Pickup Polarity Part 2: Humbuckers

Reversing the polarity of a Humbucker is a relatively simple task when compared to a single-coil pickup like a Stratocaster or Telecaster pickup. When changing the phase of a single-coil pickup, you need to be mindful of two “attributes” of the pickup: the Magnetic Polarity and the Coil Direction. 

Both the Magnetic Polarity and the Coil Direction can be challenging to reverse, and most of the time, you need to send the pickup in to get rewound or re-magnetized. Luckily, Humbuckers are a bit easier. Their design allows us, as guitarists, to get under the hood and flip the phase relatively quickly!

HUMBUCKER DESIGN:

The design of the humbucker cancels all hum when playing. It’s a simple design that works beautifully. As mentioned in our previous article, to have hum cancelation, you need two coils, wound opposite and magnetized opposite from each other. We experience this in a Strat or Tele in the middle positions. In a Humbucker, everything is contained in one footprint. If you’d like to learn how humbuckers work, check out our article on the subject here. 

REVERSING HUMBUCKER PHASE:

In our last article, we learned that to change the phase of a pickup, we need to flip one of the following attributes: Coil Direction or Magnetic Polarity. Luckily, with Humbuckers, both magnetic polarities are already contained in the pickup, so all we need to contend with is the coil direction! 

Changing the humbucker’s coil direction is easy if you have a humbucker with multiple leads. To learn more about how to choose the correct lead when purchasing a new pickup, check out our article here. Here is a rundown of the different humbucker leads available:

2-Conductor, 3-Conductor, and 4-Conductor leads have a separate shield. This shield is separate from the coil and contains the chassis ground connection. When installing the pickup, we keep the shield grounded, while the remaining pickup wires are reversible. Let’s examine how to reverse the phase using a 2-Conductor Lead (the process is the same for all multi-conductor leads):

Here’s a basic step-by-step on how to reverse the phase of a humbucker by flipping the leads:

1. Start with a Normal Installation. In a normal installation, White is Hot, Black is Ground, and Shield is Ground.
2. See if both pickups are in Phase with each other. If your pickups are in phase, you’re good to go! If not, proceed to Step 3:
3. Reverse Black And White. Keep the shield grounded while you reverse Black and White. The new wiring should have White is Ground, Black is Hot, and Shield is ground.

REVERSING THE HUMBUCKER MAGNET

If your humbucker came equipped with Gibson Braided Shield lead, you cannot reverse the phase of the humbucker by reversing the lead. Gibson Braided Shield lead has a ‘hard-soldered’ connection to the chassis ground. Your only option is to reverse the direction of the humbucker’s bar magnet.

Reversing the humbucker’s magnet is another relatively simple operation, but requires a bit of know-how and a few tools. Here’s an exploded view of a Humbucker:

FLIPPING THE HUMBUCKER MAGNET – STEP BY STEP:

I hope that helps you understand reversing the polarity of a humbucker! If you have any tips or questions, feel free to drop them below. Until next time.