Common Connection Point Humbucking Circuits with Odd and Even Numbers of Matched Single-Coil Pickups

Abstract

This chapter shows a simplified set of humbucking circuits made of 2 or more matched pickups, where one phase of the hum signal is connected to a common point, and the other is connected to either the high or low output. If the outer windings are connected to the common point, it can be grounded to give electrostatic shielding and a differential output. So long as each output terminal is connected to at least one pickup, every switching choice will be humbucking. This sacrifices a number of more complex humbucking circuits in exchange for switching simplicity. For 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 matched pickups, there are 1, 6, 25, 90, and 301 different no-load tone circuits for each pole configuration. Over the respective 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 different pole configurations for pickups with reversible magnets, there are a total of 2, 18, 92, 540, and 1640 different no-load tone circuits. The switchable humbucking output selections over all the pole configurations can have many duplicates and number 2, 24, 200, 1440, and 9632, respectively. All the numbers tend to rise exponentially with the number of pickups.