1-conductor or 4-conductor?

[Orange Tortex]

The pickup I chose for the neck position is the Seymour Duncan ‘59 Model (SH-1n), and it gives you the option to buy it as 1-conductor or 4-conductor. My layout is 2 humbucker, 1 volume, 1 tone, and 3-way blade switch.
I looked at the wiring diagram on SD’s website and it looks like I need 4c but I don’t know.
The 4c version is like $20 more, too.

 

[mayfly]

Are you planning on coil taping?  Coil phase reversal?

If not, then get the 1-conductor (well, it actually has to be 2-conductor innit?)

 

[Orange Tortex]

Are you planning on coil taping?  Coil phase reversal?

If not, then get the 1-conductor (well, it actually has to be 2-conductor innit?)

Nope, just a normal setup. It doesn’t come in 2c though

 

[DuckBaloo]

Are you planning on coil taping?  Coil phase reversal?

If not, then get the 1-conductor (well, it actually has to be 2-conductor innit?)

Nope, just a normal setup. It doesn’t come in 2c though

The shielded braid does double duty as the 2nd wire.

If you only plan to use it as a regular humbucker, you can use either. The 4-conductor allows more flexibility in the future, but it would just be unused capacity.

 

[ChrisMC]

Get whichever one is in stock. They’ll both work for that setup, but much like buying a recording interface with only one mic preamp because that’s “all I’ll need”….I’d opt for the 4 conductor so that when you want to mod it later you’ll have somewhere to go.

 

[mayfly]

Are you planning on coil taping?  Coil phase reversal?

If not, then get the 1-conductor (well, it actually has to be 2-conductor innit?)

Nope, just a normal setup. It doesn’t come in 2c though

electrons won't flow too well without a return wire of some kind  .  I'm guessing they have a shield on it, which acts as the second conductor.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Like he said, if not splitting or anything fancy, 1 conductor simplifies, and the braided ground is robust.  I have a 335 style on my workbench now that I just installed som SD Seth Lover pickups in which came one conductor, fastest I’ve ever done a pickup swap in one of these style guitars.

 

[DustyCat]

Not sure if this helps but splitting my Pearlie Gates Bridge into a single coil (via 4 conductor) is mighty disappointing as the volume drop is huge.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Not sure if this helps but splitting my Pearlie Gates Bridge into a single coil (via 4 conductor) is mighty disappointing as the volume drop is huge.

This is typical, splitting a humbucker is not the same as a true single coil voicing, only a handful of actives come remotely close.

 

[SeattleScotty]

If it's anything like the grounded shielding cable on my phat cats, get the 4-lead. The braided cable is a pain in the butt to solder in my experience. Plus you never know, you might want to split them or play around with the wiring in the future.