If you've bought a new Mighty Mite Motherbucker pickup for your guitar, the only thing you need to do before rocking out with it is to get it wired up to the correct points. The Mighty Mite Motherbucker uses the name from Kent Armstrong's Motherbucker, but it only has one dual-coil pickup, instead of two dual-coils, as with Armstrong's model. If you have experience wiring pickups, you already will have a good idea of how to install the Mighty Mite Motherbucker, and the process is straightforward even for a novice.
- If you've bought a new Mighty Mite Motherbucker pickup for your guitar, the only thing you need to do before rocking out with it is to get it wired up to the correct points.
- If you have experience wiring pickups, you already will have a good idea of how to install the Mighty Mite Motherbucker, and the process is straightforward even for a novice.
Draw a diagram of the existing wiring set-up in your guitar. Make sure you draw the wiring diagram in as much detail as you require, and remember to include the colours of the wires. This will be used for reference if you ever need to reinstall your old pickup. Your current pickup either will be wired directly to your switch, or it will go to the volume and tone control pots before going to the switch. Maintain this general layout when installing the Mighty Mite Motherbucker.
Remove your old pickup. Disconnect all of the wires that attach the old pickup to the guitar with a soldering iron. The Mighty Mite Motherbucker comes with wires. Place all of the wires that are connected to your old pickup off to one side.
Solder together the red and blue wires coming from the Motherbucker. These come out of the right-hand side of the pickup, from the topside of each coil. Secure the connection using a small piece of electrical tape.
- Disconnect all of the wires that attach the old pickup to the guitar with a soldering iron.
- Solder together the red and blue wires coming from the Motherbucker.
Wire the "hot" wire to the relevant connection. The "hot" wire is the black wire, which extends from the bottom right-hand corner of the Motherbucker. This connection either attaches to the volume control pot or directly to the selector switch, depending on where your previous pickup was connected. If it connects to the volume pot, the "hot" connection generally attaches to the connection furthest to the left of the control, but this can differ. Connect the pickup in the location of the previous pickup if it runs directly to the switch. This will be the location for the bridge or neck pickup, depending on which one you are replacing.
Connect the white wire to the ground connection. The position of this connection differs, depending on the guitar's set-up, but it usually is located on the volume control pot or the output jack. Check your diagram. The pickup you removed had one wire, its "hot" wire, which connected the volume pot or the switch, and then there was another wire connected to the correct ground point. Use the same ground point for your new pickup.
- Wire the "hot" wire to the relevant connection.
- The pickup you removed had one wire, its "hot" wire, which connected the volume pot or the switch, and then there was another wire connected to the correct ground point.