DiMarzio Responds

I had some time today so I thought I would drop DiMarzio a line explaining the problem with their wiring diagram. Be aware that their web site is not very user-friendly regarding tech support. Here is the exchange:

Me:

For your information, the wiring diagram PDF you have on your web site for the humbucker-single-humbucker (hum canceling) set up, is wrong and cannot work per your instructions. I am attaching an image to this e-mail that illustrates the error. The red and green wires in your diagram (indicated with blue arrows) are reversed and cannot work like that.

Thank you.

DiMarzio Tech:

Sorry, but you are incorrect. The diagram works perfectly well when used with the types pf pickups called for in the text. We have used it at our shop, and several guitar builders use it on their instruments.

Me:

The types of pickups make a difference? Don't they all have the same number of wires and colors of wires? All of my pickups are brand new DiMarizios and if wired according to your diagram, the bridge pickup does not work when the 5-way switch is in postions 4 and 5.

I think you are incorrect.

DiMarzio Tech (Steve Blucher):

Sorry, but I am not incorrect. We should be able to sort this out if you can tell us which pickups you have.

Me:

I have a DP103, a DP213F and a DP217, all brand new. Yes, please enlighten me. I am anxious to see how, with these pickups, you can make the bridge pickup work using your wiring diagram. The only way I could make it work was to swap the red and green wire connections for the bridge pickup.

DiMarzio Tech (Steve Blucher):

The diagram on the website calls for 2 standard humbuckers in the neck and bridge positions and a Virtual Vintage-style Strat-size pickup in the middle. The middle pickup has opposite polarity from the humbuckers, hence the color code in the diagram. Your setup has 3 standard humbuckers, for which the correct wiring diagram is attached above.

Me:

The DP217 is not a humbucker, is it?

DiMarzio Tech (Steve Blucher):

The DP217 is a stacked, humcancelling Strat-size pickup. If it is installed in the middle position, the diagram on the website shows the correct wiring. A different diagram is called for if it is not.

Me:

Then we disagree, I guess. It is definitely installed in the middle position and I had to swap the red and green wires on the bridge humbucker to get it to work. I know nothing of electronics; however, I am very good at following instructions and diagrams. After I installed my pickups and wired them up according to your diagram (precisely), the bridge position pickup did
nothing in switch positions 4 and 5. It worked only after I swapped the wires.

DiMarzio Tech:

All of our humbuckers are magnetized in the same direction (unless specified otherwise by the individual customer), so if the wiring functions correctly in positions 1&2 (neck & middle) it should function similarly in 4&5. The only possibility I can easily envision is that the bridge pickup was incorrectly magnetized in the wrong direction.

Me:

Well thank you for your time and I guess this issue will have to remain a mystery. And for whatever it's worth, after I swapped the wires and got the bridge pickup working, the guitar sounds fabulous. The pickups sound beautiful both singly and in combination with each other.

This has to be the best sounding arrangement of pickups that I have ever had. The DiMarzios completely exceeded my expectations.

DiMarzio Tech:

The mystery could be solved by returning the bridge pickup to us. You could also check the polarity of the humbuckers by holding a compass over the polepieces. The poles on the coil located over the cable exits on both pickups should read south.

Me:

Thanks, but the only way I would return pickup is if I had a replacement in hand. I have no intention of being without my guitar any longer than I already have been while fiddling with and researching this installation hassle. Not knowing anything about electronics I solved this installation issue by trial and error and it almost drove me nuts!

If you would care to send me a replacement I would be happy to send this pickup back to you with the receipt and original packing materials. The pickup was purchased at the Guitar Center in Tampa, FL in January or February, I think.

If you can't send me a replacement in advance, I'll make do with it the current pickup wrongly magnetized, or whatever. By the way, I don't have a compass readily available so I can't check the polarity.

DiMarzio Tech:

If the diagnosis is correct, there is no reason to disassemble the guitar and return the pickup to us, since its performance is not negatively affected by having reverse polarity. In hindsight, it might have saved you some time (and sanity) if you had contacted us as soon as you encountered the problem.

Me:

I had considered contacting you, but I wasn't confident of a solution based on your web site's "Contact" page. The "Technical Support" link merely goes to a series of FAQs that didn't help, and I wasn't sure the "General Info" was for--web site issues or technical issues. I sent my comments to "General Info" on a whim and as a courtesy.

Anyway, I don't know how common wrongly magnetized pickups are, but if it is something you produce fairly often, you may want to mention it in your installation docs.

Michael Altilio (DiMarzio):

Your question will be answered by one of our techs, but I wanted to comment on a side issue. The Contact Tech Support function on the website takes you to the FAQ page, which answers many questions without contacting us. The final option on the FAQ page is "Ask a question", where you are prompted to email us. Perhaps this isn't as obvious as we would like it to be.

We often make pickups with reverse polarity at the customer's request for special switching configurations. It's possible that there was a mixup where we put a reverse magnet pickup in standard packaging.

The good news is that your problem is solved. Sorry for the grief.