Complete Guitar Wiring

The book is available in both electronic and paperback formats — both are beautifully presented.

Want to dabble in DIY? Then you’ll need a good guide!

Lots of the world’s guitar playing population like to tinker with their instruments, and whether it’s electric guitars and basses or an acoustic guitar with a pickup system, you don’t have to go far down this rabbit hole before you start looking at the instrument’s electronics. You might just wish to troubleshoot a problem, maybe you want to swap out the pickups for something you hope sounds better, or perhaps you’re keen to try a completely new wiring setup. Whatever the reason, if you never took Electronics 101 and don’t know one end of a soldering iron from another (trial and error is not such a good approach!), your projects can involve a lot of head‑scratching, swearing and time‑wasting (been there, done that!).

Recently, I came across a rather good solution to that possible skills gap: Gerry Hayes’ book Complete Guitar Wiring (ISBN‑10: 1919649425, ISBN‑13: 978‑1919649429). Gerry is an experienced luthier, and runs Haze Guitars from a workshop just outside Dublin. As well as doing guitar building and repair work, he writes an excellent blog and has authored a number of books and guides on guitars and guitar setup. The latest addition to his writing portfolio, Complete Guitar Wiring, is available in printed and electronic forms. I purchased the latter for my own use but, having also seen the hardback version ‘in the flesh’, I can say with confidence that its production quality easily qualifies it for coffee‑table status.

By The Book

Spanning over 400 pages, this book is comprehensive. Its contents are split into seven main chapters, plus an appendix that’s stuffed with detailed specifications of common guitar parts and components. So Complete Guitar Wiring can serve as a reference for those who are experienced in guitar electronics — but a beginner could pick it up without fear of being intimidated.

Gerry’s writing style is a big part of that, but it’s also because the first chapter, which explores all the key components that you might find in an electric guitar, acoustic guitar or bass guitar circuit, provides a brilliantly accessible introduction to the basic theory of electronics. That’s a topic that can easily get heavy very quickly, but here it doesn’t. With a clear and pragmatic writing style, Gerry deals with these introductory technical concepts in a very accessible and engaging fashion, exploring the concepts in a very focused way and always in a guitar‑related context. So if you’re starting from a point where you’re unsure of the difference between a resistor and a capacitor, or how a volume potentiometer functions, or the basic construction of common pickup types, or what’s required to build a complete electrical circuit, fear not: by the time you have read this first chapter, you will be considerably better informed.

Chapters 2 and 3 then build on that excellent platform, to help you explore the wiring and installation of electric guitar/bass and acoustic guitar pickups. There’s a lot of interesting background material here about pickup construction, spanning all sorts of pickup types from conventional single‑coils and humbuckers to various piezo designs, including the specifics of systems found on selected leading acoustic guitar brands including Taylor and Takamine. Topics such as pickup setup, polarity, phase and grounding are all explained in clear and straightforward fashion. I didn’t expect to find so much useful information in the section on mounting/installing pickups but, electronics aside, I found myself learning a lot about the use of a basic router (to expand a pickup cavity, for example), as well as the practical problems (and some great solutions) often encountered when installing pickups and wiring on a semi‑hollowbody guitar (darn f‑holes!).

Chapter 4 takes the practical advice on the wiring process much further. Framed around a number of typical wiring projects, it takes the reader through the circuit designs and, by building on the concepts introduced in chapter 1, considers how those designs result in the appropriate signal flow through the circuit. However, it starts simply with wiring a guitar cable. Then it’s an output jack, before moving on to a single volume or tone pot, and eventually graduating via pickup replacement to complete rewiring tasks. Again, the technical elements are explained very clearly, but just as impressive is the ‘introduction to soldering’ content. If you’ve ever struggled to solder on the back of a pot, the advice here will undoubtedly get you on the right track. Other tools of the trade are also discussed, from wire types to wire strippers. It’s a well thought out and very practical discussion. As elsewhere, the text is supported by high‑quality photos and illustrations.

From pots to pickups, the photos and illustrations are absolutely top‑notch.

Chapter 5 focuses on typical troubleshooting cases and, even if you have no desire to build a new circuit from the ground up, there is plenty to learn here. This includes the valuable advice of a basic troubleshooting workflow and how to distinguish between things that might be perceived as problems but actually aren’t, and genuine problems. It then walks you through the processes for testing every major element of your guitar’s wiring circuit to find whatever fault(s) might need attention. For the inexperienced, the bonus is that you will also learn the basics of using a multimeter and, again, it’s all very clearly explained.

These five chapters make up the first 200 pages or so of the book. Chapter 6, which occupies the next 100, contains a huge selection of standard wiring diagrams. These span the more common Les Paul, Strat and Tele circuits (including several common variants of each), but also lots of others from manufacturers such as Ibanez, PRS, Chapman, Gretsch, Suhr, Charvel, G&L and Rickenbacker. The majority of the diagrams are guitar based, but a decent selection of basses is represented, including a number of common Fender options. And, because the book started with such a clear explanation of how such circuits are constructed — and, importantly, how they’re represented in diagrammatic form — even a less experienced guitar tinkerer can quickly start to get their eye in.

A huge selection of full circuit diagrams is included within the book for a range of guitar and bass instruments.

The final chapter, which also runs to nearly 100 pages, progresses nicely into the world of mods, and is a treasure trove of ideas that should appeal to newbies and experienced DIY guitar technicians alike. Whether it’s a simple change to how your Strat’s tone controls operate, exploring coil splitting, or configuring series/parallel pickup options, this section will get you thinking of the possibilities that your new‑found guitar electronics skills might open up. There’s also a useful reference section of the typical wiring colour schemes used by most of the mainstream pickup manufacturers.

While I realise it might be hard for you to imagine a technical book about guitar wiring being ‘an entertaining read’ that’s exactly what this is!

Buy The Book?

The book’s comprehensive coverage of its subject is an important part of its appeal, and Gerry’s experience as a luthier of 20‑plus years has clearly informed his decision making in terms of both the content and the way it is organised. This book is a triumph in both regards. Just as important as the knowledge and organisation of all this technical stuff, though, is Gerry’s enviable ability to explain it all in a clear, logical and entertaining fashion. Not every luthier can do that, yet throughout this book Gerry comes across as a humble and self‑effacing human being. So I’ll happily say it for him: this book is beautifully written and while I realise it might be hard for you to imagine a technical book about guitar wiring being ‘an entertaining read’ that’s exactly what this is! Gerry’s sense of humour, pragmatic approach and desire to share his obviously considerable knowledge come across on every page. Oh, and the many illustrations are every bit as good as the text, not only serving to support the concepts covered in the book very well, but also making it look fabulous.

If Gerry’s guitars are as good as this book, I sincerely hope to have the chance to play one at some point. Complete Guitar Wiring may be a niche book about a niche subject but, by a considerable distance, it is the best book on the topic that I’ve ever encountered. So if you’re lost down the rabbit hole of guitar electronics, I strongly advise you to buy it — and let it shine its considerable light on your journey.