Here how i solved the problem to understand the polarity : 1) Take a needle and put it near your magnet for few secs then take a cup with some water and put the needle inside to float. You will see that the point will move toward the north. If you have a compass you can double check, but it is correct anyway ! 2) Take your magnet from one of the 2 faces (like a coin) and put it near the cup. If the needle point come towards your magnet then you know that the face is south polarity therefore mark the other face of it as North. 3) I used some nail varnish to paint it and when dry i carved on it an N. 4) Put your magnet inside a little bottle and now you are ready to test all your pickups knowing the exact polarity ! Good experimenting !!
I was about to throw away my strat for good.But when I watched this and check the polarity of the pickups and interchanged the position and the bar magnets(N-S-N),it really helped.Now,I'm enjoying playing my strat.Thank you so much.Make more videos like this one.GODBLESS
This is a fantastic DIY hack! I recently learned how to do this with an ohmmeter and a magnetized screwdriver shaft. All I really needed to know is if my two different branded pickups were in phase with each other. I had put one of each in a guitar and thought maybe I had wired it wrong because of Gibson's flip-flopping on color coded wires. This made the whole operation many times faster. Basically you only need to know if they are in Phase or out of phase with each other. Even in a 3 single coil Strat style guitar. 2 souths and 1 north in the middle is just as well as 2 norths and 1 south. So glad i found this before going through my original process! Many thanks!!
This does not cover the direction of the winding. Obviously of equal importance to magnet polarity. That can often be determined by looking at how the thin wires enter the coil from the white and black wires' terminals. That may be worth adding to your informative video.
5:29 okay but how to know which side to paint as north and which as south? how to determine North and South poles of a magnet w/o using any compass nor marked magnets?
When the magnets flip, all you know is that they are opposite - you haven't identified north / south. Also, how is the wind of the string related to the polarity? Will swaping the +/- wires change the polrity or just the phase? I think there is a better explanation somewhere.
I think this is where the video gets it wrong. Swapping the leads or reverse winding the wires itself doesn't change the polarity I think. You have to be able to tell the magnets direction and then set up your pickups accordingly. Afaik all you have to do to change polarity is flip the magnets.
Good information, but can I suggest you make 2 videos and that would be 1>theory and how pickups work>2 the technical side of what you did. I'm going back to watch it again because I had it but I lost it? I've watched this before and I'm missing something?
If I want to reverse the polarity to a single coil pickup, is to remove all the magnets and put them back in reverse? I bought a custom 69 fender and the middle one is not reversed.
You'd still need a compass to identify the initial north and south polarity, or risk getting them reversed and wasting more money on the wrong pickups...
I just did your test because I'm installing single coils in a double neck, there were two blue/white fender flat pole pups that passed your opposites attract test and I'm assuming they're RW pups which is great cuz I needed two, only problem is everything I've seen on internet says fender didn't make a RW pup with blue/white wire.......even though the pup you tested on this video has a blue wire ....right? a bit confusing, This is a guitar build and my necks aren't quite ready to be installed and pups tried out yet.
I was wondering if you have a HSH pickups in your Strat. Some humbuckers are 2 conductor and some are 4 conductor. Some of the HSH humbuckers (4 wire)can be wired so only half of the humbucker is used in positions 2 & 4. Do you still need rwrp middle pickup in the middle position? How do I know if I have the proper middle pickup? Thanks Doug
Thank You!!! I wonder what set of pickups you actually use in this video/ because mines are totally lookin' like yours but I have no idea where they came from)))
Michael Moore I will tell you a way that is actually cheaper and wont need a compass. Take a niddle and rub it on a magnet. Then hang the niddle on a thread (in the middle of the niddle)hold the thread with your hand, eventualy this is a compass!It will show you the north... If you move the niddle close to the pickup you will understand the polarity
its not important to know exactly witch is witch , because the two sides of the magnet will always be opposite its just for the sake of knowing that your pickups is not the same polarity. (for example you can paint one side green and the other blue then you just make sure that the pickups arrange in G-B-G or B-G-B combination(G stands for green B for blue ))
Thanks Mike, I thought the exact same thing and I am going to throw the question up again because you did not get a proper reply. He sort of addressed it but did not explain it. So you get a compass and then what? Wait for the compass to tell you? That sounds silly but really Yeah I mean REALLY?
It would have been important for you to discuss the risks of degaussing when touching magnets together. It would be very bad if touching alnico to neodynium... not too good touching alnico to ceramic either.
Hello. Recently I bought a pair of cheap humbuckers. The bridge humbucker screw poles were north, when it is supposed to be south. The neck humbucker is normal (screw poles are south). Is it normal? Does it generate problems? Thank you in advance.
You only demonstrate reverse magnetic polarity, but you also need to consider reverse wound (electric) polarity. They are not the same and you need to know what both are in order to make sure that two pickups together will cancel hum.
There is no "reverse wound". You can only wind one way. If you have a reverse polarity pickup and the noise isn't getting cancelled then you just switch the wires.
my buddy was wondering how i take random pickups and combine them in a set wen the mid pickup is not reverse wound, i simply wire it backwards to get it into phase witch has always worked great for me. am i missing something here?
Simply reversing the leads of the middle pickup will make the pickups out of phase and sound awful. If you want noise canceling in 2 and 4 you need a reverse wound/reverse polarity middle pickup.
Here's a puzzle: on my Roland Cube Street 2 of my 6 guitars produce a pronounced ground hum, which disappears when I touch the ground sleeve on the cable. This is when I'm playing through the power brick (not grounded), not the batteries, and it's only those 2 guitars. I have no pedals.
Those same 2 guitars produce no hum on 3 other amps, and they both have dual humbuckers.
Switching the power adapters or cables changes nothing, but there is no ground hum when I play through my Xvive wireless system.
So, where do you think I should look for a cause/solution?
If the hum disappears when you touch the strings, that means everything is working correctly. Your body is at a different ground potential which causes hum, and when you touch the strings or jack you become grounded with the same system as the guitar.
Could you tell me how do I make position 1- 3 and 5 noiseless without changing to noiseless pick-ups, also my Epiphone wildkat with P-90s which is only silent in the middle position? the only Humbuckers I realy like are on my Gretsch double Jet but they are mini Humbuckers, thank's John.
I have a HB/p90 guitar, how do you check polarity on those? I recently change my HB, I like the change but getting slight buzz in middle position. Thanks if you can help!
My guitar hums only when I tilt it, the more horizontal guitar is (pickups facing ceiling or floor), the more hum it produces. Its no outside electrical interference problem, I have checked by changing room/cables/power sockets etc after switching off all wifi and mobile signals. What is this?
this will not always tell you which pickups will cancel hum AND whether the pickups are in phase. For most people, having hum cancel in two pickups but that are out of phase with that yucky nasal tone, will not be desired. You have to know how the coils are round relative to the direction of the magnetic field
you had tested the polarity of magnets, but polarity of magnets cannot reduce the hum. it changes the tone. you have to check the phases of pickups to reduce the noise.
While this method will show you the RELATIVE magnetic polarity of any two (or more) pickups, simply printing 'N' and 'S' on opposite sides of the test magnet is not going to be any use if you are buying a "North" (or SOUTH") replacement pickup online, or in a music shop. You've got a 50% chance that your tester is showing the real polarity of the top of your existing pickups. Actual compasses are remarkably cheap, and in my opinion are much more useful for this type of testing. Note also that the middle pickup, as well as being the opposite magnetic polarity to the other two also has to be 'reverse wound' compared to the bridge and neck pickups: a different magnetic polarity alone will not guarantee that the combination switch positions will be hum-cancelling, the direction of the winding depends on the whim of the company manufacturing them. An easy way to check that the electrical signal flows from all three pickups are in phase with each other is to make a short test lead, using a standard mono 1/4" guitar lead plug on one end; two short lengths of thin insulated wire (no need for screened cable for this test) are soldered to the 'Tip' and 'Sleeve' connections of the plug. The other end of each wire should be connected to 'strip' connectors (screw terminals). Connect the 1/4" plug to the guitar, and two test probes of an electrical test meter to the strip connectors, which are there to ensure a positive connection to the meter. A digital test meter is best for this type of testing, rather than one with a moving needle: if the test meter has an 'auto-ranging' mode of operation, change to a 2 volt or 10 volt DC range. This is important; the meter must be switched to measure a low DC voltage, not AC; turn the guitar volume control to maximum; turn all/any tone knobs fully clockwise; select each pickup in turn (NOT the combination positions '2' and '4' on a strat type guitar!); carefully place a metal screwdriver tip on to one of the pickup poles, and then quickly pull the screwdriver away from the pickup. This moving metal part will generate a small electrical pulse in the pickup wiring: observe if the electrical signal shown on the meter is positive or negative (a 'negative' will be indicated by a minus sign on the meter display). All three pickups should show the same type of signal, either positive or negative. The actual amplitude of the voltage pulse doesn't matter, the meter display will only show a voltage change for a very short time anyway. With the middle pickup having a different magnetic polarity to the other two, AND all three electrical signals being in phase with each other, switch positions '2' and '4' should be hum cancelling (all of the hum may not be removed, due to differences in the pickup wiring resistance, inductance and inherent capacitance) Selecting any single coil pickup on its own will likely still produce some hum: to reduce this you will need to screen the inside of the complete control cavity, as well as the rear of the scratchplate. Remember that this screening MUST be 'earthed' to the back of the volume control. The guitar bridge should also be connected to the back of the volume pot. Hope that this information helps!
Yeah, thanks, John. I was wondering about that myself. A real compass will show the actual polarity. Does the multimeter test indicate the actual direction of the coil winding? That is another thing that I would like to find out.
If you have a single coil pick up that is out of phase you only need to swap over the wires on the pick up itself if the wires are black and yellow put the black wire where yellow is put the black wire where yellow was
This is great I was in the middle of checking my wiring and need to know the polarity of pickups just to insure they were correct I should have known this but needed a jog in memory thanks
OK! But how to determine the poles of the first magnet? There are more questions than answers. No one can clearly say which magnetic pole is at the geographical north pole, the compass needle shows.
To the other comments this is a baseline without all the other steps wiring and so forth... old school always works in all projects start with a, b, c and so forth. When you jump steps chances are you'll screw up.
Very nice man ty i have a old danelectro with a ton of hum anyclue to get rid of the hum off that model it has the lipstick pickups www.sheltonsguitars.com/2010/3-12-10/danelectrou-2-prpl-3-12-10.html
Here how i solved the problem to understand the polarity :
1) Take a needle and put it near your magnet for few secs then take a cup with some water and put the needle inside to float. You will see that the point will move toward the north. If you have a compass you can double check, but it is correct anyway !
2) Take your magnet from one of the 2 faces (like a coin) and put it near the cup. If the needle point come towards your magnet then you know that the face is south polarity therefore mark the other face of it as North.
3) I used some nail varnish to paint it and when dry i carved on it an N.
4) Put your magnet inside a little bottle and now you are ready to test all your pickups knowing the exact polarity !
Good experimenting !!
You could also buy a cheap compass, to make the job a lot easier.
I was about to throw away my strat for good.But when I watched this and check the polarity of the pickups and interchanged the position and the bar magnets(N-S-N),it really helped.Now,I'm enjoying playing my strat.Thank you so much.Make more videos like this one.GODBLESS
This is a fantastic DIY hack! I recently learned how to do this with an ohmmeter and a magnetized screwdriver shaft. All I really needed to know is if my two different branded pickups were in phase with each other. I had put one of each in a guitar and thought maybe I had wired it wrong because of Gibson's flip-flopping on color coded wires. This made the whole operation many times faster. Basically you only need to know if they are in Phase or out of phase with each other. Even in a 3 single coil Strat style guitar. 2 souths and 1 north in the middle is just as well as 2 norths and 1 south. So glad i found this before going through my original process! Many thanks!!
Hi Frank I'm glad it helped you out. Consider subscribing for more...
@@addictedtogear
You got it
Cool idea. How do you determine the polarity of the magnets? (To know which side is north/south)
If they're disc magnets, stand them on their side and they should rotate to align with the earth's north/south
This does not cover the direction of the winding. Obviously of equal importance to magnet polarity. That can often be determined by looking at how the thin wires enter the coil from the white and black wires' terminals. That may be worth adding to your informative video.
I always thought it was bad to touch a magnet to your pickups. How do you kill a pickup? As in demagnetize a pickup?
It is... idk why he did it.
5:29 okay but how to know which side to paint as north and which as south? how to determine North and South poles of a magnet w/o using any compass nor marked magnets?
When the magnets flip, all you know is that they are opposite - you haven't identified north / south. Also, how is the wind of the string related to the polarity? Will swaping the +/- wires change the polrity or just the phase? I think there is a better explanation somewhere.
I think this is where the video gets it wrong. Swapping the leads or reverse winding the wires itself doesn't change the polarity I think. You have to be able to tell the magnets direction and then set up your pickups accordingly.
Afaik all you have to do to change polarity is flip the magnets.
Good information, but can I suggest you make 2 videos and that would be 1>theory and how pickups work>2 the technical side of what you did. I'm going back to watch it again because I had it but I lost it? I've watched this before and I'm missing something?
If I want to reverse the polarity to a single coil pickup, is to remove all the magnets and put them back in reverse? I bought a custom 69 fender and the middle one is not reversed.
Can you rely on the direction of the slight triangular base on some single coils to show which way up to install the pickup
Yes if they are made that way. But you still would not know if they are in phase or not.
You need to talk about polarity of the magnets too
You'd still need a compass to identify the initial north and south polarity, or risk getting them reversed and wasting more money on the wrong pickups...
Not really. Just start with a pickup that you know for sure already if its north or south.
I don’t think it matters as long as the two outside are different from the middle ? Tell me if I’m wrong
Everyone has a phone, so shouldnt be an issue
One thing you forgot to mention is how to tell to start with the polarity of the little magnet you use if you don't have a compass?
I just did your test because I'm installing single coils in a double neck, there were two blue/white fender flat pole pups that passed your opposites attract test and I'm assuming they're RW pups which is great cuz I needed two, only problem is everything I've seen on internet says fender didn't make a RW pup with blue/white wire.......even though the pup you tested on this video has a blue wire ....right? a bit confusing, This is a guitar build and my necks aren't quite ready to be installed and pups tried out yet.
Are you sure they are Fender pickups? Maybe they are not originals
Stamped 016730 on plastic bobbins so looks like fender
So, is better placing a pickup RWRP in the middle position?
Yes if you don't like hum.
awesome. Very helpful. I have a squire standard strat. Beautiful guitar but noisy. Static when I touch the wammy bar? How to solve this issue?
I was wondering if you have a HSH pickups in your Strat. Some humbuckers are 2 conductor and some are 4 conductor. Some of the HSH humbuckers (4 wire)can be wired so only half of the humbucker is used in positions 2 & 4. Do you still need rwrp middle pickup in the middle position? How do I know if I have the proper middle pickup?
Thanks Doug
Ok but how do you identify N/S for labeling the magnet?
Thank You!!! I wonder what set of pickups you actually use in this video/ because mines are totally lookin' like yours but I have no idea where they came from)))
They probably came from a Strat but I can't tell you exactly which one...
@@addictedtogear thank You! Actually I've been told this set was from MIM strat but I was not sure about it)))
@@addictedtogear Your video is very helpful. Now I have complete information about all my pups)))
Wait, how do I know which is north or south on the pickup I put in the bottle?
How did you identify the N, S on your disk magnets?
You can use a compass and then just mark the sides of the magnet with a sharpie
Michael Moore I will tell you a way that is actually cheaper and wont need a compass. Take a niddle and rub it on a magnet. Then hang the niddle on a thread (in the middle of the niddle)hold the thread with your hand, eventualy this is a compass!It will show you the north... If you move the niddle close to the pickup you will understand the polarity
its not important to know exactly witch is witch , because the two sides of the magnet will always be opposite its just for the sake of knowing that your pickups is not the same polarity.
(for example you can paint one side green and the other blue then you just make sure that the pickups arrange in G-B-G or B-G-B combination(G stands for green B for blue ))
@@stavrost6559 ken oath, at least someone payed attention in primary school! Cheers for the idea.
Thanks Mike, I thought the exact same thing and I am going to throw the question up again because you did not get a proper reply. He sort of addressed it but did not explain it. So you get a compass and then what? Wait for the compass to tell you? That sounds silly but really Yeah I mean REALLY?
It would have been important for you to discuss the risks of degaussing when touching magnets together. It would be very bad if touching alnico to neodynium... not too good touching alnico to ceramic either.
murfbass my thought exactly!
Wow thanks for all this information
How do you know which side of the magnet is North?
Hello. Recently I bought a pair of cheap humbuckers. The bridge humbucker screw poles were north, when it is supposed to be south. The neck humbucker is normal (screw poles are south). Is it normal? Does it generate problems? Thank you in advance.
You only demonstrate reverse magnetic polarity, but you also need to consider reverse wound (electric) polarity. They are not the same and you need to know what both are in order to make sure that two pickups together will cancel hum.
There is no "reverse wound". You can only wind one way. If you have a reverse polarity pickup and the noise isn't getting cancelled then you just switch the wires.
Think that was what pallecla was getting at.
Good Explanation of finding the Odd Pickup.
Does it matter which side of the little magnet is labelled N or S?
Nice tip bro. I am about to buy new pickups for my guitar , that has one volume and tone control. Do you have a wireing diagram please ?.
that's a very vague question man, no wonder he hasn't answered lol.
wherever you buy your pickups will have a diagram depending on what guitar..google is your friend
Just 1 question.... Which side lf the magnet is north lol
Put the magnet on top of a well working Strat's bridge pickup and that is North.
Thanks so much! Great Video! Bought a Strat MIM. Someone install American Standard Pickups. Switch position 2,3,4 hum terribly. Is this the problem?
my buddy was wondering how i take random pickups and combine them in a set wen the mid pickup is not reverse wound, i simply wire it backwards to get it into phase witch has always worked great for me. am i missing something here?
Simply reversing the leads of the middle pickup will make the pickups out of phase and sound awful.
If you want noise canceling in 2 and 4 you need a reverse wound/reverse polarity middle pickup.
@@addictedtogear no it was out of phase to begin with , then i reversed the leads, problem solved..
Does it work for single coil dual rail humbuckers?
Here's a puzzle: on my Roland Cube Street 2 of my 6 guitars produce a pronounced ground hum, which disappears when I touch the ground sleeve on the cable. This is when I'm playing through the power brick (not grounded), not the batteries, and it's only those 2 guitars.
I have no pedals.
Those same 2 guitars produce no hum on 3 other amps, and they both have dual humbuckers.
Switching the power adapters or cables changes nothing, but there is no ground hum when I play through my Xvive wireless system.
So, where do you think I should look for a cause/solution?
If the hum disappears when you touch the strings, that means everything is working correctly. Your body is at a different ground potential which causes hum, and when you touch the strings or jack you become grounded with the same system as the guitar.
Could you tell me how do I make position 1- 3 and 5 noiseless without changing to noiseless pick-ups, also my Epiphone wildkat with P-90s which is only silent in the middle position? the only Humbuckers I realy like are on my Gretsch double Jet but they are mini Humbuckers, thank's John.
use a dummy coil
What if they are reverse polarity but not reverse wound?
Great idea
I have a HB/p90 guitar, how do you check polarity on those? I recently change my HB, I like the change but getting slight buzz in middle position. Thanks if you can help!
My guitar hums only when I tilt it, the more horizontal guitar is (pickups facing ceiling or floor), the more hum it produces. Its no outside electrical interference problem, I have checked by changing room/cables/power sockets etc after switching off all wifi and mobile signals. What is this?
That three pick up testing which doesn't cost a dime reminds me of that Chinese game with bowls😂. Great trick tho other too. Thanks
this will not always tell you which pickups will cancel hum AND whether the pickups are in phase. For most people, having hum cancel in two pickups but that are out of phase with that yucky nasal tone, will not be desired. You have to know how the coils are round relative to the direction of the magnetic field
How would you know which side is north and south without a compass?
It doesn't really matter as long as the pickups are not the same orientation you will be fine.
I also like intelligent tips. Thanks for sharing.
you had tested the polarity of magnets, but polarity of magnets cannot reduce the hum. it changes the tone. you have to check the phases of pickups to reduce the noise.
Can i do the opposite polarity thing with a telecaster?
Yes it should work the same way.
This vid was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!
While this method will show you the RELATIVE magnetic polarity of any two (or more) pickups, simply printing 'N' and 'S' on opposite sides of the test magnet is not going to be any use if you are buying a "North" (or SOUTH") replacement pickup online, or in a music shop. You've got a 50% chance that your tester is showing the real polarity of the top of your existing pickups. Actual compasses are remarkably cheap, and in my opinion are much more useful for this type of testing. Note also that the middle pickup, as well as being the opposite magnetic polarity to the other two also has to be 'reverse wound' compared to the bridge and neck pickups: a different magnetic polarity alone will not guarantee that the combination switch positions will be hum-cancelling, the direction of the winding depends on the whim of the company manufacturing them. An easy way to check that the electrical signal flows from all three pickups are in phase with each other is to make a short test lead, using a standard mono 1/4" guitar lead plug on one end; two short lengths of thin insulated wire (no need for screened cable for this test) are soldered to the 'Tip' and 'Sleeve' connections of the plug. The other end of each wire should be connected to 'strip' connectors (screw terminals). Connect the 1/4" plug to the guitar, and two test probes of an electrical test meter to the strip connectors, which are there to ensure a positive connection to the meter. A digital test meter is best for this type of testing, rather than one with a moving needle: if the test meter has an 'auto-ranging' mode of operation, change to a 2 volt or 10 volt DC range. This is important; the meter must be switched to measure a low DC voltage, not AC; turn the guitar volume control to maximum; turn all/any tone knobs fully clockwise; select each pickup in turn (NOT the combination positions '2' and '4' on a strat type guitar!); carefully place a metal screwdriver tip on to one of the pickup poles, and then quickly pull the screwdriver away from the pickup. This moving metal part will generate a small electrical pulse in the pickup wiring: observe if the electrical signal shown on the meter is positive or negative (a 'negative' will be indicated by a minus sign on the meter display). All three pickups should show the same type of signal, either positive or negative. The actual amplitude of the voltage pulse doesn't matter, the meter display will only show a voltage change for a very short time anyway. With the middle pickup having a different magnetic polarity to the other two, AND all three electrical signals being in phase with each other, switch positions '2' and '4' should be hum cancelling (all of the hum may not be removed, due to differences in the pickup wiring resistance, inductance and inherent capacitance) Selecting any single coil pickup on its own will likely still produce some hum: to reduce this you will need to screen the inside of the complete control cavity, as well as the rear of the scratchplate. Remember that this screening MUST be 'earthed' to the back of the volume control. The guitar bridge should also be connected to the back of the volume pot. Hope that this information helps!
Yeah, thanks, John. I was wondering about that myself. A real compass will show the actual polarity. Does the multimeter test indicate the actual direction of the coil winding? That is another thing that I would like to find out.
Thank you!
You bet!
If you have a single coil pick up that is out of phase you only need to swap over the wires on the pick up itself if the wires are black and yellow put the black wire where yellow is put the black wire where yellow was
Thanks so much. This was exactly what I was looking for. Your awesome. Thanks again.
Glad it was helpful! And you are awesome for watching! Thank you
Spot on ...thank you
Good tip! Great channel!
Thank you.
You're welcome!
This is great I was in the middle of checking my wiring and need to know the polarity of pickups just to insure they were correct I should have known this but needed a jog in memory thanks
Great tip! I learned something new today! Awesome! Thanks!☺
Excellent tip mate
Excellent
Thanks
Brilliant
OK! But how to determine the poles of the first magnet? There are more questions than answers. No one can clearly say which magnetic pole is at the geographical north pole, the compass needle shows.
You can use a compass for that. Google it.
Very good
Thanks
What about HSS?
Same, but keep in mind that humbuckers has it's magnetic poles in the sides, toward the bridge and toward the neck.
Nice tips!!! thank you
HSS pickups..?
you don´t talk about winding,,,,if the pickup is clockwise or counterclockwise,,,polarity and winding combines to obtain no hum...
Osome man , u change life lot essy'r n GBU
Why to do a tester like this when you can buy it from StewMac for only $400? Lol! But seriously great video, thanks!
Great point! LOL
Thank you. Very educational.
Ty I know this video is old, you are clear and decisive.
This guy talk about things i never think of.....
..... Excellent tip..... thank you.
There is a app by playstore called pole detecter shows north and south poles 👍🏻🤷🏼♂️
Thanks for the tip!
$30 for a compass, seriously? You can find them dirt cheap.
To the other comments this is a baseline without all the other steps wiring and so forth... old school always works in all projects start with a, b, c and so forth. When you jump steps chances are you'll screw up.
Cool trick .. sub
Nice life hack
Save time, reduce hum and lost tone
Very nice man ty i have a old danelectro with a ton of hum anyclue to get rid of the hum off that model it has the lipstick pickups
www.sheltonsguitars.com/2010/3-12-10/danelectrou-2-prpl-3-12-10.html
without reading all comments, position 2 is bridge+middle; 4 is neck+middle.
Ok, right, but not really. In this video you are totally guessing the polarity of the magnet, so it's only half of solution.