No manual. They come with instructions printed on a little piece of paper.
I put the long wire (going to the jack) on the E side. The elements fit into the slots firmly, but you don't have to jam them in there. Be REAL careful of the wire where it goes into the elements -- they're REALLY freakin' easy to break. The elements should fit as flat-ly (a word?) as possible to the two surfaces they touch. If the slots are too narrow, open them up (saw on the wing and not the leg) with a flat file, being careful to make a nice, flat surface. If the slots are too big, thin wood shims (thing wood stock is available from your luthier or a hobby shop) are preferred for taking up the slack, but I found the color print ads (like from the Sunday paper) make decent shim as well as the paper doesn't compress much.
How tightly the elements are fit and how far into the slots will change the sound, so you'll have to fool with it a bit.
